DCHAS-L Archives, Oct 21, 2022 - Re: [DCHAS-L] telephone requirement question

Several things (kind of tangential, but still relevant) about this discussion.

1. There is a distinction between phones that might be used for emergency calls and ones provided for that purpose. If you have the latter, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will certify that to the phone company (if you meet their regulatory criteria for “critical” infrastructure) and the phone company will prioritize repairs over other customers in an emergency. I’ve been successful in getting facilities onto NTIA’s list before, although the specific question I asked eventually got bumped up to the Secretary of Homeland Security. (And so it took 18 months to get an answer.) This is the mechanism used by hospitals, police, fire, etc. to get their phones fixed first during emergencies.

2. Testing coverage is critical, but if you don’t have good coverage in a building, there are technical solutions. The question becomes is it more expensive to provide repeaters (and backup power for the repeaters) everywhere you need them or simply to maintain the old landlines.

3. Many wireless towers are equipped with backup power and are right behind hospitals and emergency services in the power company’s service restoration order. It might be fruitful to have the campus’ telecomms folks talk with the local wireless companies to see what the actual probability of an outage is. If it’s actually less than that of the landline service, a distinct possibility now that phone companies are deprioritizing copper-wire services, go with the cellphones. (In my area, if you ask for FiOS service, Verizon will rip out the copper wires to your house as they lay the fiber).

4. Emergency priority access to the wireless service is also a thing. Again, you have to meet regulatory criteria and get certified by NTIA. Best bet would probably be to play up the hazardous materials handling aspect, as education is not typically “critical infrastructure.” The need for certification limits the usefulness in an academic environment, but I can see selected faculty and staff (e.g., stockroom manager, facilities manager) possibly getting permission to use that service.

Regards, Dan Kuespert

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On Fri, Oct 21, 2022 at 08:34, Mary Lindstrom <mwernett**At_Symbol_Here**MIT.EDU> wrote:

To add to what Jessica wrote, when coverage testing is done it is very important to test phones serviced by multiple carriers. In the building I worked in previously I found that Verizon phones had poor or no cell coverage in many interior rooms, while AT&T had good reception. If cell phones are used as the primary means of connection people should also be asked to set up wi-fi calling on their phones to help with reception issues.

Also note that in the event of a wide-scale issue, such as a wider power outage, there can be a significant increase in the number of people using their cell phones leading to connection difficulties. I observed this issue first-hand when a power outage hit my university and I was unable to get any calls through on my cell phone

Best,

Mary

________________________________________

Mary Lindstrom
EHS Coordinator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Biological Engineering and
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
56-341d

617-324-8161

marylindstrom**At_Symbol_Here**mit.edu

On Oct 21, 2022, at 8:19 AM, Jessica Martin <jessica.a.martin**At_Symbol_Here**UCONN.EDU> wrote:

In addition to what everyone else has said here, I would also think they would want to test coverage EXTENSIVELY before they do. We had MANY weak and or dead zones for cell reception in the chemistry building in which I did my graduate work. One of the worst dead zones was the 1st level - where our main stockroom was. I am actually a little horrified when I hear that other campuses have chosen to remove the landlines from their buildings.

Jessica A. Martin, Ph.D.

NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2018-2021)

Joint Safety Team, Founding Member (2018-2021)

Pinkhassik Group, Department of Chemistry (2016-2021)

University of Connecticut

323-327-3974

jessica.a.martin**At_Symbol_Here**uconn.edu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaannemartin/

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On Oct 20, 2022, at 9:07 AM, Ralph Stuart <ralph**At_Symbol_Here**RSTUARTCIH.ORG> wrote:

*Message sent from a system outside of UConn.*

[Bold my emphasis] EPA believes that, although cell phones are a useful means of communication, they should not be relied upon solely to satisfy this requirement. The Agency is therefore finalizing § 262.16(b)(8)(iv) and § 262.254 as proposed.

Thanks for this summary; I believe that was the situation the last time I looked into it and would be surprised if it changed. I ended up putting “No Smoking” signs on 12 chemical cabinets under fume hoods that are used as waste storage areas last year, even though indoor smoking has been banned on campus for at least 20 years...

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org

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