Organization is the Key
Organizing your laboratory alarm monitoring system is crucial to ensuring the safety and integrity of your research or experiments. Here are some steps to help you effectively organize and manage your alarm monitoring system:
Identify Alarm Categories:
Start by identifying the types of alarms your laboratory needs or uses.
Common categories include:
- Equipment alarms (e.g., temperature, Co2, door open, power failure).
- Environmental alarms (e.g., humidity, air quality, oxygen).
- Building Management systems or Facilities alarms (e.g.,HVAC, house systems, RODI, Vacuum)
Equipment Alarms:
Provides external capabilities to monitor your equipment, help identify patterns and highlights problems. Equipment alarms may be wired or wireless.
Special consideration for wired systems – what happens when the power goes out? Have a plan in place for that contingency.
Environmental alarms
Monitors humidity, temperature, oxygen etc. Some environmental alarms are required for safety – but there are many choices
Special consideration for environmental alarms – Some of them can sound like fire alarms and lead to confusion about response.
Building Management Systems (BMS) or Facility alarms
Monitors and controls the mechanical and electrical systems in the building, from the temperature in the rooms to the lighting in the parking lot.
Special consideration for BMS alarms: automation allows the building and systems to operate more efficiently, resulting in lower energy costs, enhanced security, and a more responsive building environment.
Prioritize Alarms
Determine the criticality of each alarm type. Not all alarms are equally important, so assign priorities with the appropriate response to each type of alarm.
Most labs will have primary alarms – those that are the most critical and need to be responded to asap, then secondary alarms – for other equipment that may not be as important. Usually under counter fridges or freezers don’t require alarms, but some clients like to have alarms on all equipment that stores research. Often the choice comes down to costs.
Alarm Notifications:
Common methods include visual indicators, audible alarms, text/email alerts, and automated phone calls.
Responses:
Once you have prioritized alarms and determined the response needed for each type of alarm, designate the person(s) responsible for responding to each type of alarm. Decide who will respond to an alarm after working hours, or during weather events. Ideally, the chosen person will live close by and be able to respond quickly should the need arise.
Emergency Response
The goal is to never need it. The last thing anyone wants is to have to get out of bed to check an alarm going off in the middle of the night. But when it does happen, there needs to be a quick response. Make sure that you have documented the correct response to each alarm situation.
If you are the designated responder:
- Identify what you are receiving the alert for: freezer, +4 Degree, gateway, power loss/outage, etc.
- Notify all necessary parties, via the chosen method (email, text, etc.), about the details of the alert such as locations – This will help determine if someone is on-site and using the instrument.
- Rule out possibilities other than equipment failure.
- Use emergency call list to notify appropriate individuals.
- Go to the site after notifying the team you are responding. If you cannot make it to the site, coordinate another team member to be the responder.
In the event of freezer failures:
- Start the process of transferring items to equivalent storage.
- Consolidate items as best as possible.
- Make note of where everything is moved from and to.
- Notify team of all the steps that were taken.
- Take pictures if needed.
- Transfer shelf by shelf if possible. (Top to top, etc.)
Identified Alarm Escalation:
Establish an escalation process for alarms. If the primary responsible person doesn’t acknowledge or address the alarm within a certain time, it should automatically escalate to a higher level of authority. Establishing a primary and secondary responder for each alarm is critical for appropriate coverage.
Alarm Acknowledgment:
Set up a system for personnel to acknowledge alarms. This ensures that alarms are not overlooked or ignored. Elaborate on the steps that are taken for alarm acknowledgment and communication with the team.
Data Logging:
Maintain a log of all alarm events, including timestamps, responsible personnel, and actions taken. This data can be valuable for analysis and compliance purposes.
Other Alarm Considerations
Regular Maintenance is Vital
Ensure the alarm system is regularly maintained, including sensor calibrations, battery replacements, and software updates. Don’t wait until there is a problem. Being proactive with regularly scheduled maintenance helps to mitigate emergency situations.
Minimize Door-Open Events
Most monitors tolerate a 10-point temperature swing. Anything outside of that window will trigger an alarm. Then, notifications repeat every thirty minutes until responded to. Doors opened frequently (or kept open too long) can cause unnecessary temperature fluctuations and alarms. Frequent notifications of temperature fluctuations can cause some people to disregard them.
Staff Training:
Train laboratory personnel on how to respond to different alarm scenarios. They should know the appropriate actions to take in case of an alarm. Also, train them on best practices that will help to minimize the number of alarm notifications they receive. It’s a good idea to review and evaluate your response each year and have an annual 30-minute refresher course for staff.
Organization:
No one likes to get notifications, but the more organized you are in general, the fewer reasons for notifications. Organization inside the freezer, like labeled racks and boxes, makes it easy to know where things go and helps maintain temperatures and minimize fluctuations. Best practices like putting unchilled samples into insulators such as cryo cools instead of directly into the freezer can also reduce temperature swings. Boxes and labeled containers also make transfer easier during a freezer-down event. At Venture Forward, we use a chart on each freezer mapping whose samples are where. Labeling is paramount! This is especially helpful when transferring samples in an emergency.
Documentation:
Create detailed documentation for the alarm monitoring system, including alarm types, procedures, maintenance records and contact information for responsible personnel.
Testing and Drills:
Conduct regular alarm testing and drills to ensure that everyone knows how to respond effectively to different alarms.
Compliance:
Ensure that your alarm monitoring system complies with relevant safety and regulatory standards, such as those established by OSHA or local authorities.
Back-Up Plan:
In the event of a failed freezer, time is critical. The best practice is to have a backup freezer ready to transfer the contents. If that is not an option, room needs to be made in existing freezers. Labeling and direct mapping of all contents (including which samples belong to whom) before an emergency can speed up the transfers if something happens.
Communication:
The Venture Forward team likes to have regular team chats where everyone involved shares information about the alarm system. This allows us to coordinate maintenance (for instance, warning people about a defrost) and schedule response coverage during vacations, PTO or unexpected unavailability.
Continuous Improvement:
Continuously assess the effectiveness of your alarm monitoring system and make improvements based on feedback, changing laboratory needs, or new technologies. By following these steps, you can effectively organize and manage your laboratory alarm monitoring system, which is essential for the safety of your research and the smooth operation of your laboratory.
Need help with your alarms?
Venture Forward Partners can help you set up, organize and maintain your alarm monitoring system. Call us today so that we can work together to ensure that your alarm system functions properly to protect your valuable assets.