Stockroom Policy Statement - Working Alone or After Hours, Adopted in Fall, 2002

Whenever you plan to work alone or after hours you must notify your supervisor or a chemistry department faculty member beforehand.

In general, employees should not work in the chemical stockroom, when a chemistry faculty member or supervisor is not on the third floor of Sattgast Hall. It is always best if there are two or more people around and a chemistry faculty member or your supervisor is present. However, sometimes it may necessary to work off hours. Here are some situations in which it may be permissible to work after hours in the stockroom:

Situation 1

Student employees may work alone in the chemical stockroom under the following conditions:

No chemicals are being used and the chemical storerooms are closed and locked.
No open flames are being used.

Situation 1 applies if you would like to work on the computer or do office work, and the storerooms remain locked and closed during the entire time you are working.

Note: If you wish to work alone under this situation, you must make arrangements to ensure that the stockroom is secure after you leave. That means that you must have a faculty member lock the flammable storage room and the stockroom door so that all is secure when you leave.

Situation 2

Student employees may work with certain chemicals in the chemical stockroom under the following conditions:

Two or more stockroom personnel are present during the entire time work
No chemicals with an NFPA safety rating of 3 or 4 in any category (health, flammability or reactivity) will be used.
No potentially hazardous laboratory setups are being used. You must have prior approval of a faculty member to work with any particular laboratory setup.
No open flames are being used.

Situation 2 applies if you would like to prepare a lab after hours or if you are performing research that is approved by a chemistry department faculty member. , and the storerooms remain locked and closed during the entire time you are working.

Note: If you wish to work under this situation, you must make arrangements to ensure that the stockroom is secure after you leave. That means that you must have a faculty member lock the flammable storage room and the stockroom door so that all is secure when you leave.

Situation 3

If you wish to work alone or with another in the stockroom and a faculty member or your supervisor is present in the stockroom or on the third floor.

Notify them of the task you will be performing and get their permission before proceeding.
If you have their permission to work, you must then check in with them every hour and check out with them before you leave. Any task approved by the chemistry faculty member or supervisor may be performed at this time.
For this situation to apply, the faculty member or supervisor must be present on the third floor during the entire time you are working.
If the faculty member leaves the floor, work must stop, unless it falls under the first situation listed above.

Situation 3 applies if you would like to prepare a lab after hours or if you are performing research that is approved by a chemistry department faculty member and it is necessary to work under conditions that other than those listed under situations 1 and 2.

Note: If you wish to work under this situation, you must check in with the supervising faculty member once every hour and before leaving to ensure that the labs and stockroom are secured. That means that you must have a faculty member lock the flammable storage room, the stockroom door and any labs that were used so that all is secure when you leave.

For all three of the above situations, you must always make arrangements to ensure that the stockroom and the chemical storerooms are secure before you leave.

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