Demystify: 

Hello Pat,

Some comments:

Training: It is good practice to thoroughly familiarize all hood operators
with all the functions of fume hoods prior to beginning to use the hoods.
And to incorporate good lab practices for hood users that are appropriate
for the chemicals used and work performed (as defined by a Safety Officer).

Training experts: There are various consultants in the industry who conduct
onsite training programs. Names can be obtained from trade associations or
representatives of fume hood manufacturers, and I believe there are some
within this group.

Maximum flow rate: This would be dependent on the work being done in your
hoods. It would be advisable to an upper limit in writing, in your
facility's Chemical Hygiene Plan (see OSHA Lab Standard CFR 29, Section
1910.1450). As others have mentioned already, note that it is possible to
have too much face velocity which can pose problems for hood personnel
and/or the products & processes in the working chamber of the hood.

Hope this helps,

Tim

---

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l@MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of
Peifer, Patricia
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 3:46 PM
To: DCHAS-L@MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Fume Hoods

I am not currently the person who is responsible for our lab fume hood
testing, our metrology department does that. They wrote a procedure for
this task but did not include an upper limit for face velocity. I was cited
for this when we had an outside safety audit done, with the recommendation
being that we have a upper limit for fpm of 150.

This made sense to me, my understanding was that an upper limit of 150 fpm
(or even 120) was generally standard. I would like to learn more about
ventilation and take over responsibility of the fume hood testing at my
facility.

My question is:

• Is training highly recommended or even required to test chemical
fume hoods?

• Does anyone have a recommendation for training?

• Should I indeed be looking at 150 fpm as an upper limit? I have
looked at ANSI, NRC, etc., but have not purchased the actual documents.


Thanks you,

Pat


Pat Peifer, CHO
Safety and Chemical Hygiene Specialist
West Pharmaceutical Services
101 Gordon Drive
Lionville, PA 19341

Find West on Twitter and LinkedIn


_____

The contents of this message are confidential and may be privileged. If you
have received this message in error, please permanently delete it, along
with any files that may be attached to this message, without reading,
printing, copying, forwarding or otherwise distributing it. Please notify
the sender of the error immediately so that we can prevent it from happening
again.

_____

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 2109/4767 - Release Date: 01/26/12