The Telure Standard for a science labs

Eyewash and drench shower activation

Run every plumbed eyewash, eye and face wash and drench shower in the wing, one unit at a time, and stay with it: water on within a second of the valve moving, the valve staying open hands-free, dust caps lifting clean and staying off under flow, both eyepieces throwing a pattern that would actually cover both eyes rather than one, the shower head running full and the floor drain taking it, and the water running clear of rust and sediment before you stop. Record how long each unit took to run clear. Weekly is the point of this one: the dead leg feeding a unit nobody uses is where sediment and growth accumulate continuously, so the flush is as much of the check as the flow is. Then walk the route from the furthest bench the unit serves, with the room set up the way a class leaves it, and answer whether somebody with their eyes shut could get there. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Chemical waste accumulation point check

Every place waste actually collects, which is usually more places than the plan says: the prep room point, the sink-side carboys, the solvent bottles under the hoods, the broken glass bin and the sharps container. Containers closed rather than funneled and left open, compatible waste together and incompatible waste apart, secondary containment under every liquid, labels written the day the container was started and still legible, headspace left, and nothing standing in an aisle or under a bench where it does not belong. Weekly because waste accumulates continuously between collections and a container left open after a Friday lab is the single most common finding in any lab. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Fume hood performance and alarm check, hood by hood

Hood by hood, with the room set up as it is taught in and the doors as they normally sit. Read the airflow monitor or gauge with the sash at the marked working line and write the reading down against the figure this hood was set to hold at commissioning, which is on its sticker and in the certification report filed against this hood, not against any number in this pack. Prove the low-flow alarm rather than assuming it: use the monitor's own test function or drop the flow the way the manufacturer's manual describes, and confirm it is audible from the far bench. Then a tissue or a smoke pencil at the face and along the sill slot to see which way air is actually moving, the sash run to both stops and left where it should sit, baffles and airfoil clear, sill unobstructed, sash glass unchipped, and the certification sticker date read back against the registry. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Ventilated storage cabinet and enclosure check

Anything ducted rather than merely closed: under-hood acid and solvent cabinets, ducted flammable liquid cabinets, ventilated gas cabinets, glove boxes and any enclosure with a duct on the back of it. Confirm each is actually drawing, with a tissue at the vent slot or the indicator the cabinet carries, and not just assumed to be. Then the duct connection at the back made and clamped, the fusible link or damper undisturbed and unpainted, shelf liners sound, doors closing and latching on their own, and the contents matching what the cabinet is for. A ducted cabinet that has quietly stopped drawing looks exactly like one that is working from every angle a person in the room can see, which is why this one is answered with a tissue and never with a glance. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Chemical storage and segregation inspection

Cabinet by cabinet and shelf by shelf, in the store and in every teaching lab. Separation first: acids apart from bases, oxidizers apart from flammables and organics, water reactives dry, nothing corrosive stored above eye level, nothing heavy on a top shelf, shelf lips or restraints present. Then the containers themselves: caps on and not crusted, labels legible and identifying the contents rather than a code only the retired technician knew, dates on receipt and on opening, peroxide formers inside their date, nothing bulging, discolored, crystallized at the neck or separated. Then the cabinets: flammable liquid cabinet doors self-closing and latching, secondary containment under liquids, containment trays dry and unstained. Record what you are watching by shelf and position rather than as a count, and let the pattern build. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Compressed gas cylinder and regulator check

Every cylinder in the building and in the cage, in use or not. Secured upright above the center of gravity by a chain, strap or clamp that is actually taking load rather than hanging slack, valve caps on anything not connected, contents identified on the cylinder itself and not only on a tag that can fall off, full and empty separated, and cylinders segregated by content. Then the connections: regulator matched to the gas and to the outlet, no adapters improvising a fit, threads clean, hoses and tubing not perished, cracked or kinked, and no cylinder left connected to a bench nobody is using. Read the test date stamped on each neck ring and record it. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Emergency gas and power shutoff test

Room by room, operate the shutoff rather than looking at it. Trip the emergency gas shutoff for that lab and confirm every bench outlet and every hood tap in the room actually goes dead, one by one, not just the nearest; reset it and confirm the room comes back. Do the same for the emergency power cutoff where the room has one. Then answer whether each control is labeled for the room it serves, visible from the teaching position, and reachable without moving furniture. A shutoff is only ever proved by operating it, and monthly is the cadence because a bench refit, a new island or a partition can orphan an outlet overnight and nothing about the wall plate will change. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Extinguisher, blanket, spill kit and first aid station check

