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- Eating and drinking is not allowed in any of the AFM rooms.
- Lab coats and gloves do not need to be worn unless handling viable biological specimens.
- Slides, coverslips, tips and other sharps must be disposed of in the yellow sharps bins.
- Gloves, tissues and other clinical waste must be disposed of in the yellow bins. DO NOT use the yellow bins for viable biological waste, liquids, food waste, slides and other sharps.
- All biological waste (e.g. viable cells in dishes or plates) must be taken out of the AFM labs, decontaminated and disposed of.
- Any spills of biological material must be cleaned up and decontaminated immediately. Aqueous medium must be mopped up with towels and decontaminated using 70% IMS1:10 Distel.
- Spills of aqueous medium directly onto microscope optics or components must be reported immediately. Do not attempt to clean microscope optics yourself unless you have been trained to do so.
- Any coverslips and slides broken on the microscope must be removed and disposed of in the sharps bin. All small pieces of glass must be removed during the clean-up so there is no risk of injury to other users.
- Anything brought into the AFM labs must be taken away when the session is finished. Anything left behind will be disposed of. It is not our responsibility to keep your samples.
- Do not tamper with any of the cables between the controller and the microscope or the computer and the controller.
- Do not shine the AFM laser in your eyes or direct it at other users (laser power is class 2M or 3R depending on the system).
- Do not attempt to rebalance an air table or change gas cylinders, please ask Richard Thorogate.
Other AFM facility rules
- Every session on the AFM instruments must be booked on the Agendo booking system. Please observe the booking rules on this link.
- Every session must be logged in the log book provided for each instrument. Note down any issues with the instrument and inform Richard Thorogate.
- Please read SOP's for individual AFM's for further information on setting up, safe use, cleaning fluid cells etc.
- Anything brought into the AFM labs must be taken away when the session is finished. Anything left behind will be disposed of. It is not our responsibility to keep your samples.
- Do not use high or low pH buffers with the AFM fluid cells and please ask for advice on use of solvents.
- Do not attempt to use any AFM mode you have not be trained in.
- If you are unsure of any particular procedure whilst using an AFM please seek advice. We are here to help!
Penalties
If a user does not comply with the safety rules or with the booking rules (e.g. does not turn up for a microscope session without giving notice); or if a user has left a microscope in an unclean state the following penalties will be applied:
- Initially a warning
- Followed by booking access removed for ONE WEEK
- In further cases access removed for TWO or MORE WEEKS
If the problem does not reoccur for 6 months it will be removed from the record.