[labnetwork] Changes in shared facility operations

[DeRose, Guy A.]

Hello Labnetwork colleagues,

With all of the changes that are rapidly taking place these days, we hear about institutions including ours going to remote lectures, limiting how many researchers are working in individual faculty labs to spread people out, remote laboratory classes, administrative staff working from home / telecommuting, etc., but nothing that I have seen is addressing the situation that many of us on this mailing list are in, which is the area of shared user facilities. I thought this list could be a good resource for us to share our experiences and updated practices (kind of like a roundtable that might take place at a UGIM meeting).  These policies are changing rapidly, but I thought this forum would be a good place to discuss best practices and examples.

The official policies and response to COVID-19 at The California Institute of Technology (Caltech<https://www.caltech.edu/>), can be found at this link<https://www.caltech.edu/coronavirus>, and I do NOT speak for Caltech.  What I will report here is what my staff and I are implementing at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) shared user facility<https://lab.kni.caltech.edu/index.php/The_Kavli_Nanoscience_Institute_Laboratory_at_Caltech> while following Caltech’s and other official guidelines. This list is not exhaustive, but in addition to the regular practices that have always been in place.

Facility cleaning/disinfecting
In order to provide more effective sanitation, the cleaning spray bottles are now filled with 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA), 30% deionized (DI) water, instead of 50/50.
Staff will wipe down door handles, badge readers, terminals, gowning benches, and other surfaces at least daily with IPA spray on a wipe, and all lab users are encouraged to wipe down any surface they think needs cleaning.
All users have been instructed to wipe the inside of the face shields with IPA on a Texwipe before and after using the face shield.

Personal cleanliness
When leaving the cleanroom, users are encouraged to keep their clean gloves on to the point where they leave the sub-basement (lab) level of the building to avoid touching door handles and elevator buttons.
Users are encouraged to wash their hands before and after using the cleanroom, and door-free access to sinks is available.
Single-use paper towels are available outside of the entrance door for users to enter without touching the door handle.
Users are instructed to not touch the hoods, gowns, or boots with bare (un-gloved) hands.
Cleanroom garments are to be hung up so that the hoods of adjacent suits do not touch (front of one is next to the back of the adjacent suit).

Social Distancing
Only one person at a time is allowed to go through the air shower in either direction.
Our Engineering and Applied Science division<http://www.eas.caltech.edu/> is advising that staff work from home where possible, and we have adopted a plan to minimize the number of cleanroom technical staff on campus and in the lab at a time. As Caltech HR policies change, we will adapt.
We are working on ways to hold remote staff meetings through Zoom or something similar.

These are the highlights of what we are doing today, but could change at any time based on directions from above. I am trying to provide frequent updates to our lab members, staff, faculty director, and administration.

Would anyone else like to share?

Best regards,
Guy

Guy DeRose, PhD, Member of the Professional Staff
Associate Director of Technical Operations, Kavli Nanoscience Institute
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA
(O) 1-626-395-3423 (M) 1-626-676-8529
http://kni.caltech.edu
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