Numerous reports of College and University Students returning from spring break are testing positive for the Coronavirus Please check out my latest Linkedin Post https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dennis-terpin-4b613933_after-spring-break-students-are-testing-activity-6650434744251219968-Nqkd/ ...
Hi Zach, Things are pretty quiet here so I can delve a little deeper in the topic. Hopefully depth adds some value. If the implied meaning of "blast" in blast shield is a pressure vessel blow up or break apart there may be a misunderstanding of metal ...
Our experience was that some of the returning students didn't think 14 days of self-isolation meant "stay home, generally alone, acting like you're sick, and taking your temperature morning and evening." Maybe it'd be different now that we're ...
Hi Jesse, Yes, we will record the COVID-19 Town Hall tomorrow and make it available for viewing later. Thank you! Kelsie ------------------------------ Kelsie Holt Educational Program Manager CSHEMA Bloomington IN 812-245-8096 ------------------- ...
Will the Town Hall session being held on Tuesday, 3/31/20, be recorded and available for viewing after? Very unfortunately, I am on another conference call at that time that I cannot be excused from. I am interested to hear how other institutions are ...
Hello Heather Based on our experience, here are a few things to consider: Set up a mandatory system (webform or google form) where students and staff must report whether or not they are returning to campus. There should be some basic medical and ...
For those of you who have had students in quarantine or self-isolation, can you please share if you have had issues others should be plan for? We are expecting several hundred students to return from spring break this week and fear we will have to be ...
Greetings Zach, Hopefully this reply finds everybody safe and sound. After review of the web page, it appears to be without a ceiling or top. Will your arrangement account for upward forces? Kevin McSweeney, CFPS, CFI II UD Fire Marshal 302-831-6847 ...
I have a researcher who plans to use a 5 liter autoclave high pressure reactor operating at 3,000 psi with both liquid and gases, and who is looking for a blast shield or room as a precaution (in addition to pressure relief and overpressurization devices). ...
Hi Karalyn, All of our lab-based research and teaching activities (except safety critical, like animal care and NMR cryogen fills) were suspended late last week. (I'm in Saskatchewan, Canada). All PI's and lab instructors did a final inspection of ...
Although I like the tired approach, a conversation with Risk Management would be on my list. As employees, they would still likely fall under incident and injury reporting, worker's compensation, CalOSHA, hazardous waste generation rules, etc... -- ...
So, research is many things. It is lit review, conceptualization, experiment design, protocol development and approval, experimentation, data collection, data analysis, and synthesis of conclusions. Depending on the topic, some or all of ...
Hi Penny, Great question! I might use a tiered approach. Develop a checklist of potential projects, activities, tasks, materials, etc. with categories and guidance. So, perhaps something like this: Level 1: Okay to proceed. ...
Hi All, A question was posed by a faculty member as to whether we have safety guidelines for student doing remote research. The question was specifically directed at summer research. Our summer research involves students being paid so thus are employees. ...
Hi Hans, In Seattle, we have moved to all online instruction and work from home mandates since 3/16/2020. This approach has most of our faculty and staff off-campus. Most buildings are locked down, some faculty and staff have permission to work on campus ...
Just wanted to say thank you for sharing! ------------------------------ Cynthia Patty ESH Coordinator Stanford University Menlo Park CA 650-926-3925 ------------------------------
Morning, We are animal facilities only (with no farms), but our staff are essential. What we are doing in NYC: We have 2 separate teams that come in on certain days. They are paid for the full week. Cage change has changed to a decreased level ...
Hi Jeff, Here is how a couple of us framed it in a discussion after a tech session in another international organization that covered China's experience in the medical community. When your first option is no longer available and ...
Hi CSHEMA Community, I just wanted to update you with the outcome of this situation. Based on the feedback I got from this forum, I made a recommendation to the VP of Instruction to have the copper pipe remediated and replaced as soon as possible. ...
You may find this of interest: https://ctmirror.org/2020/03/24/895300/ Busy times for EHS!
When our Vice Chancellor for Research instructed labs to develop and implement pans to suspend non-essential activities, we postponed all inspections and follow-ups and have been telling labs that we will reach out to reschedule once normal operations ...
Hello Hans- At Arizona we have moved to all online instruction and work from home mandates when possible. This actually has most of the faculty and staff off campus. Most buildings are locked down but faculty and staff have permission to work on campus ...
We don't exactly have a "shut down plan" for our campus farms, however we do have continuity of operations plans. We have been working to modify the COOPs to account for long-term disruptions like we are facing now. We are basically defaulting to declaring ...
Jeffrey They have formed a committee here to discuss this potential. We have a textiles lab, machines, etc. but no one to run them now. The community is already started some of this anyway. Given that they are not meant to replace what healthcare ...
USDA COVID-19 advice can be found at: https://www.usda.gov/coronavirus If you have animals regulated under OLAW, they've posted their pandemic planning webinar at: https://olaw.nih.gov/news/now-posted-olaw-webinar-pandemic-contingency-planning-and-its-impact-animal-care.html ...
