Safety advice for proposals and EAs

Owned by AS Spectroscopy Wiki
Oct 25, 2023
2 min read

The beamline staff and safety team need to know the risks of all aspects of your experiment. We need to see that you also understand them and will work with safety as a priority. This includes both the safety of working with sample environments as well as your samples.

Please contact Beamline staff before submitting your proposal to ensure your experiment meets the safety requirements.

Please contact Beamline staff before submitting your proposal to ensure your experiment meets the safety requirements.

If your proposal is successful then more information to show you understand the risks and how to work safely will be required on the EA.

EAs always require the following:

  • The PPE needed to safely work with your samples and the sample environment

  • How to clean up a spill

  • How to dispose of the sample after your experiment

  • How to safely work around high or low temperature environments (if applicable)

  • How to work safety with your specific samples

  • How to work safely around the gases you are using (if applicable)

  • Evidence that you wont be producing prohibited or restricted chemicals during your experiment

  • Is your electrical equipment tested and tagged (if applicable)

It is always better to provide more detail rather than less. The EA will be rejected if essential information is not included.

Remember: the hazards of everything bought onsite need to be declared

Remember: the hazards of everything bought onsite need to be declared

There are some chemicals and sample types that cannot be brought onsite or that require additional documentation to be approval before the experiment can proceed. These are:

Prohibited chemicals and samples

These are prohibited onsite under all circumstances. Proposals requiring or reactions that produce these chemicals will be considered not technically feasible. These include but are not limited to:

  • Hydrofluoric acid (HF)

Restricted chemicals and samples

These require a risk assessment to be submitted with your EA, and include but are not limited to:

  • Beryllium

  • Cadmium

  • Lead

  • Acrylonitrile

  • Benzene

Radioactive materials

All safety aspects will need to be discussed in the proposal. Users will need to provide details on the type of radioactive material, sample activity, form, how it will be used in the experiment and cleanup procedure if needed.

Hazard statements

Some chemicals and samples have specific hazard statements that require a safety data sheets (SDS) to be submitted with the EA. These materials will be flagged in the EA.

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