Clean rooms are far cleaner and safer from ordinary rooms because it has a low level of environmental pollutants like aerosol particles, airborne microbes, dust, and chemical vapors. These rooms are common in scientific and research communities. These rooms have controlled the level of contamination. In an uncontrolled environment, the air contains about 35,000,000 particles per cubic meter with respect to 0.5 μm and larger, while clean rooms only have 12 particles per cubic meter with respect to 0.3μm and smaller. Despite having a low level of environmental pollutants, clean rooms are not one-hundred percent fool-proof. In fact, some types of accidents and injuries are associated with clean rooms.
According to reports, Sydney clean rooms dedicated to research and production of computer chips can be a dangerous place to work at. It is said that chemicals used in the production of computer chips can cause birth defects and miscarriages. In fact, in the early 1980s, concerns about the safety of people working at clean rooms were raised. However, since laboratories and scientific research centers became more particular in clean room safety, safety precautions were implemented for the benefit of laboratory workers.
Clean room safety is always highlighted in order to protect employees and to preserve the controlled nature of the environment. From the suits of the workers all the way to the last detail of air conditioning Sydney, everything must be strictly considered. Basically, clean rooms follow a rigorous set of safety guidelines, including the following:
- The air entering the clean room is filtered to avoid dust and other environmental pollutants to go inside.
- The air inside the clean room is re-circulated via high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) or ultra-low penetration air (ULPA) filters. This is why it is extremely important to have air conditioning Sydney experts install and maintain the air conditioning units.
- Clean room workers enter the clean room through airlocks and are required to wear protective clothing like hoods, face masks, gloves, boots, and coveralls.
- Equipment and furniture inside the clean room are designed to produce only minimal air contamination.
- Special mops and buckets are only allowed inside clean rooms.
- Workers do not use ordinary pencils, papers, and fabrics, instead, alternatives are used.
- Humidity is controlled at low levels, which is why some cleanroom HVAC systems are specialized with ionizers.
Research organizations, companies, and educational institutions that have clean rooms do not have the luxury to supervise every detail of their facility, which is why they depend on independent companies specializing in clean room services. These companies provide a wide array of services including cleanroom certification and monitoring, clean room performance analysis, contamination control and investigation, precision cleaning, airflow visualization studies, testing, balancing, and clean room validation. Other services offered include facility air balancing, filter repairs and replacement, motor repair and replacement, contamination consulting, clean room modification and upgrades, hood and cabinet maintenance service, contractor performance audits, room air change rate testing, among many more.
Some companies also offer seminars for cleanroom management, safety, and maintenance. These seminars tackle comprehensive topics, including design considerations, construction advice, construction plans, operations management, maintenance, preparation for certification, and others. Companies or institutions serious about having clean rooms should invest in all the training and knowledge they can possibly get. At the end of the day, the success of the operation and workers’ safety are the top priorities of cleanroom owners.
Clean room services provide peace of mind to employees as it assures them of the safe working environment. With these services, clean room accidents are prevented from the get-go, assuring workplace safety and good health of workers.
The safety of workers should always be prioritized to avoid any untoward incident. Workers should master every protocol to prevent any accident from happening. Also, those who are in charge of cleanroom safety should strictly monitor the activity of workers to guide them away from potential dangers.
