Emergency procedures

Cleanrooms evacuation procedure

The CMi clean room is equipped with sensors to detect even very small leaks of dangerous chemicals. If a dangerous situation such as the leakage of a toxic gas, or a fire is detected, a an acoustic alarm and a flashing RED light alarms the clean room users.

The CMi Evacuation Procedure when the combined sound horn and/or red flashing lights turn on is:

  1. Exit the laboratory through the nearest exit door located at the end of each corridor. Do not stop to remove your clean room garments.
  2. Go to the nearest stair tower located at the north and south of the building and exit to the ground floor. If the stair tower is involved or obstructed, select another route.
  3. DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS.
  4. Proceed immediately to the CMi secretariat BM 1.124 and assemble there. If you cannot account for everyone and suspect that someone may still be inside, notify a member of the Fire Department or CMi emergency response team.
  5. Do not re-enter the laboratory until authorization is given by the emergency response team

On the other hand almost every equipment has timers, level detectors, pressure detectors etc. and they are all sources of frequent alarms. Some of these alarms are quite nasty, but they should not be confounded with a serious alarm.

Chemical exposure procedure

Some of the chemicals used inside the wet bench are very nasty.

The chemical exposure procedure if you get into contact with an aggressive chemical:

  • Body : Run to the emergency showers which are installed at the entrance to each zone. Pull the lever and shower off the chemicals. Remove your clothes, and rinse all chemicals from your skin for 5 – 15 minutes with water .
  • Eye : If a chemical has splashed into your eye, go to the eye rinse, which is next to the emergency shower. Activate the eye rinse and let the stream of water rinse your eye.
  • In both cases: Call 115 / CMi staff to get appropriate assistance. 

See Safety Rules to use Wet-Benches of CMi documentation (last page) for more details.

HF burns can be particularly hazardous. An insidious aspect of HF burns is that there may not be any discomfort until long after exposure. The F- ions diffuse through your skin and the tissue of your finger and will finally get to your bone where they start to dissolve your bone. These HF burns are extremely serious and result in massive tissue damage. Remember that, it doesn’t produce any burning sensation until after it has already done damage. Any HF burns should be treated by a physician.