Carpet is not compatible with most chemicals! We had a carpeted
storage area in the art department and a worker there dropped a 2.5
L bottle of conc nitric which broke. Not a pretty event.
Found this in NFPA 45 - maybe not regulatory, but might help.
5.1.4 Penetrations through fire-rated floor/ceiling, floor, and
wall assemblies shall be protected in accordance with .
5.1.5
Floors, floor openings, floor penetrations, and floor firestop
systems shall be sealed to prevent liquid leakage to lower floors.
The sealing material shall be compatible with the chemicals being
stored or used in the laboratory.
S-
On 6/25/2024 7:24 PM, Alex Hagen wrote:
We have a lab in our radiology department
that stores and uses chemicals in space with carpeting. They
have also conducted lead soldering in that space in the past.
We state in our laboratory safety manual that carpet is not
allowed in labs and we have noted this issue on all of their
inspection reports, but they have said that they will not
prioritize this unless there is a state or federal regulation
that we can point to. We have explained that the manual is an
institutional policy document, but that doesn’t seem to mean
much to them. Does anyone here know of a regulation that
specifically addresses this issue?
ALEX
HAGEN
fischera**At_Symbol_Here**uw.edu /
www.ehs.washington.edu
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