Report all problems to the facility manager. There is a speed dial telephone at the entrance.
In the case of an alarm sounding in the lab DO NOT ENTER the lab and notify the lab or safety manager immediately.
A safety induction must be completed to all users before entering the NMR facility. Visitors are not permitted in the NMR facility unless authorized by a person below and accompanied at all times
Gloves & lab coats should not be worn in the NMR facility.
Food & drink are not permitted at any time.
Users are responsible for cleaning up broken glass if a NMR tube is broken. A breakage or incident report must be completed.
Report all problems to the facility manager.
Safe Method of Use for NMR Spectrometers
Significant Hazards
· Strong magnetic field present which may interact with medical implants or devices such as pacemakers.
· Magnets quench resulting in the venting of large volumes of helium and/or nitrogen gas.
· Oxygen deficiency due to cryogens. Do not enter and exit the lab when the oxygen alarm is triggered.
Required Controls
Personnel
· Only authorised (trained) persons are permitted to use any NMR instrument. Names of these trained persons are recorded in a prominent location and is on the nmr user list.
Safety
· All personal/magnetic items (keys, bank cards, cell phones etc.) should be placed in the tray provided when entering the room. NB. Loose change is magnetic and should be removed from pockets before approaching the spectrometers.
· Lab coats should NOT be worn in NMR rooms to prevent contamination from other areas.
· Safety glasses are not generally required.
· In the event of a magnet quench, all personnel should vacate the room immediately. The extractor fan should be activated as you are leaving if it is safe to do so. Under no circumstances should anyone enter the NMR room immediately following a quench.
· Notify lab manager. Applicable staff members direct contact details are programmed into the telephone in the NMR room.
· Should you need to use the ladder to insert your sample, take care and hold on to the rail.
· Transporting NMR tubes for analysis the tubes MUST be held within a secondary container. Also, if you are travelling from AM to the NMR labs please go via the “back” route through the 2nd floor of Laby and avoid going past Wishbone Café as this is a very public area and there are some H&S concerns about our research materials going past food areas.
Magnet Quenches
Overview: A quench of a superconducting magnet occurs when resistance is encountered in the coil causing the generation of heat and subsequent loss of superconducting properties
This will result in both liquid helium and nitrogen converting to the gaseous phase. Each litre of liquid helium expands by a factor of 740 and each litre of liquid nitrogen by 680 resulting in an oxygen depleted atmosphere.
These may occur at any time but are extremely rare. The risk of a quench is highest when liquid helium levels are low or during a liquid helium transfer. In the event of a quench, the following procedures MUST be followed:
- All users to exit the room.
- It may be necessary to drag an unconscious person from the room.
- Press the ventilation button located at the exit.
- Do NOT renter the room under any circumstances while the oxygen sensor is still alarmed.
- If facility staff are not present alert university security personnel who will notify the necessary personnel.
- Request first aid for injured persons if required.
Facility staff are to:
- Secure access to the NMR facility and notify security.
- Mute the ventilation alarm.
- Obtain the portable oxygen sensor and assess oxygen levels.
- Insure that the facility is safe.
- Resume normal operations after clearance from health and safety.
In the event of a quench or low oxygen alarms occurring after hours, security will secure the facility and notify NMR facility staff. The NMR facility is not to be entered until clearance is given by facility manager.
Unconscious Person
Overview: Many causes are possible for a person to collapse and enter a state of unconsciousness. However, given the nature of the NMR facility, an oxygen depleted atmosphere must always be considered. Response: The following guidelines MUST be followed after discovering an unconscious person in the NMR facility.
If the victim is observed through the door window or from the entrance, do NOT enter the room.
Notify facility manager/security on the speed dial phone at the entrance.
Secure access to the NMR facility.
Activate ventilation system at the entrance of the NMR facility.
Render assistance to collapsed person if safe to do so.
Cryogenic Liquids (Nitrogen and Helium):
Cryogenic liquids surround the magnets inside the cylindrical magnet housings. These liquids are extremely cold and can cause frostbite .burns. upon contact, they evaporate rapidly and can generate an enveloping cloud that can cause asphyxiation in a confined space. In the unlikely event that a magnet housing is breached, the facility is fitted with an oxygen depletion detector. Additional mobile cryogen storage containers (cylindrical vessels on wheels) may be present within the NMR facility. In terms of risk from cryogens, treat them the same as a magnet (however, they are not magnetic). Do not touch these vessels, as valves and outlets may be very cold and do not operate valves on these vessels. Reduce the risk of damaging the magnet housing or a storage vessel and coming into contact with cryogenic liquids by maintaining a safe distance.
High Magnetic and Associated Radio Frequency (Rf) Fields:
The high magnetic and RF fields are generated by superconducting electromagnets. Although the superconducting magnets are shielded care regarding the following should be taken.
1. Direct Health Risks
Dangerous to the operation of electrical prosthetic implants such as cardiac .pacemakers.. Potentially dangerous to persons with other metallic prosthetic implants. Eliminate the risk: Persons with such implants cannot enter the NMR facility. These magnetic fields pose no additional direct health risk.
2. Indirect Health Risks
These fields are approximately 1000 times stronger than are likely to be normally encountered by members of the public. They can pull metal objects (tools, nails, bolts etc.) from grasp and cause them to become airborne and fly towards the magnet. There is risk to the individual holding the object (wrist strains, breaks etc.) and risk to an individual in the path of the flying object. The magnetic field increases steeply as you approach the magnet. Although the current developed magnets are shielded that reduce the magnetic fields in the horizontal plane there is still a large magnetic field present in the vertical plane of the magnet. Eliminate the risk by leaving all nonessential magnetic objects (tools, phones etc.) at the entrance of the NMR facility. Reduce the risk by maintaining a safe distance of greater than 2 metres or stay beyond the safety barriers, which ever is further. NO MAGNETIC OBJECTS (TOOLS, NAILS, NUTS/BOLTS ETC.) ALLOWED BEYOND THE SAFETY BARRIERS
3. Damage to electrical/mechanical/magnetic data devices
These fields can damage objects such as telephones, watches, computers, ATM cards etc. Eliminate the risk by leaving all nonessential devices at the entrance of the NMR facility. Reduce the risk by maintaining a safe distance of greater than 2 meters or the stay beyond the safety barriers, which ever is further.