NetNotes
We have found, aſter extensive testing (over the last 15 years) that
if you have an instrument that was bought aſter 1987 (when the oldest of ours, that we tested, was purchased) and it has only been modified by either the manufacturer or had ancillary equipment added to it by one of the XEDS companies or Gatan, or the like, that there is absolutely MINIMAL leakage of radiation from the instruments. For the past 15 years we have had radiation badges located permanently next to the microscopes right where the operator sits. Tese badges are developed every three months and replaced. Te three oldest sets of badges, one on our JEOL 2010F (was on the JEOL 2000FX when we had it), one on our FEI SEM and one in my office show the following exposures:
Lifetime
Last 3 Months Year to Date JEOL 2010F
FEI XL30FEG Office Monitor
(July to June)
<10 mrem <10 mrem <10 mrem <10 mrem <10 mrem <10 mrem
(Since 1995) 78 mrem 133 mrem 21 mrem
Tese numbers are from Landauer (
www.landauerinc.com) and
are listed as “Dose Equivalent.” Office monitor is line of site to one of the few windows in the basement, assume it is cosmic ray readings that make it higher, but that is just a guess. Annual exposure limits, according to Landauer, are 5,000 mrem for the body and organs and 50,000 for extremities and skin. General Public should expect to see 100 mrem/year. As far as I can see, our sensors have indicated that we are getting about the level that Jo and Joe Average see in the streets. We still encourage anyone who is worried, or thinks they might be pregnant, or wanting to become pregnant, to obtain and wear a dosimeter when ever operating the instruments. We do not mandate dosimeters, neither does the University or the State of Michigan. John Mansfield
jfmjfm@umich.edu Tu Feb 17
Facility Operation: problem clients Yesterday, on my very old SEM, a student user accidentally
engaged the lock on the tilt. When the stage would not tilt, he decided to force it and snapped off the 5 mm diameter steel rod that you move to tilt the stage. He REALLY had to force it to cause this to happen. I’m sort of wondering if he beat it with a hammer—but I don’t see any signs of that sort of damage! What response do all of you take when someone screws up like this? How do you prevent it? Also, what kind of training do you give your students prior to letting them loose on an SEM? We’re about to replace our SEM with a new one with lots of features. I’m trying to get a feel for what normal training practices are and what works and doesn’t work in your facility. I’ve had two incidents similar to this in a year (steel valve bent at 45 degrees on sputter coater), and it seems like too many. I might need some improvements in my training methods! Robin Foley
rfoley@uab.edu Sat Feb 26 When I was running a facility, I always tried to be patient with
the perpetrators of such events. Even the best of us did dumb things when learning and this is part of their education—to become people who will not mess up in the future. If you control them too tightly, they will never learn. Aſter all, science comes from people willing to do things that have not been done before. In our lab one extreme case involved a student drilling a hole into the chamber of an SEM—while it was running. Te hard part of the whole deal is convincing those responsible for funding that this is OK. And convincing yourself that this is OK even when the instrument damaged is a new and expensive one. Alwyn Eades
jae5@lehigh.edu Sat Feb 26
2011 May •
www.microscopy-today.com
I agree with Alwyn that “doing dumb things” is part of the
education. As facility directors/managers, however, I believe it is our job to teach/train our users to do as few “dumb things” as possible, especially when these “dumb things” have a big consequence. It is costly to repair, and prevents other people doing research (the other important mission of the facilities). We have a written policy that if a student damages an instrument due to improper operation, the PI has to agree to pay for the repair (if any). Even education is not free and we all learned that part. With that said, we always try to teach students beforehand, to avoid any unnecessary damage to the instrument. One thing we always tell the students is the “two fingers rule”—Nothing on the instrument (TEM, SEM, confocal) requires forces greater than what your two fingers can handle. If you cannot open/close anything with your two fingers, STOP. Tat works pretty well, in most of the circumstances. Zhaojie Zhang
zzhang@uwyo.edu Sat Feb 26 I have been teaching microscopy and managing/directing a good
sized service/multi-user EM facility for over 20 years (additional time as a user or service provider in smaller facilities). I am very happy to say that in that period we have had extremely few user accidents. I attribute that to three major reasons: 1) Good training for all users before they are given their flying license. 2) Support by facility staff to assist, answer questions, and continue to train/educate on a routine basis. 3) A certain amount of fear that users can lose access privileges if they misuse instruments/break rules/do not respect other users. (1) requires offering (and requiring) courses where students learn basic theory and hands-on use of major instrumentation . . . during which they are instructed in both what to do and what not to do. If you are not willing to put in the time required to train/educate users, then you and the instruments will run into problems at some point. It all starts from learning correctly in the beginning with the emphasis on good habits, sufficient understanding to make good choices, and thus get good results. Users training users is problematic in my experience, as bad habits get passed on and magnified over time. 2) A good relationship between facility staff and users results in users who are not hesitant to ask for help. Tis means knowing your users, showing an interest in them and their projects and offering assistance when asked. You will quickly learn who needs some additional help along the way and who can work truly independently. 3) I don’t apologize for this one. Facility rules are there for a reason. Down instruments due to user error affect many and that is unfair. Te primary rule I have always enforced is that users to do not attempt to fix anything at any time. What seems simple oſten is a sign of much more significant problems that can be averted if the staff knows about them and responds accordingly. Failure to follow this rule results in much closer scrutiny and potential loss of privileges (rarely necessary). All users may not perform at the same level but that does not mean that all cannot learn to use instruments with respect for the instrument and their fellow users. Part of our jobs as facility staff is to teach, train, and support to insure that this happens. We may not be 100% successful, but the number and severity of incidents will decrease significantly as a result. Debby Sherman dsherman@purdue. edu Sat Feb 26 Te Australian Centre
for Microscopy and Microanalysis
(ACMM) at the University of Sydney, is the largest facility of its kind in Australia. We have 7 TEMs, 6 SEMs, 2 atom probes and lots of sophisticated light and optical and x-ray equipment. Tis brings in over 400 registered users annually, approximately 1/3rd of whom are new users. Effective training is essential to ensure users get up to speed quickly, and also to ensure that costly mistakes don’t happen. Te training regime we use is as follows: 1. New users attend a meeting with relevant academic/technical staff to determine what
65
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76