Safety Cabinet Solutions Safety Cabinet Recommendations email |
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Siting cabinets: Recommendations for the good siting of cabinets in the modern laboratory can be found in BS5726 2005 Most of these recommendations are common sense though one always has to accept the recommended World and the real one do not always fit hand in hand though the following should, (if at all possible) be adhered with: Leaving a 1000mm space in front of the cabinet for the sole use of the cabinets user, keeping a reasonable distance from any air conditioning or make-up air grilles, not placing the unit in an area where draughts are present etc If in doubt SCS can advise further as required - consultancy is free when equipment is purchased through SCS Ltd. Cleaning: One should ensure the safety cabinet is kept clean and uncluttered (more-so the class II) with unnecessary items/equipment. Swabbing after use with a suitable disinfectant. Phenolics, ammonium compounds and aldehydes can be used for disinfecting these services. Safety Cabinet Solutions Ltd do not recommend the use of chlorine compounds as these can effect/corrode the cabinets surfaces. Fumigation: Fumigation should be carried out in the following circumstances; 1) before any dirty maintenance is carried out, 2) after a spillage where inaccessible areas have become contaminated. Although this is as most understand this is by far the big picture. Safety Cabinet Solutions Ltd, as part of our consultancy service would be happy to expand on this important area. The above said it is worth pointing out that in many countries fumigation is seldom carried out so our advice is: always carry out a risk assessment and only fumigate when absolutely necessary (more often then not it's not). Commissioning and Maintenance: In SCS Ltd's view it is wise that during commissioning that the users are aware of the capabilities of the cabinet as such we recommend that the 'now optional' (refer to BSen12469 2000) KI operator protection test is carried out for most laboratories where a degree of operator protection is required from the safety cabinet and for high containment CL3 laboratories that an enhanced user simulation KI test is completed. For routine maintenance up to CL2 work, simple filter testing and airflow readings are required though we recommend in the CL3 environment that the full KI is carried out, (Note; there is no longer a requirement to have the KI test carried out during routine maintenance). Testing should be carried out once a year though twice a year may be appropriate for high containment laboratories, if in doubt SCS Ltd can advise accordingly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
