5 EHS Projects to Complete During the Summer Academic Intersession

School’s out for summer! Students are gone, and empty campuses are primed for crucial environmental, health, and safety (EHS) work ahead of the upcoming school year. At colleges and universities nationwide, preparations for the upcoming school year means a rush to schedule and complete routine projects—annual tasks and future innovations—in a timely manner so that progress is made before students return.

Summer: Unique EHS Possibilities

The summer intersession—a time of low onsite headcount—enables special maintenance and cleaning activities, as well as productivity in addressing EHS needs. The unique intersession conditions mean that:

  • Remediation and maintenance work won’t come at the expense of productivity
  • Work will be safer—fewer people means fewer distractions and reduced risk
  • Tasks like cleaning, repair, or relocation can be completed more quickly than at other times of the year
  • More can be done, with greater control

Prioritize intersession EHS projects by evaluating which projects are overdue, have the highest return on investment (ROI), are easiest with less people on campus, or need the most attention to maintain safety and compliance.

Maximizing the Summer Downtime

Once you know which specific projects your facility should prioritize, you can start scheduling projects accordingly. Some of the usual top contenders for the most appropriate EHS intersession projects are:

  1. Cleaning and maintenance of wastewater and stormwater systems

Stormwater and wastewater system cleaning, when done incorrectly or without proper precautions, can cause operational or compliance problems. Perhaps as a result of this, or maybe as a result of hectic school calendars, wastewater removal systems are often neglected or forgotten about until there is a problem.

These systems are complex, and can include:

  • Stormwater drains
  • Oil/water separators
  • Limestone neutralizing tanks
  • pH neutralization systems
  • Catch basins
  • Grease traps

When not adequately maintained and cleaned, the systems can become clogged, or may improperly discharge—but full, effective cleaning of these systems often requires total shutdown. Cleaning is not difficult, but can be especially challenging when campuses are full and they can’t be shutdown without operational disruption. But to neglect this task could spell disaster—clogs and discharges demand emergency response, which costs far more than preventative cleaning. They also prevent full compliance and achievement of green goals. As such, this is a key and fitting task to perform during the summer shutdown period.

  1. Improving or implementing chemical inventory management programs

Each new semester means new onsite chemicals. Lab programs often lack a thorough and accurate chemical inventory management program to help inform procurement. This, in turn, means they have no chemical inventory knowledge base that reflects actual stock amounts.

Sometimes, as a result, the procurement team will buy far too much to avoid stock outs. This is a tremendous, if wholly avoidable, waste of money. Picture a facility, for example, with an unused and unrecorded bottle of ethyl ether, hidden in a cabinet. Lab staff need more of this chemical for a new experiment, and, not realizing they already have it on hand, order more. This overbuying is not only throwing away money, but can also lead to the onsite stockpiling of chemicals that are volatile and become unstable overtime.

Inventories that occur at least annually will ensure you know what you have—and ensure that materials are stored appropriately, per fire code and chemical compatibility. A summer hiatus is the perfect time to review:

  • Expiring, redundant, or useless materials requiring disposal
  • Empty or near empty containers that need replenishment
  • Containers stored in excess, and whose reorder should be postponed
  • Data reconciliation and bar-coding review
  1. Equipment decontamination and maintenance

Higher education facilities use all types of equipment to power successful education programs. To that end, biosafety cabinets (BSCs) and other various lab equipment must operate in tip-top shape throughout the school year. This top-tier operation is impossible without routine maintenance and decontamination, which can feel impossible when classes are in session and researchers regularly use equipment. As such, summer is the perfect time to perform crucial and extensive maintenance, without operational disruption, to, among others:

  • BSCs
  • Fume hoods
  • Small-scale lab equipment
  • Cold rooms
  • Other lab appliances
  1. Pre-construction decontamination

Summertime also typically marks a period of campus renovation and updating. These improvements cannot be delayed for even a day—as this would mean monetary loss and delays to the permitting and commissioning necessary to begin the school year in the fall. Pre-construction decontamination can help avoid unnecessary delays and keep these projects on track. All surfaces associated with piping or ventilation ducts that may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals should be cleaned by a certified professional before construction and demolition personnel start their work. These hazardous chemicals include:

  • Acids
  • Bases
  • Mercury
  • Arsenic
  • Various other heavy metals
  • Oxidizers
  • Perchlorates
  • Biological contaminants

All too often, institutions skip this decontamination step and start a project—only to stumble onto these hazardous materials when they least expect them. This often means emergency decontamination of the compromised areas—and halted construction projects.

  1. Sustainability initiative planning and implementation

Today, all academic organizations should have sustainability goals. Unfortunately, the hustle and bustle of a new school year often leaves little time to make progress towards these goals, let alone for planning widespread lab sustainability initiatives. To get ahead of the school year, fully dedicate time to planning for sustainability initiative implementation and success, and slowly begin implementing these changes—so you can see what works and what doesn’t before students return to campus.

An Intersession EHS Partner for You

Even with summer soon coming to a close, there’s still time to complete pressing EHS topics on campus—but this can only be accomplished with a dedicated partner.

Triumvirate Environmental is one such partner. With over 30 years of experience assisting colleges and universities meet their EHS and sustainability goals, we have everything you need to make the most of the summer. Be it equipment decontamination and maintenance, disinfection services, chemical inventory management solutions, sustainability consultation, and even tank cleaning—Triumvirate Environmental has your back—allowing you to focus on your job and planning for the future.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.

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