I keep seeing news reports and social media posts talking about people sewing covers for the N95 masks to extend their life. Are there thoughts in the community about how effective that would actually be? Are people spreading harmful information, would ...
Thanks. I believe our farms would be considered essential as well. It's the staffing that can be a challenge, if someone or several get sick. Not a lot of "backup" personnel to take over. ------------------------------ Lee Diamond Laboratory Safety Coordinator ...
We are considering animal care as essential should we get a shelter in place order. We only have limits on public gatherings now. Distancing is not a big concern for managing cattle, buffalo (manage themselves) and on farms (e.g., dairy), but we also ...
Hello colleagues, Here's a link to my third in this series of stories on the coronavirus, risk perceptions, decision-making, and life. This one is a bit longer than the others (a 10-15 minute read) which surprised me initially but as I wrote it I ...
Aloha all! Hope this finds you all safe and well in this trying time. Do any of you have clear guidance for your Facilities/Custodial groups for response actions of varying degrees (assuming these do include CDC references)? And do any of you fully close ...
We have a Maker Space trying to get in on the action as well. A City of Burlington Maker Space is also trying to make what looks like an ABS 3 d printed (almost) 1/2 face respirators. It is the Wild West. I think all of these people need to call their ...
Does anyone, who has farm facilities with animals for research or teaching, have a written "shut down plan" they could send me for how their facilities and staff will continue to provide care for the animals in the event of "shelter in place" from the ...
Teresa: Keene State College is in a very similar situation. I would suggest you talk to the Riverside and Sentara hospitals in your area to see if you can get support. If you have an active case, they need to take the lead in care and treatment. They ...
And our vivaria are essential services and must continue. We transitioned them (those with allergies and cage dumping) to elastomeric respirators to ease the burden on N95s and they don't use back fastening gowns.. The demands are growing.. ...
William & Mary was initially going to allow some students to stay on campus. We had some dedicated quarantine rooms where the rooms had a dedicated restroom and exhaust that goes directly outside. While a student was being tested and we had to initiate ...
Hi Mary, Is Harvard considering donating new gowns, etc., from vivariums for hospitals that need these kind of supplies? Best, Lindsey ------------------------------ Lindsey Kayman Director, Environmental Health & Safety CUNY - City University of ...
Currently, we have moderate research restrictions and will probably transition to severe in the near future. We haven't changed the status of the inspection reports, but we've suspended our BioRAFT automatic emails. I asked all of our inspectors to add ...
We have moved remaining students so they are one person- no shared bath Sent from my iPhone ------Original Message------ BSU has as many university went to all on-line learning and we are now having all of our students move out. We will have about ...
Our labs are sequestered-- only essential sustaining activities and some labs working on Covid. and we're reallocating their PPE to healthcare through our State Emergency management Agency ------------------------------ Mary Corrigan Associate Director ...
This is from a colleague here who is familiar with this entrepreneur. I have no connections to the company and I can't answer questions – please see their website and/or email Jesse Darley directly. *** ---------- From Jesse Darley ( jessedarley@gmail.com ...
Thanks Jon! ------Original Message------ That sounds fascinating James! I suggest you check out the NIOSH page for manufacturers here - https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respmanuf.html . It wouldn't surprise me that others are doing ...
Hi Karalyn, Of course this answer is subject to change at any minute, the current situation here is that we are postponing new inspections through the end of the month. Since we are using BioRAFT and labs can report their corrections virtually, at the ...
That sounds fascinating James! I suggest you check out the NIOSH page for manufacturers here - https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respmanuf.html . It wouldn't surprise me that others are doing likewise and NIOSH may be looking to do some level of streamlining ...
We have been asked by the state to possibly make and certify respirators. Has anyone heard of non-NIOSH locations that are being approved for certifying respirators? Has anyone heard of NIOSH relaxing regulations for respirator certifications? Thanks ...
Hello all, I've been watching the discussions around EHS operations during this response to COVID-19. I've seen mentions of groups suspending lab inspections during this time. I have a number of inspections where I have sent corrective actions to the ...
Hi Bruce, I put something together to help guide our UW-Madison employees on how to best set up their remote workstations. Feel free to reference or share the following link: Ergonomics for Telecommuters . ------------------------------ Avelene ...
CSHEMA Friends, We just wanted to say how proud we are of you all, the members of CSHEMA. In this tumultuous and uncertain time we are all in right now and in the business of our jobs, you are keeping engaged. Last year in Indianapolis we hoped 2019-2020 ...
BSU has as many university went to all on-line learning and we are now having all of our students move out. We will have about 100 students who are either international or have applied for hardships that will be staying on campus. How have you housed ...
Good Morning, My office had an extra keyboard because I had not replaced another and I have extra computer setups so I grabbed an external mouse. I also used books to prop by laptop higher. It is basically level with my eyes now so I do not have to ...
Chris, We posted some guidance about how to clean equipment and high touch areas in labs yesterday: https://ehs.psu.edu/covid19 Maybe some of that will be of help for you. If you'd like word doc versions, let me know. Cheers, Alissa ------------------------------ ...