Hi Jim and Judy, Several items needing 240 attention: Item 1 on the edge of the outside stairs is one that has bothered a few people, and I have to admit I have noticed the problem in very bright sunlight, especially at noon. I am not sure more lighting and salt is the answer; the strip idea is the best one. There are ridges cut into the concrete just above the stairs, but in bright sunlight and from Michaels comments at night there is an issue realizing there are stairs there. Has there been any movement on Michael Wilde’s last comment regarding the marking of a pedestrian path? I will be answering the catwalk issue and a similar issue Michael had related to using the oak slabs and stuff falling off. The catwalks and oak shelves do not go over occupied space. Might make a mess in the stones, but that is about it. Although I will leave the issue of the brush fire for one of you to answer, my own view is that this is indeed a very remote possibility. The bigger issue would be the burning vehicle that caused the brush fire. Normal engine heat would not be a problem. At least I have never heard of a hot (non burning) engine in reasonable running condition causing a brush fire. [Jim, remember to submit the final outcome of these questions to the cels safety list.] Gary Dyrkacz Computing, Environment & Life Sciences ALD ESH Representative Bldg 240 Rm: 4125 Ph: 2-7478 FAX: 2-6333 From: "Michael Wilde" <[email protected]> To: "Judy Stickels" <[email protected]>, "Lillian Ruscic" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 12:42:28 PM Subject: Safety suggestions - followup from Rick's safety meeting Dear Judy and Lillian, …stuff that is FMS responsibility deleted here… already sent Building 240 ------------ The 240 entry walkway, as you walk out and down to the left: in winter, when the light is low or in the dark, its a bit hard to see the edge of the steps. Also on very icy days, the pitch of the walkway can make it quite slippery. Maybe assess this when winter comes around? More lighting, or salt/sand applied by 240 maint staff; maybe something to make the stairs less "invisible" like a subtle aesthetic paint stripe on the edge? (Something visible, but not the back-end-yellow warning stripe ;) Low prio: Maybe Im too paranoid here, but Im always worried about dropping something off the 5th floor catwalks. Especially something like a coffee cup slipping out of my hand, or breaking on the floor and the shards hurting someone below. Im surprised that the metalwork on the catwalk railings leaves such a large gap at the floor. Maybe rugs on the catwalks could reduce the risk of breaking or falling objects? …More stuff I will answer deleted here. Other even-more paranoid observations: many 240 parking lot rows border grassy areas, where cars parking too close to high dry brush in hot weather might cause a fire. Add concrete bumper stops? (Probably way too paranoid to justify the cost; driver caution is probably all thats needed. Or: just have these areas mowed lower, and more often (despite the fact that aesthetically I welcome the natural tall-brush look). And: In the main stairway to the 5th floor (the one from the main entrance by the cafe) - there's a sizable gap from the edge of the concrete stairs to the wall, about 2". Seems like a woman's or child's shoe could get caught in there if they were, say, crowded to the edge of the stair to make room for someone or just walking with other people. Other buildings --------------- stuff about 203 deleted, GRD sort of handling… Lastly: others have commented on the list that the walking route from 240 to the cafeteria and 201 needs to be much more clearly marked, and I strongly agree. So again, thank you both for maintaining what I feel is an excellent and safe work environment; I only offer these perhaps overly-cautious observations in the spirit requested by Rick. Regards, - Mike -- Michael Wilde Computation Institute, University of Chicago Mathematics and Computer Science Division Argonne National Laboratory