RNS Building Safety Policies

Student Workers (TA/Researcher) must have prior authorization to (1) have access to RNS 253, 396, or 441, and/or (2) receive chemicals from the RNS 341 Window.

• RNS 253, 396, or 441. 
  • At the beginning of each academic term/summer, Laboratory Supervisors will provide a list of Authorized Student TAs/Workers/Researchers to the Biology Department Academic Administrative Assistant (AAA), who will share this list with the Biology Stockroom Manager (who oversees all activities in these stockrooms).
  • The Biology Stockroom Manager will examine the requests for any discrepencies, and then confer with the Chemical Hygiene Officer to ensure that the students have had safety training prior to being given access to these stockrooms.
  • Authorized Students will have access to a stockroom only during the times specified by the Laboratory Supervisor and Stockroom Manager.
• RNS 341.
  • For security reasons, student access to RNS 341 (with the exception of the RNS 341 stockroom workers) is not allowed.
• Receiving Chemicals from RNS 341 Window.
  • Student TAs/Researchers may receive chemicals from the RNS 341 window; however, their Supervisors first must add their Students’ names to the RNS 341 Window Access Google Sheet.  Those names will be cross-checked with the Chemical Hygiene Officer to ensure that they have had safety training before they are able to check out chemicals from the Stockroom Window.

• RNS 100, 105, 201B, 207, 221, 227, 240, 246, 293, 294, 348, and 470.
  • Supervisors must complete the Ole Card Door Access Request Form to obtain key card access for their students.
  • Turn in this form to your Chair/Supervisor.  Please allow at least one day for processing.
• RNS 110 & 111.  The RNS Machine and Wood Shops can be used only by trained and supervised individuals.  Please contact the Shops Supervisor, Devin Lackie (Physics, RNS 295), for further details.

• In general, Authorized Students are given a key(s) to the lab spaces in which they work.  Supervisors must submit a key request to the appropriate Departmental AAA.

• Faculty/Staff can open locked doors for the students/workers/researchers whom they supervise.
• Faculty/Staff are not required to open locked doors for students whom they do not supervise.

• If a Supervisor wishes for students to have access to a space that is normally locked, and for which the student does not have a key (and if the Supervisor is not present to open the door), then the Supervisor must enter the student name(s) into the RNS Room Access Form: Authorized Students Google Sheet.
  • Other Faculty/Staff may open (at their discretion) a locked door for students, provided that the students are listed in the RNS Room Access Form for the proper day & time.

• Supervisors Must Complete the Public Safety After-Hours Access Request Form.
  • This form asks Supervisors to indicate which students are allowed access, the room(s) they are allowed to access, and whether two students are required to be present.
  • This form is submitted electronically to Public Safety, who will maintain a list of authorized students.  It might be easiest for you to submit a separate form for each student.
    • When Public Safety Officers walk through the building in the evening they will check whether students in a particular space are allowed to be there.
    • If the students are not on the approved list then the Officer will instruct them to leave that room and the Officer will lock the room.

• St. Olaf College strongly encourages that faculty not expect or allow students access to RNS when it is closed. Occasionally, after-hours access is necessary when (for example) animals in the Vivarium need care.  In such cases, the faculty supervisor should contact Public Safety directly via email (publicsafety@stolaf.edu) to make arrangements.

During quiet times (i.e., nights, weekends, and academic breaks) there are simply fewer people in RNS – a lot fewer people to respond to an emergency and get help – and ANYONE who is isolated or alone in the building, no matter how tame the chemicals or experiment might be, is not considered truly safe.  Students must work in a safe environment and be trained to be cognizant of the safety issues in the spaces in which they work.  There is obviously a balancing act between the needs of students and faculty to get important things done and the serious need to insure a safe environment for everyone and to secure expensive equipment in the building.  Therefore:

• Student Workers/Researchers:
  1. Students can not work alone in laboratories where there is a risk of injury from hazardous substances or if the procedure could result in physical injury.
     • Alone means a person is beyond the visual or auditory range of any other individual for more than a few minutes at a time (definition from the National Safety Council).
  2. Work in Pairs.  Students should work in pairs or must get explicit permission from their faculty supervisor if they are not working in pairs.
     • If pairs of students are required, both must have completed appropriate on-campus lab safety training within the past year.
  3. After Hours/Weekends.  Students may work in a laboratory during evenings or weekends only when all of the following conditions are satisfied:
     • The individual is enrolled in a course requiring this work, or is a research employee, or is a departmental work-study awardee whose job description includes this work; and
     • Permission of the Supervisor is given to work at a specific time on a specific activity; and
     • The specific activity is an approved Standard Operating Procedure of the research group or course; and
     • The student adheres to all safety policies and procedures; and
     • Even if the procedure is deemed to not be hazardous then the Supervisor still must implement a system to check in with the solitary worker at regular intervals; and
     • Students must exercise good safety practices. For example, students should inform others where they are going late at night, avoid being in the building alone, and abide by the restrictions associated with particular rooms.
  4. Faculty need to state #1 – #3 upfront to their students and continue to reinforce a safe working environment.
• Faculty and Staff: Closed Hours
  • If you, a faculty/staff member, are working during closed hours, consider whether you are safe working alone, or whether should you have a partner.
  • If you are working with a student during closed hours, you must be working side-by-side with that student.
  • You are reminded of the reduced airflow issue during closed hours, since reduced airflow during closed hours means a reduced supply of fresh air and reduced exhaust.

If an experiment must be left unattended, the following rules must be followed: 

• Obtain permission from the Lab Supervisor prior to conducting any unattended operations.
• Leave the lights on, and post an appropriate warning note on the hall door so that the note can be read from the hallway.
• Make sure that any water hoses are securely fastened to faucets and apparatus to avoid floods.
• Return periodically to check on the unattended operation (frequency determined by the Laboratory Supervisor).
• Provide for the containment of toxic substances in the event of equipment or utility failure.
• If using a fume hood, you must fill out and post the “Fume Hood Activity Tag” to inform others (e.g., Facilities, Public Safety) that an unattended operation is in progress.