From: Janet Baum <baum.janet**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] 3 more thoughts on safety shower drainage
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 15:44:09 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CAAgNRJhos5i4xg+pwdU7FQHxcHRnOsyg+aOtxYJwPaUGf3_sTw**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


Dear Frankie, Those floors are called "raised floors". Sometimes they are installed above existing floors in renovations and in new buildings to provide space for electronic cables, ventilation ducts, power distribution. The raised floor industry recommend these floor systems mainly for dry laboratories, i.e. laboratories that don't have chemicals, lab sinks or emergency deluge showers (SS). Generally raised floors are not appropriate for laboratories equipped with sinks and SS, because there is no way to control flooding or major leaks to the floor beneath; it's harmful to electronic and power cables and equipment below; and it's awful to clean up.
Janet Baum, AIA, Div CHAS

On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 3:29 PM DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org> wrote:
From: "Kolodziej, Christopher" <ckolodziej**At_Symbol_Here**ehs.ucla.edu>
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Thoughts on some arguments against drains under safetyshowers
Date: October 4, 2018 at 11:02:12 AM EDT

I think a better argument against floor drains is the potential for kilograms of pure material from a large spill to find their way down the drain, rather than the grams of material washed off of someone's body by the ~300 gal dispensed when a shower is activated.

Chris


________________________________

Christopher M. Kolodziej, Ph.D.

Associate Chemical Hygiene Officer
UCLA Office of Environment, Health & Safety
501 Westwood Plaza, 4th Flr
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Phone: (310) 261-8611
email: ckolodziej**At_Symbol_Here**ehs.ucla.edu

===
From: Frankie Wood-Black <fwoodblack90**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] 11 more messages RE: [DCHAS-L] Thoughts on some arguments against drains under safety showers
Date: October 4, 2018 at 11:58:05 AM EDT
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**princeton.edu>


I see a lot of valid points - however, the safety shower should not be a source of another hazard. There are many laboratories that have lots of electronic equipment, hence flooding of a room where there is no drain can result in an electrical hazard. We ran into this in rooms with large magnets (EPR or NMR laboratories), rooms with microscopes, rooms with lots of instrumentation, etc. In one case, we relocated the shower from next to the door in the laboratory to just outside the door, in front (note for that lab, there was only a doorway and not a physical door) and there was a normal drain located under a water fountain less than 2 feet away. So, there was no issue about sewer gas as the drain was frequently used..

Please watch for "false" floors and safety showers - have seen this before in remodels and that could be an extreme issue as well.



Frankie Wood-Black, Ph.D., REM, MBA
Principal - Sophic Pursuits
NOTE - ADDRESS CHANGE - Mailing Address - PO Box 433, Tonkawa, OK 74653
email address fwoodblack90**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com
or fwblack**At_Symbol_Here**sophicpursuits.com

580-761-3703

===

From: "Wilhelm, Monique" <mwilhelm**At_Symbol_Here**umflint.edu>
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Thoughts on some arguments against drains under safety showers
Date: October 4, 2018 at 12:50:36 PM EDT
To: "DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU" <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>


Just curious-How often are people using safety showers?

My old drains were also a tripping hazard and actually made it difficult to test the units. So, I got rid of them in the remodel and added flash sealed flooring with a "cove"? that goes up about 6 inches to the labs that used to have them. I know of a school that had drains added in their last remodel that they were forced to fill by an inspecting body of some sort.

I have had to use the shower ONCE and the last thing I cared about was water on the floor. Quick clean up after emergency response led to no damage to that room or any others. I am very happy with this choice.

Monique Wilhelm
Laboratory Manager
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Michigan - Flint


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