LABORATORY FASTENING - EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

You may have noticed that despite warnings about being prepared, many businesses weren’t ready when New Zealand was rocked by an earthquake. The same thing is true of facilities stateside when it comes to laboratory fastening.

The unpredictability of earthquakes means a laboratory that hasn’t undergone a program of non-structural seismic mitigation runs an inordinately high risk of damage and loss of equipment that could result in the loss of critical research data. And there are lots of labs in this category.

More often than not laboratory fastening is well down a business’s list of priorities, but the reality is being prepared is the wisest choice you can make if your company runs a lab in an earthquake zone.

Not sure if you’re in a seismic zone? There are excellent maps on the USGS website that will answer that question.

Earthquake experts constantly sound the warning bells about us being overdue for a big one, so it makes good business sense to listen to them and do something proactive about seismic mitigation on your campus. And it’s not just the West Coast that’s at risk; states in the Midwest and South have the New Madrid fault to worry about.

The bottom line is if you live in earthquake country don’t behave as if you don’t. Heed the warnings and do something now about laboratory fastening before your business is knocked into next week by the next big earthquake.

There’s a reason why that old saying ‘better safe than sorry’ was coined in the first place.

Seismic Mitigation

If you are an EH&S or facilities manager, the question you really need to ask yourself is can you afford not to have a seismic safety program in place for your lab? The answer is abundantly clear - no, you can’t. Why? Because it helps to create a safer work environment, it complies with OSHA safety codes and it will ensure your business continuity.

To that end, laboratory fastening programs can be custom designed for every aspect of your facility.

Typically, labs contain all kinds of valuable equipment such as HPLCs, mass spectrometers, centrifuges, robots and a host of other countertop items.

There are also Minus 80s, deli coolers, production equipment, flammable cabinets and liquid nitrogen tanks. It all needs to be fastened down.

There are innovative and cost effective methods of floor equipment fastening for all these things based on client preference.

All laboratory fastening work can meet Seismic Zone 4 standards, or better, and getting it done is not difficult. A site survey will determine what needs to be done to secure your equipment.

The biggest mistake you can make is to procrastinate. Many business owners fall into the trap of thinking they can put it off until next week, next month or the next financial year - just ask people in Christchurch how that worked out for them.

As mentioned above, if your lab isn’t secured beforehand, you could lose your expensive equipment and all of your valuable data in the next earthquake.

Seismic Protection Products and Services

Earthquakes are unpredictable, so being prepared is the most practical course of action to take. If your equipment is unsecured it could be damaged or lost and the best way to prevent that from happening is to take action now to avoid major financial and logistical headaches later.

QuakeHOLD! Industrial is the leader in laboratory fastening and earthquake preparedness. Check us out and research the full range of seismic protection products and services that we offer. And regardless of the size of your lab, a free evaluation will determine how best to meet your needs. If you run a lab in an earthquake zone you need to be prepared and we strongly encourage you to start the process of laboratory fastening today.

BUILDING CODES PART OF EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

Earthquakes around the world recently have shown the stark variation in building codes and the associated degree of damage in different countries. Building codes are a very significant aspect of Earthquake Preparedness although clearly not all countries put the same emphasis on them.

In the United States we have much stricter building codes than do some other countries that are also prone to earthquakes.

The rationale behind that is to minimize structural damage, but tougher codes also go hand in hand with non-structural seismic mitigation, which is one of the best ways to prevent a business from being knocked out of action after an earthquake.

Building Code

The California Building Code, for example, talks in part about non-structural items that require proper bracing.

Title 24 of the code states that movable items such as storage racks that are more than five feet tall must be seismically braced.
Permanent floor-supported items like cabinets and bookcases, including their contents, that are more than six feet in height should be restrained.

All equipment weighing more than 400 lbs and greater than four feet tall needs to be properly braced for lateral loads as recommended by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Seismic Mitigation

The first step to earthquake safety or earthquake preparedness is to identify potential hazards around the home or office and secure them.

Using the California Building Code as a guide, you will soon start to realize just how many items around your premises could be potentially hazardous if left unsecured.

The floor fasteners, countertop fasteners, data center seismic mitigation and laboratory fastening systems and many other will help you make your business a much safer place for you and your employees.

You can secure desktop computers and other electronics with computer monitor fastening kits, earthquake cabinet latches will stop doors from flying open in an earthquake, while table docking systems will keep tables and work stations from being dislodged from their positions in labs and other office space.

Securing your space plays a huge role in reducing the risk of your employees being injured by falling items.