Of course there are alternate uses to consider …
Years ago as an undergraduate chemistry major taking an analytical laboratory course, we used the water from the laboratory drinking fountain as a convenient source for identifying metal ions. On Monday morning
after the water fountain had gone unused for the weekend, the concentrations were quite high for a variety of metals; by Friday the metal concentrations had gone down by about 70%.
Eric
Eric Clark, MS, CHMM, CCHO
Safety Officer, Public Health Scientist III
Los Angeles County Public Health Laboratory
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU]
On Behalf Of Debbie M. Decker
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2014 10:15 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Drinking Fountain in the Lab
Gotta love a lab designer who doesn’t know anything about labs.
Rip ‘em out. Make the designer pay for it. They have insurance for these types of “errors and omissions.”
I hope you would have a policy statement somewhere that states “no food and drink in the lab.” If you have such a statement, then it makes the case for taking them out.
It’s the policy of UC Davis to prohibit eating and drinking in the laboratory. Here’s our policy statement:
http://manuals.ucdavis.edu/PPM/290/290-65.pdf (paragraph 12).
Hope this helps.
Debbie
Debbie M. Decker, CCHO
Safety Manager
Department of Chemistry
University of California, Davis
122 Chemistry
1 Shields Ave.
Davis, CA 95616
(530)754-7964
(530)304-6728
dmdecker**At_Symbol_Here**ucdavis.edu
Birkett's hypothesis: "Any chemical reaction
that proceeds smoothly under normal conditions,
can proceed violently in the presence of an idiot."
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU]
On Behalf Of Michael Hojjatie
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2014 8:06 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Drinking Fountain in the Lab
We are in the process of building a new Lab and it is almost ready for occupation.
The Lab designer has put two drinking fountains in the Lab. I believe this is not allowed per OSHA’s Laboratory Standards, however, the discussion is that “there is minimum chance of chemical contamination” with these drinking fountains.
I have requested the removal of these, but it would be costly at this point. I have two questions:
Are the drinking fountains allowed in the Lab area?
Is it OK to shut down the water source at this point and leave the fountains there?
I appreciate the expert opinions on this subject.
Michael Hojjatie, Ph.D.