Safety

AOE Safety Procedures

All AOE personnel (faculty, staff, graduate students, wage employees and undergraduate researchers) are required to have core safety training from Virginia Tech Enviromental Health and Safety (EHS). To obtain you must register on the EHS Training webpage, enroll in and then pass the 5 required classes. These classes are:

Before personnel can begin work in any AOE Experimental Workspace they must have the explicit permission of the faculty or staff member responsible for that space (see table below), be listed in the Safety Management System site for that space, and have met all the safety form and additional training requirements for that space.

Each experimental workspace must have a current safety form that can be found on the door to the space. The form includes documentation specific hazards that users need to be aware of, training that is required before they begin work in that space, the chemicals present in the lab and the location of their safety data sheets, and any rigs within the space that have their own safety requirements (and form).

Copies of the safety forms for all AOE experimental workspaces, and experimental rigs are also linked in the following table. At the bottom of this page a second table is provided with links to documents or webpages with other relevent safety information.

 

Experimental Workspaces and Safety Forms

A full copy of each safety form listed below should be prominently posted next to the facility listed

Location Lab name and link to workspace safety form Responsible Faculty or Staff Member Safety Forms for experimental rigs used in this space
VTSS 133 Assured Vehicle Autonomy (AVA) Lab Mathieu Joerger, 1-6707, joerger@vt.edu
VTSS 150 Cavitation Lab  Olivier Coutier-Delgosha, 1-3168, ocoutier@vt.edu Cavitation Rig 1
Cavitation Rig 2
Single Bubble Generation
VTSS 158 Experimental Aeroacoustics Lab William Devenport, 1-4456,devenport@vt.edu Anechoic Wall-Jet Wind Tunnel
ONR Rotor Rigs
Anechoic Open Jet Tunnel
VTSS 235 Model Building Center Michael Philen, 1-2548, mphilen@vt.edu
VTSS 237 Autonomous Aerospace Systems (A2Sys) Lab Ella Atkins, 1-5940, ematkins@vt.edu
VTSS 239 Space Systems Lab Bradley Denby, bdenby@vt.edu
VTSS 245 Shared UAV Motion Tracking Lab Mathieu Joerger, 1-6707, joerger@vt.edu
Surge 118A Mechatronics Teaching Studio and Electronics Lab, Electronics Shop John Burleson, 1-4430, jburles@vt.edu  
Surge 118E Aerospace Structures and Materials Lab Michael Philen, 1-2548, mphilen@vt.edu Instron Impact System
Instron Uniaxial Testing Frame
RB2 100 Aerospace Structures and Materials Lab (Composites and Materials)

 Gary Seidel, 1-9897, gary.seidel@vt.edu

Scanning Electron Microscope
Charpy Impact Frame

RB2 100 Solid Rocket Propulsion Lab Greg Young, 1-5222, gyoung1199@vt.edu
RB2 100 Materials for High-Temperature and Corrosive Environment Laboratory Yao Fu, 1-8722, yaof@vt.edu ATS creep machine
Instron Fatigue machine
Tabletop drill and lathe
Bridgman furnace
Thermofisher Furnace
RB2 101 Vortical Flow Lab Todd Lowe, 1-7650, kelowe@vt.edu Small Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
Portable Laser Doppler Velocimetry System
Norris 5 Hydro-Elasticity Lab  Christine Gilbert, 1-9428, cikeda@vt.edu Tow Tank Carriage
Tow Tank VPMM
Water Tank
Slamming Tank
Goodwin Hall 140 Showcase Undergraduate Lab Aurelien Borgoltz, 1-1959, aborgolt@vt.edu Open Jet Wind Tunnel
3D printer
AEDL AOE Machine Shop James Lambert, 1-6752, jalamber@vt.edu  
Kentland Farm, Whitehorne Rd. Kentland Experimental Aerial Systems Laboratory  Craig Woolsey, 1-8817, cwoolsey@vt.edu  
1991 Kraft Dr, Suite 2008. Nonlinear Systems Lab  Craig Woolsey, 1-8817, cwoolsey@vt.edu  

 

Blank Forms & Information

Document/Link Description
Experimental workspace safety review form This form must be completed for any experimental workspace in the department by the responsible faculty or staff member. The form integrates the HazCom plan and has been approved by EHS. Forms must be renewed on April 15th each year.
Experimental rig safety review form This form must be completed for any any potentially hazardous piece of equipment whose safe operation requires more detailed instructions and procedures than can be included in the Experimental Workspace Safety Review form for the area in which the rig is housed. Forms must be renewed on April 15th each year.
EHS Training website  Examine your official training record and training requirements (VT PID logon required.)
EHS Lab Management and Chemical Registry website  Examine chemical registry and training requirements for experimental workspaces with which you are associated (VT PID logon required.)
Environmental Health and Safety Services general website  EHS is responsible for safety university wide, and provides safety training and advice in many areas relevant to laboratory safety.
VT Health and Safety Policy  This document must be read by all faculty, staff and students before working in any AOE laboratory. 
Emergency Contact Form  This form should be filled out and posted on all lab doors. PIs must include there information at the top of the form. Secondary and other contacts may be changed from this listed if desired.
Safety Form Notice Board Header  These pages should be printed out and posted along along with each completed safety review form, so that the form and its expiration date are clearly visible to any lab/facility user.  
Employers Accident Report Form  If a student or employee suffers an injury on university-owned or occupied space that requires, or might require medical attention, an "Employer’s Accident Report" must be completed by the responsible faculty member or supervisor. Instructions for completing the form are here.
Universal Checklist for Safety Inspections This checklist provides a high-level summary of the issues EHS would inspect for during an evaluation of our labs. It is a valuable tool for judging your own lab/workspace.
PPE Hazard Assessment Checklist This list is to be used for assessing new or newly identified risks
VT Health and Safety Policy  This document must be read by all faculty, staff and students before working in any AOE laboratory. 
AOE Emergency Action Plan  Instructions in the event of an emergency 
Safety Presentation on Fiberglass  This is a presentation from the Department of Mechanical Engineering that includes safety information on handling and using fiberglas and epoxy resins. It is intended for users of the WARE lab, but the important information if provides is relevant to fiberglas use in any laboratory/workshop environment 
Mercury-containing devices  It is important to get rid of mercury-containing devices, such as barometers or thermometers, unless they are absolutely necessary. EHS will gladly take them, and indeed may have money to replace them with non-mercury containing equivalents. If you have such a device contact Robert Lowe (231-2510, rlowe@vt.edu) of Enviromental Health and Safety Services to arrange for pickup and replacement as soon as possible.
Hand tool Basics  If power tools are underrated as a source of potential danger, hand tools are even more so. They might look harmless, but they are the source of many injuries. In fact, an estimated 8% of all workplace compensable injuries are caused by hand tool accidents. These injuries can be serious, including loss of fingers or eyesight. 
In the event of an accident  This list, provided by Robin Miller of EHS, provides steps to take in case of an accident or emergency in a lab. It should be posted in all AOE labs..