Whether you’ve been working in cleanroom environments for 20 years or it’s your first day on the job, a reminder of the basic best practices for working in a cleanroom can always be of use. Here are some things to keep in mind and implement when working in controlled environments:
- Follow written procedures
Written laboratory procedures exist for a reason: your safety, product safety, process integrity, cleanroom integrity, customer specifications, and legal compliance, to name a few of the major reasons. Going off script could cause major harm at worst, and at best, save you a few minutes time—hardly a worthwhile trade-off.
- Wear proper PPE
Again, this is about safety. Many cleanroom applications deal with hazardous or toxic chemicals and materials, and so wearing the required personal protective equipment, whether it’s gloves, goggles, or just safety glasses, is a must.
- Wear proper attire
If your cleanroom has a dress code or a specific gowning procedure, following it is crucial to minimizing contamination from outside as well as from your self, clothes, fibers, skin particles, etc.
- Don’t leave doors open
This one is obvious, but worth repeating: open doors let contamination in.
- Don’t leave hazardous materials out
Leaving hazardous materials unattended and out when not in use can lead to chemical spills and other accidents that are dangerous to personnel and compromise the cleanroom environment.
- Use a fume hood
When working with hazardous chemicals, using a fume hood is critical to keeping vapors and particles out of the air, protecting you and the cleanroom environment.
- Report issues immediately
From injuries and accidents to broken equipment, reporting any issues immediately is necessary for resolving them quickly and preventing bigger problems down the line.
Is it time to upgrade your cleanroom? Give Angstrom Technology a call.