Policies and Rules

• All instrument use is by reservation – you must make a reservation before using one of our instruments. Since the reservation system is now automated, there is no reason that this cannot be done.
• Reservations are made in half-hour blocks which begin and end either on the hour or the half hour. This is done to reduce the administrative burden of accounting and billing. Yes, with some instruments a half hour is a long time, but the fee for a half-hour is not onerous judicious aggregation of samples will help fill the time efficiently.
• If you are using an instrument during a time reserved by someone else, your experiment may be terminated without notice. (If someone is using an instrument during your reserved time, please advise the laboratory staff and we’ll handle it.)

The Shared Instrument Lab is an instrumental facility and we keep it clean for the sake of the instrumentation and the many people who come to work in the lab.

• GLOVES OFF! Do not touch with gloved hands anything that others touch with ungloved hands – this includes computer keyboards and mice, the instruments themselves, doorknobs, chairs, etc. If for some reason you have brought into the lab something that must be handled with gloves, you can don a glove on one hand in order to hold that item, and use the other, ungloved hand to manipulate the rest of the world. You will be reprimanded if you are caught wearing gloves and touching things you shouldn’t. Keep your hands clean to avoid chemical contamination of things you touch.
• Handle your own used chemicals – bring a container for your used chemicals and take them back to your lab for disposal. Take you unused materials with you as well, including samples that may be in an autosampler.
• No large quantities of hazardous materials may be brought into the lab. If you aren’t sure what constitutes a “large quantity”, please consult with the laboratory director. Likewise, nothing that could be considered extremely hazardous should be brought into the lab.
• Have a question regarding the safety of an experiment? Discuss it with the laboratory administration. If you are proposing an experiments that involves unusual hazards of any kind, formulate a safety plan beforehand and bring that to the discussion.
• Chemicals (including samples) brought into the lab should be labeled with their name, the name of the owner/generator, and associated hazards. (Multiple samples in a rack or box may have a single label affixed to the rack or box.)
• Clean up after yourself, promptly and completely.

• Be considerate of others and push stools and chairs under the benches when you leave.
• Do not move things around (other than what is ordinarily required in the course of an experiment).
• No unauthorized modifications shall be made to instruments or equipment.
• Problems in the lab (with instruments or equipment, with the lab itself, or with other users) should be reported promptly to the laboratory management.
• Do not remove anything from the lab that you did not bring into the lab. You are not permitted to borrow anything from the lab – not instrumentation, not equipment, not furniture, not chemicals – without the express permission of the lab administration.
• Likewise, do not leave/abandon samples or other materials or equipment in the lab without permission.
• You will not use, nor attempt to use, any instrument or equipment without being properly and officially trained and authorized beforehand. Only certain people are authorized to train you, so don’t ask your labmate or friend to provide training as they are not authorized.
• All instruments (and most of the equipment) have an accompanying logbook which you must sign both before using the instrument and at the end of your session.

• Access to the Shared Instrument Lab (Schrenk Hall 139 and 140) is by card swipe access. You will only swipe in with your own card; you will not allow anyone else to swipe in with your card. You agree that you are responsible for anyone that you admit to the lab, whether they are accompanying you or whether they slip through a door that you open. You will not prop open any door nor take any other action to defeat the latching mechanism.
• Card-swipe access for users outside the Department of Chemistry will only be available from 8:30am until 4:30pm; please plan your experiments accordingly.
• The lab is monitored for security and thus is not a private area. Security recordings will be reviewed as needed in order to deal with problems that may arise.

• You will follow the instructions displayed in the lab, be they in written documentation or on signs or digital displays, as well as instructions given by the laboratory staff.
• Insofar as possible, the instruments in the lab are hosted by computers running supported operating systems and are connected to the campus network. You are encouraged to use your network share (“S drive”) to transfer data between the lab and your usual workspace.
• Be mindful that lab access is a privilege which may be curtailed or revoked entirely due to infractions of the rules. These rules are in place to help protect you and the instruments.
• Updates to these rules will be published here as needed. Your continued use of the Shared Instrument Lab will constitute tacit agreement to abide by the updated rules.