Re: Safety at my institution
Thaddeus Holownia (tholownia@mta.ca)
Sat, 8 Apr 1995 10:47:49 -0300
At the university where I teach, I run the following facilities: a gang
darkroom (12 enlarging stations), three small individual darkrooms, a
graphic arts darkroom and a film & colour developing darkroom with RA4
processor. When I had these spaces constructed I designed a system where
each sink was ventilated to the outdoors through a central ventilation
system. Chemicals are vented out of the working areas at the source. We
have eye wash stations in each room as well as bottles of eye wash for
emergency burns. I provide proper respirator masks, eye goggles and rubber
gloves where students might be pouring or mixing chemicals or working with
hypo-selenium toner. I also provide tongs at all printing sites and
disposable latex rubber gloves where sheet film is processed. Alternate
processes are governed on their own grounds and each process has strict
guidelines of its own.
Students are warned of the danger of the chemicals in a serious
professional manner. No hysteria, just the facts. Protect yourself at all
times. We use the book Overexposure as one of our guides, as well as the
Chemistry Department at the school. We have regular inspections of our
facility by the Health and Safety Committee which provide us with updates
on new information on potentially hazardous materials. We dispose of any
toxic chemicals (selenium) throught the chemistry department.
As you can see we take safety as seriously as anything else we teach.
Too often people experimenting, may be working with materials that may be
harmless on their own but when combined with something else become lethal.
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
BEWARE ARTISTS some chemicals can kill you slowly over time, and you won't
suspect a thing until it is too late.
We are all dealing with chemistry based process and should make every
effort to protect ourselves, especially if you hope to make a lifetime
career of this involvement.
Better to be safe than sorry is a great saying.
Thaddeus
Professor Thaddeus Holownia
Mount Allison University
Sackville New Brunswick
Canada E0A 3C0
506-364-2499