As I recall, the chem department was once sited by EPA many years ago for not having access to a phone where haz. waste was stored. They allowed a cell phone in that case.  I argued and failed when they switched the chem department over to internet based phones to save money. They did not leave a landline anywhere. I gave up trying to make them understand that it was a safety issue and now that I am retired I don't have to worry about it. To answer your query, Dave, I would say if they can get the powers that be to leave a landline that is not internet based in research labs or in the hall, go for it.

On a side note, last summer I was also forced to switch over to fiber optics at home when they cut my copper line doing roadwork. Now I have no phone in power outages after the 8 hour backup battery dies (they did say I could buy a longer lasting one). I will also add that I also have no cell service at my house. They don't make it easy for an old lady to place an emergency call in the remote mountains of NC. Maybe smoke signals will work in a long power outage?
S-

A colleague asked:

 

“My safety question is whether research labs are required to have phones?  This used to be a requirement for safety reasons, but it is less clear in these days of ubiquitous cell phones.  Our university is switching phone systems and I'm being asked whether we still need these phones in the research labs.”

 

Best answer is… (you fill in the blank) …

 

Dave  

 

David C. Finster
Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry
Wittenberg University

 

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