Friday, August 25, 2006
Tim Welch spends an average of 40 hours per week in the Malott Hall labs. The Salina senior is majoring in chemistry and has a full workload that requires him to spend hours testing sometimes hazardous chemicals. Welch said he feels free to work with the potent chemicals thanks to safety precautions put into place by the University of Kansas.
Welch can work safely under the protection of the building’s “smart” alarms. In late 1996, the University began a program to install new alarm systems in new and remodeled buildings on campus.
The new “smart” fire alarm system monitors all alarms in the building, unlike the old system that was connected through a series of wires, not to each other.
Bob Rombach, University fire marshal, said that 44 buildings on campus have the new alarm system, and Malott is one of them. Instead of horns or beeps, if the new alarms detect smoke or flames, the alarms set off flashing lights and loud voice alerts.
“Previously, parts of the building were not covered well,” Rombach said. “At one point the building had two different fire alarm systems. Now the building has a ‘smart’ fire alarm system connected to KU 911 with graphic screens to alert dispatchers.”
The new “smart” fire alarm system monitors all alarms in the building, unlike the old system that was connected through a series of wires, not to each other. Rombach reports that in the “smart” system every device has a specific location and will automatically alert dispatchers to where the emergency is.
Other laboratory buildings on campus, like Smissman Research Laboratories on West Campus, aren’t so lucky. A fire in Smissman last year caused concern because the building contained only manual fire alarm pulls, Rombach said.
In contrast, Rombach said the alarms in Malott are so sensitive that they are sometimes even tripped by a settling of dust in the building.
Though the alarms provide for the quick and early detection of fires, other dangers might slip by if not monitored by students and employees. On Aug. 16, a leak in an air line going to an air dryer in a lab was detected by custodians cleaning the building.
Capt. James King, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical, responded to the custodians’ call to 911. King said the employees initially feared it was a gas leak and thanks to their attentiveness, the fire department was at the building quickly.
Rich Barr, Lawrence fire marshal, said professors and students working in the lab classrooms typically went through safety lectures and training courses to be attentive to workspace dangers.
He said that safe practices were the first and best prevention of any fire or emergency in the building.
“If something does occur in those labs, it occurs because someone took a short-cut,” Barr said. “The labs in Malott house a wide array of chemicals that constantly move around. For the fire department, it is important for users to follow the rules and safety precautions so we don’t have to come up there.”
Because many of the chemicals housed in Malott are flammable, toxic or corrosive, Barr said his department takes extra precautions when answering calls in the building.
A Hazardous Materials center was included in the Fire Station No. 5, 1911 Stewart Ave., to address concerns that might come from lab classes at the University.
“We upgrade our level of response and protection in dealing with chemical materials from laboratories,” Barr said.
Rombach said all chemicals in Malott are tracked through Environmental Health and Safety, and that his department inspected the labs annually to determine levels of safety.
Even with all the precautions, Welch said he still used extra care when working with chemicals in the labs.
“All who work in the lab are jointly responsible for the proper disposal of all chemicals and waste,” Welch said. “I am usually not as concerned, as long as those around me are exercising safe laboratory practices.”
Kansan staff writer Courtney Hagen can be contacted at chagen@kansan.com.
— Edited by Erin Wiley
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