Safety Update
improvements to CFN safety
September 23, 2024
Stay alert: adhere to signs
Wai Lin Ng
Recently, there have been incidents on site involving entry into restricted work areas by unauthorized personnel. These restricted areas with potential hazards may be posted with signs, labels, barricades, and barriers. They have access requirements that allow entry only for authorized personnel.
As you are driving into the main gate at Brookhaven Lab, you will see an active construction site. While it is very exciting to see the newest building being completed, please don’t enter these areas. You will also notice that there is road construction, underground utility work, and other maintenance activities going on around site. Please pay attention to the detour signs and adhere to the directional changes in the flow of traffic.
At CFN, you will see placards posted at the doors to each laboratory space. What information does this placard provide?
- Protective Equipment Required for Area: Anyone entering this area must wear personal protective equipment (PPE), such as safety glasses with side-shields, a lab coat, and fully enclosed shoes, regardless of what tasks you will be doing — even if you are just observing an experiment.
- Chemical and Physical Hazards of the Area: These hazards are associated with stored materials or materials that may be in use in the laboratory. This information is for your awareness as a guest researcher, a worker who may enter to do work on the utilities, or a responder in the event of an emergency. If you have questions about these hazards, please ask the CFN staff listed as contacts on the sign or the CFN Environment, Safey & Health (ES&H) representative.
- Authorized Entry: For you to have authorized access to these laboratories, you must complete the necessary safety training, complete the hands-on training on the instruments you intend to use, and adhere to the requirements of the Experimental Safety Review (ESR) and user safety approval forms (SAFs).
Area postings or signs are meant to inform and protect you. They provide information on the work hazards of the facility or work environment. If you are unsure about the meaning of one of these signs, please ask your supervisor, a member of the CFN staff, or the ES&H representative.
— Wai Lin Ng
Manager, ES&H
Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate
2024-22098 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
