Re: Foot Pedals on Sinks

[David Walland <David.Walland@bristol.ac.uk>]

Over here in the UK we normally use elbow operated taps in the higher activity areas.  It's only the medics who seem 
to like foot operated ones.  The advantage of elbow operated taps is that they can easily be hand operated and are 
also easy to decontaminate. In the University world in the UK my experience suggests that they are almost always 
hand operated and contimation almost never happens.  Of course in the big and nasty Nuclear World outside there 
may be very significant reasons for better facilities.  I'd say to the individual wanting higher level safety features than I 
think necessary "Produce a Risk Assessment showing a real need and I'll do something".

David Walland
RPO Univ of Bristol, UK


On Wed, 4 Oct 95 08:08:30 -0500 Sue M. Dupre wrote:

> From: Sue M. Dupre <DUPRE%PUCC.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
> Date: Wed, 4 Oct 95 08:08:30 -0500
> Subject: Foot Pedals on Sinks
> To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.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