Cornell's Nanomove: Decontamination, Safety Reviews, and Various Lessons Learned

In the fall of 2003, the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF) relocated from its 22 year-old home, Knight Lab, into Duffield Hall, a new nanotechnology research building with approximately 30 research labs totaling over 4,600 m2 (50,000 ft2) of research space and a 2,300 m2 (25,000 ft2) class 1000 cleanroom. The relocation involved moving over a three month period more than thirty major pieces of sensitive research equipment, many which used toxic or corrosive gases or liquids. In addition to the relocated equipment, the facility also installed over 20 new pieces of equipment during the initial move-in phase. To ensure the safety of the personnel moving and reinstalling the equipment, which included Cornell University personnel as well as outside contractors, a decontamination procedure and certification process was developed and implemented by CNF staff. This process is typically done by an outside specialty contractor, particularly in work situations involving outside tradesman. The decontamination protocol covered wet process equipment as well as vacuum and gas systems and included review and signoff by tool owners, lab management, the Duffield Hall construction management team, and a representative from Cornell Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). With this process, Cornell was able to avoid the considerable expenses of an outside safety contractor. Additionally, as part of the commitment to the City of Ithaca and the local fire company during the original Environmental Impact Statement performed by the University, Duffield Hall management committed to a thorough safety and engineering review of each tool installed in Duffield Hall, both within the CNF clean room as well as within other laboratories in the building. A Pre-Operational Safety and Environmental Review (POSER) process was developed by CNF staff, Cornell EH&S, and outside consultants and applied to all tools (approximately 70) during the post construction move in period. The review process involved looking at all operational, facilities, and maintenance operations for each tool to look for and document issues related to personal exposure or injury, facilities loading, environmental releases, as well as impact to other research equipment in the building. This team-based review is done on a tool by tool basis, and is updated upon major tool or process changes. The review continues to be used for all major and minor tool installations in Duffield Hall. Cooperation between staff, facilities, construction, and safety personnel were critical in both the decontamination certification process and the POSER process. The lessons learned and the experience gained should be of value to others in the process of moving into new advanced laboratory facilities.