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7 in the Chemical Laboratory Edited by NORMAN V. STEERE, 140 Melbourne Ave., S E . Minneapolis, Minn. 554 14
XCIV. Revised Safety Norman V. Steere
Procedures for Adoption of NFPA Standards All proposed amendments t o NFPA Standards are developed by NFPA member committees and published a month or two in advance of the annual meeting in the NFPA Technical Commill.ee Ileporta. Members of NFPA and other persons are urged t o read the advance reports and invited t o comment in writing or t o pat.ticipate in the discussion before Lhe mporls are acted on a t the A n n i d Meeting by vote of NFPA membrrship. Membership in the National Fire Protection Association is open t o any int,eveslcd person or organization for $30 per yeat.. The Association is located
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The amended Standard requires that tho alternate source of power shall be connected autometieally t o the f a n in case of main power failure. (These reqnirements appear t o be based on two assumptions-that delay of laboratory pmcedures irsine hoods would adverselv
Standards for Hospital Laboratories I n the first five months of 1972 there were several changes in safety standards which hnvc been used as part of the regnlations and ~ewedit&tion standards for hospitals and hospital lilhoratories. The Occ~ipntional Ssfcty and Heakh Act (OSIIA) reg~llatio~r of maximum sizes of glass conlniners for high-pority flammable solvents hnr been modified, and the 1970 Safety Staudard for Hospital Laboratories has heen amended by the National Fire Protection Association. The 1970 Safety Standard for Hospital Lshorator.ies, developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPAI. is refet~ncedin the 1970 ~ t s n d k r d sof'the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. The Standard, also known as NFPA No. 56C-1970, was described in this calnmn in September, 1971 [(See 48, A537 (1971)l. Among THE JOUKN.\L, the 33 amendments proposed for adoption a t the NFPA Armunl Meeting in May there were noteworthy changes in five main categories: emergency pnwer, flammable liquids, hoods, safety programs, and emergency equipment. These changes and the procedures for adoption of NPPA st,andards will be discussed in this article. Increases in the maximum sizes of glass eanbniners far high purit,y and corrosive flammable solvents that have been praposed under OSHA s e ~ d a t i o n and adopted in the 1972 NFPA Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code will be described in the discussion on flammable liquids.
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currently a t 60 Batterymarch St., Boston, Mass. 02110, and the 1973 Annual Meeting was scheduled for May 14-18 in St. Louis, Mo. Every laboratory organization thnt wants t o keep informed sbont and comment on proposed new or amended NFPA standards is encouraged t o join the NFPA and attend the Annual hleetings. Another way t o participate in the development of standards is to see that your national professional association is represented on the committees revising and writing the stnndzrds that will have a major effect on your operations. NFPA Regulations Governing Technical Committees restrirt the distribution of committee reports so that they are not generally available until one or two months before the Annual Meeting. However, a n NFPA Committee may a t any time seek outside comment to assist them in writing standards by setting up a subcommittee t o include representatives of cooperating orgnnizations and qualified specialists, or by mthoriaing distribution of drnfts t o secure comment and assistance. Since the standards adopted by the National Fire Protection Association are national coneensus standards, many of them have been adopted as mandatory standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Furthermore, The Oecnpatianal Safety and Health Administration of the U S . Department of Labor has asked NFPA and NFP.4 has nsked all its committees t o write fntnre standards in such a way that they are suitable for adoption as regulations.
Emergency Electrical Service One of the 1972 amendments t o the NFPA Safety Standard for Hospital Laboratories will require emergency elect t k d power for selected benches in mirrobiolagy and chemistry areas and far task ill~~minalion and selected ~.eceptaeles in blood matching and hematology arens. The department heed is given responsibility for the selections, and the conncction t o the emergency electrical system is required "at such time as any main wiring work is performed in these areas." Emergency electrical power is required for lahorat,ory hood exhaust fans in new constmetion, according t o amendments adopted a t t,he NFPA Annual Meeting.
can he documented, the emergency power requirements for hoods should he made less stringent aud less costly.)
Flammable and Combustible Liquids Electrical equipment, handling and storage, and container size limitations will be discossed separately under the main subject of flammnble and combostible liquids.
Electrical Equipment The Standard wes amended t o clarify the requirement that laboratory electrical equipment be clearly and prominently marked if the equipment is not safe far use with flan~mable or comhusliblc liquids. Strict interpretation of this requirement would require such marking for all electrical laboratory equipment that plugs into ordinary electl.ieal ontlets or that can release enongh heat or othm energy t o ignite organicvnpars. Another amendment requires that electrical laboratory equipment inlended fol. use with flammable or rombr~sliblc liquids he explosion proof, iutrinaically d e , or ventilated in a mnnner thnt will prevent accumulstion of flammable nlmospheres under normal conditions of operation. The section which recommends use oi hat water, steam, or electric mantles whenever possible, far heating flamn~nble or combustible liquids, has heen amended t o recommend that hot plates be used only when approved for the pwpose. (The term "aomoved" means. in XPPA
Handling and Storage Locations Solvents have apparently been stored and pollred in corridors, and the standard has been amended to plohibit such rmsafe practices. The added wording specifies that no flammable 01. romb~istihleliquids (Conlinuerl on page A@B)
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shall be "stored or transferred from one vessel t o another in any exit corridor or passageway leading t o anexit." The ~ t a n d a r d continues the requirements that working supplies of flammable and combustible liquids be limited t o a two-day supply, with a maximum openshelf capacity of ten gallons in a laboratory unit cut ofl from corridors. Qnantities from 10 t o 60 gal may be kept in special fire-resisting cabinets or storage rooms, and quantities in excess of 60 gal must be kept in ventilated storage rooms that meet special electrical, drainage, and fire resistance requirements.
Container Material and Size Limits The 1970 Safety Sbandsrd for Hospital Laboratories incorporated some size limitations for glass containers for flammable and combustible solvents that were established in the 1969 Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code and which were the basis for regdations adopted under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA). These limits for low boiling point (
