Foot Pedals on Sinks

["Sue M. Dupre" <DUPRE%PUCC.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>]

Good morning!  We've implemented a sewer disposal program in which each labora-
tory is allowed to designate a sink to be used for the disposal of limited
amounts of radioactivity.  During the implementation phase, I went from lab to
lab to provide training regarding our new sewer disposal program.  In one of
these sessions, a principal investigator argued (with some vehemence) that all
sinks in a laboratory, but especially the designated sink, should be fitted
with foot pedals.  If I remember correctly, he said that the institution he had
been at previously had footpedals on their sinks.

I think we've got something like 3-5 sinks here at Princeton with footpedals,
and those sinks are all in rooms which were designed to be "hot" rooms, where
nuclear chemistry or particularly hot work was going to be done.  So I'm won-
dering:  how common is it for radioisotope laboratories to have sinks with
footpedals?  I would like to hear from you if the labs at your institution do
routinely have footpedals on their sinks.  I'd like to hear from you if you
have strong feelings one way or the other.  This may be of general interest so
I'd suggest that more general remarks on this subject be posted to the list
and specific comments as to whether you do or do not have footpedals on your
sinks be posted directly to me.  I will provide a summary to the list of the
responses I receive.  Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Sue Dupre/Health Physicist/Princeton University
dupre@princeton.edu