We too struggled with this for years. When our building was built
20 years ago, the freight elevator was nixed when the bond money ran
out. To my knowledge, there was nobody with any chemical health and
safety background involved in the construction at that time to
advocate for the importance of a freight elevator in a science
building. We have 2 very small passenger elevators with carpet in
them and getting equipment to upper floors is not easy. As we have
a renovation approaching this summer they are already talking about
how equipment and supplies will be brought in.
Moving waste was our biggest issue, but we also have to move the
large LN2 tanks. We use the already suggested buddy system with
signs, but I finally got the physical plant to give us a key to lock
out an elevator so it won't stop on the other floors during the
process a couple of years ago. This has made the process much
better. We also time the transport at non-heavy traffic periods,
such as late afternoons or during class times.
Sammye
On 5/11/2018 2:59 PM, Michael Ahler
wrote:
All,
In past years when I had
the need to move something hazardous (hazardous waste in my
case) using an elevator, none of our multi-story buildings had
"freight" elevators. Everything was open to the public.
In those cases we used a leap frog technique to move material
through multiple floors - moving the unoccupied elevator one
floor at a time. The loaded, unoccupied elevator would be
sent from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor to be met there by a
co-worker. The co-worker would wait until the 4th floor
sender had hustled down the stairs to the 2nd. The
unoccupied elevator was then sent down one more floor - you
get the pattern. This was just before the age when everyone
had a cell phone. Our office actually had a collection of
two-way radios we carried around to coordinate moves like this
when "out in the field".
By the way, these
collections of hazardous waste were "lab packed" by me in
sturdy plastic closed containers (secondary containment) to
facilitate moving them with a dolley and transport on campus
(department truck) back to our Accumulation Area without
breaking anything ("Lab Pack" is actually a DOT designation
that uses a 55 gallon or smaller drum in which to pack bottles
surrounded by vermiculite.)
Now I am glad to be
teaching part time elsewhere. Life is easier.
Thanks for listening.
Michael Ahler
Associate Faculty Member
LPS (Chemistry)
Allan Hancock College
and CHO (retired) Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo
There have been fatalities that have resulted
from not following the prudent practice. Use the elevator as
a dumbwaiter. ... Jim
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led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the
ungrateful. We have done
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with nothing. Teresa
Arnold
paraphrased from Konstantin
Josef Jire=C4=8Dek (1854 - 1918)
Samuella B. Sigmann, MS, NRCC-CHO
Senior
Lecturer/Safety Committee
Chair/Director of Stockroom
A. R.
Smith Department of Chemistry
Appalachian
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