(Fwd) Questions re fume hood maintenance

["Mike Histed" <mhisted@uottawa.ca>]

Hi Everyone

This listserv has been very quiet of late.  I guess everyone is 
trying to get the acronym Y2K out of their brains!

Anyway, I have a question not directly related to contingency 
planning, but since many of you work in many different areas, I 
thought I would give this a try.

We at the University of Ottawa are trying to establish guidelines for 
maintenance personnel working on the roof tops of lab buildings.  The 
current procedure requires them to wear full PPE, e.g., gloves, 
glasses and a forced air respirator, particularly while working on 
fume hood fans.  However, we are meeting with divergent opinions as 
to the appropriateness of wearing PPE.  Therefore I would like to get 
comments of the group with reagrds to the following questions:

-	Do you require any staff to wear PPE whilst working on the roof 
tops of lab buildings, e.g., ventilation technicians, plumbers, 
electricians, contractors, everyone.

-	If yes, what type of PPE, e.g., gloves, safety glasses, respirators 
(forced air, cartridge).  Do you provide training in the use of 
respirators.  Do you take the universal precaution approach or does 
the use of PPE vary according to building type and level of risk.

-	If no, have you implemented administrative controls to minimize 
exposure, or have you conducted a risk assessment to determine there 
is little or no risk.

-	Do you require staff to wear PPE whilst working on fume hood fans 
in mechanical rooms, whether the rooms are ventilated or not.

-	Do you require staff entering a mechanical room to wear PPE in 
those rooms with fume hoods fans present.

-	Do your staff use monitoring equipment, e.g., portable GCs to 
determine potential exposures to contaminants.

-	Do your staff monitor the weather for conditions that may pose a 
greater risk to those working on roof tops, e.g., temperature 
inversions resulting in fume hood emissions not dispersing.

-	Have any procedures been formalized in a document, guideline, 
policy or procedure.

Thanks for your time.  If you feel this is an inappropriate forum for 
this type of discussion, please feel free to e-mail me directly at 
mhisted@uottawa.ca.

Mike

Michael Histed, PhD
Environmental Management Specialist
Environmental Health and Safety Service
University of Ottawa
100 Thomas More
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 6N5

Tel: (613) 562-5800 Extension 3052
Fax: (613) 562-5112
E-Mail: mhisted@uottawa.ca
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