The Center offers access to a diverse set of powerful, expensive and potentially hazardous processes and techniques. Actively ensuring the safety of all student members and employees is the first concern of the Center. Stewarding Center resources to be of the most benefit to the most students is the second.

Definitions

• HazCom: Hazard communication, including Right-to-Know, etc.
• PPE: Personal protective equipment, e.g. safety glasses, gloves, etc.
• Process: members use processes to create a results in the Center. This may involve one or more machines, hand tools, application of industrial products, etc. Note machines can often be used in very different ways based on the process which can change the hazards present, and PPE required.
• SOP: Standard Operating Procedures are pre-approved methods of using equipment, products, tools, etc. as a part of Center processes.

Strategies

The Center provides safety and controls hazards with an integrated safety plan which includes both policy and controls:

1. The Buddy System
2. Control Banding
3. Tying individuals’ access to spaces and processes to their training and available supervision through tracking and reservations built into the OS1 Project Management System

The Buddy System

The Buddy System has been recorded in print from 1920, and has been defined as: “an arrangement in which two individuals are paired (as for mutual safety in a hazardous situation)” by Merriam-Webster.

All access to spaces or use of processes in the Center requires every individual to have a designated Buddy to guarantee timely assistance in an emergency

To qualify as a Buddy requires, at a minimum, all of the following:

1. Has all required HazCom training for the space they are in
2. Has consented to be your Buddy for this session
3. Is physically present with the you throughout any work being done

Note: Center Employees on shift both provide, and must consent to, being a Buddy.

External Buddy

It is permitted for an individual to recruit a Buddy from an individual who is not interested in using the Center, and let them into the Center to act as a Buddy. The Buddy must have completed the Center agreement and all appropriate HazCom for the spaces.

Buddy Examples

Here are several minimal examples that qualify as the Buddy System. Note, in both cases the Buddy must have been informed and consented for this specific work session:

• The individual is working in BIDC 103B Hot Works with their buddy joining them to learn the process
• The individual is using one of the enclosed CNC Machines in BIDC 103 Manufacturing and their buddy is just standing with them watching them work

Control Banding

Control Banding has been widely adopted since the 1970s. It replaces large numbers of individual hazard controls with a hazard classification framework that groups hazards and controls into a small number of “bands”. Each hazard can now be classified into a band, labeled, and all band controls, e.g., PPE & Dress, SOPs, and HazCom, now apply. Control Banding is simpler to communicate, train, apply and enforce, vastly improving compliance and safety.

Control Banding in the Center is based on “A Control Banding Approach for Safety in Shops and Makerspaces” by Wilczynski, V. (2018).

For every machine:

1. If you are unsure, stop and seek help
2. You must be wearing appropriate PPE for the space AND the process/machine
3. You must have a Buddy

Responsible Individuals

Every policy is specified by individual’s level of responsibility. Note you can always meet a responsibility with a more responsible individual.

In ascending order:

1. Student Member untrained
2. Student Member trained on the process/machine
3. Student Member trusted on the process/machine
4. Peer Mentor trained on the process/machine
5. Peer Mentor trusted on the process/machine
6. Staff

Policies

Lab Hazard Assessments

Each lab area has its own respective PPE requirements, prohibited items or actions, and general hazards present in the space. These general Hazard Assessments are posted at the primary entrance to each lab and must be reviewed prior to beginning any work to ensure the user is aware of the possible dangers and arrives prepared for their reservations. These assessments constitute the minimum requirements for working in a given lab, though individual processes or machines may require additional PPE which will be communicated by the Peer Mentor in consultation.

Hazard Assessments follow typical HazCom symbology as in the examples below:

Accident, Damage, or Injury

Accidents, damage to Center resources, and injuries should be reported to a Center employee immediately and further detailed in the Center’s Incident Report Form: https://forms.office.com/r/z0mRVzxhG7