Monthly Newsletter for August 2014
Safety in the CBIC
As we are reminded by events like the recent lab explosion at the University of Minnesota, safety is an important shared responsibility for everyone, especially those who are working with hazardous substances. As we are now using the new CBIC space in KCL, it is a good time to reiterate good safety habits when using the CBIC. In particular, please help protect everyone from toxic or dangerous substances in the CBIC by observing a few of the following CBIC policies:
Gloves / Lab Coats - Wear gloves, lab coats, eyewear and other appropriate protective equipment in your lab when handling hazardous substances. Do not wear gloves or contaminated lab coats when traveling from your lab to the CBIC. Do not wear gloves while typing on keyboards or handling common items (computer mice, printers, doorknobs, etc.). Do not allow contaminated lab coats or other hazardous items to come into contact with equipment and chairs in common areas.
Dangerous Experiments - Consult CBIC staff BEFORE conducting any experiment or procedure in the CBIC that poses a risk to personnel or equipment. The CBIC is not configured to accept explosive samples, radioactive materials or biological hazards. Safety training is required before using some equipment, such as those that produce x-rays. Check with CBIC staff and/or Yale EHS if you are unsure about any safety-related issues in the CBIC.
CBIC Instrument Moves
Instrument moves are still ongoing, but are nearing the final stages. The NMR spectrometers that moved into KCL are now back online. A few remaining issues that arose during or after the relocations are yet to be resolved, but this work is in progress. Some of the solution biophysics instruments are yet to be brought online – please inquire about them if you need to use them.
Reporting Instrument Problems
During recent months while instrument moves were in progress, there have been times where instrument availability was in short supply due to certain instruments being offline and/or abuse of the reservation system by some of the users. If problems like these arise, if an instrument is broken, or any other problem that can be resolved by CBIC staff comes up, please don’t hesitate to use the online problem reporting link: Report a problem
By reporting problems you can help us keep the CBIC working as well for your needs as possible.
Sincerely,
CBIC Staff