Station by station: each extinguisher in its bracket at its designated place, unobstructed and visible, pin and tamper seal intact, gauge in the operating band, hose and nozzle clear, body free of dents and corrosion, and the tag dated. Then the fire blanket in its canister with the tapes free, the acid and solvent spill kits stocked against their own contents list with nothing borrowed out of them, absorbent in date and neutralizer unset, and the first aid station stocked and in date. Monthly is the right cadence because these are the items most often borrowed, moved for a class and never returned, and the check is a look at the physical thing rather than at a service sticker. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Airflow direction and general exhaust check across the suite

With every door closed and the hoods running as they normally do, work out which way air is actually moving between the rooms: a tissue at the undercut of each lab door and each store door, and the answer recorded as into the room, out of the room, or still. Then the general exhaust and supply grilles pulling and blowing where they should, the chemical store exhaust running, the gas store vents clear, and no lab air finding its way into an office, a corridor or a classroom next door. Quarterly because this shifts with the season, with filter loading, with a balancing change made for somebody else's complaint and with any construction next door, and because nobody standing inside a room can feel it happening. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Bench, sink, tap and fitting inspection

The fabric of the room, which degrades too slowly to notice and then all at once. Bench tops for chemical attack, lifted or split seams, and edges where the surface has parted from the substrate; sinks, cup sinks and drainers for cracking and staining, traps and drip cups not leaking; water, gas and vacuum taps for drips, loose spindles and handles that turn past their stop; hood sash cords, counterweights and glass; drying racks, stools and step stools sound. Note anything that has moved since last quarter rather than only what is broken, because a seam that has opened two millimeters is the finding, not the one that has finally let go. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Personal protective equipment stock and condition inspection

Go through what is actually in the drawers and on the pegs, not what the order sheet says. Eye protection in the quantity a full class needs, not crazed, scratched through or missing side protection; face shields for the acid bench; gloves in the sizes people actually wear and in the materials this wing's chemicals need rather than one box of one kind for everything; lab coats present, fastening, and not carrying last year's stains; aprons and any specialist gear the lab work calls for. Semiannual is deliberate: PPE stock does not fail, it drains, and it drains over a term until the day a class is short. Time this one before the ordering cycle so the finding can be acted on. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Signage, placard and posted information check

Stand at each door and each bench and read what is posted as if you had never been in the building. Door placards describing what is actually stored inside now rather than what was there four years ago; the emergency contact card naming people who still work here and numbers that still reach them; eyewash and drench shower location signs visible from the bench, not from the doorway only; hood certification stickers present and legible; the notice saying where the chemical hygiene plan is kept, and the plan being there; evacuation routes and assembly points current. Semiannual because this goes stale on staff turnover and turnover happens at term boundaries, so the check is timed to follow them. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Chemical inventory reconciliation at the shelf

Room by room and shelf by shelf, with your own inventory list in hand: every container found is on the list, everything on the list is found where it says it is, and the quantity on the shelf is credible against the quantity recorded. Telure does not hold the list and is not trying to; what it records is that this reconciliation was done, on a date, by a named person, and what it turned up. Tag for disposal anything unlabeled, undated, beyond its useful life, or held in a quantity this wing has no plan to use, and open a corrective item for each one so the disposal is on the record rather than deferred into next year's count. Annual, timed before the ordering cycle, because this is the only check that catches both the bottle that arrived off-list and the one that was used up two years ago. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Fume hood and enclosure certification (qualified person)

Book a qualified person for every hood, ducted cabinet and ventilated enclosure, and have each one tested against the containment performance your own facility set for it at commissioning, using the test method your program and the manufacturer's documentation specify, with the room in its normal operating state rather than emptied for the visit. File the report against this task, record who performed it and the qualification they hold, and open a corrective-action item for every hood that failed, was down-rated, or was left with a restricted sash height, with whoever owns it and when it is due written into its note. Then confirm the sticker on each hood matches what the report actually says. Where your own jurisdiction, your district or your insurer sets the frequency or the tester's qualification, that governs. Telure records the certification; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's qualification. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.