Day-to-Day Lab Operations and Housekeeping

This web copy is a reference version for members. The controlled copy is the signed document held by the team; in a conflict, the signed document governs. Reading it does not replace induction, training or per-activity clearance.

This SOP takes effect once the Team Lead has signed it and the Faculty Sponsor and the FAS Safety Officer have approved it. The activity does not begin before that.

1 Scope and Applicability

This SOP covers ordinary day-to-day work in the SFU Racerbot Student Team Lab, ASB 9819: access, working hours, housekeeping, hand tools, bench electrical work, small quantities of chemicals, storage, visitors, and opening and closing the room.

• Applies to everyone in the workspace, including visitors, who are the responsibility of the member who brought them in.
• Higher-hazard activities are governed by their own SOPs: SOP-TECH-01 for lithium batteries, SOP-TECH-02 for vehicle testing, SOP-TECH-04 for 3D printing, SOP-TECH-05 for soldering. This SOP does not authorise any of them.
• Machining, welding, grinding and any powered shop work take place in the FAS machine shop under that facility’s rules and training, never in ASB 9819.
• No chemical process work, no compressed gas and no laser work happens in this workspace.

1.1 Purpose

To set the baseline standard for the room, so that the space stays safe to work in and so that a new member knows what is expected of them on their first day.

1.2 Keywords

Student team lab; access; induction; housekeeping; hand tools; bench power supply; isopropyl alcohol; ESD; lone working; visitors; lockup; SOP-ADM-09.

1.3 Contact

Questions about this document or the equipment it covers go to the Tech Team Lead. Questions about the workspace go to the Operations Coordinator. Questions about safety go to the FAS Safety Officer. Contact details are available to members through the team’s internal channels.

2 Introduction

ASB 9819 is a shared build and meeting room, not a chemistry lab. Most of what happens in it is low-hazard: assembly, wiring, software, discussion. The risk in a room like this comes from accumulation — parts on the floor, cables across walkways, a knife left blade-out, a bench that nobody has cleared in a fortnight — rather than from any single dramatic hazard.

The room does also hold lithium packs and a 3D printer, which is why housekeeping here has a fire dimension that an ordinary meeting room does not. Keeping the space clear is not tidiness for its own sake; it is what stops a small ignition becoming a room fire, and what keeps the exit usable when it matters.

3 The Workspace

3.1 Safety equipment in and near the room

4 Materials Kept in the Workspace

• Isopropyl alcohol, small quantity, for cleaning parts and build plates. Flammable. Kept capped in its original labelled container, away from the charging station and the printer.
• Threadlocker and light lubricants in small consumer quantities, in original labelled containers.
• PLA filament, stored under SOP-TECH-04.
• Lithium packs, stored under SOP-TECH-01.

No other chemicals are kept here. Safety data sheets for everything on this list are filed in Appendix A and are accessible to anyone working in the room. Nothing is decanted into an unlabelled container, ever.

5 Hazard Assessment

6 Hazard Control Measures

6.1 The housekeeping standard

This is the shortest and most-used part of this SOP. It is enforced by everyone, not just by the Operations Coordinator.

• The walkway and the route to the door stay clear at all times. Nothing is stored on the floor.
• The extinguisher, the door and the light switches are never blocked, not even temporarily.
• Benches are cleared at the end of every session. Tools go back on the board, parts go back in their bins.
• Nothing combustible sits at the charging station or the printer position — no boxes, no filament bags, no paper.
• Cables are routed along the bench, not across the floor.
• Knives are retracted and cutters are closed before they are put down.
• No food or drink at the battery or printer positions. Rubbish goes out at the end of the session rather than accumulating.

6.2 Access, induction and clearance

• Access to ASB 9819 is granted by the Operations Coordinator and recorded. The current access list is held with the Lab Safety Plan.
• Nobody works in the room before completing Racerbot safety induction: this SOP, the emergency procedures, the location of safety equipment, and the exit routes.
• Clearance for batteries, testing, printing and soldering is separate and is granted per activity by the responsible lead. Induction alone does not authorise any of them.
• Access is not shared. Do not let someone in who is not on the list and not with you.
• Members who leave the team have their access removed by the Operations Coordinator and the access list is updated.

6.3 Working hours, working alone and visitors

• Ordinary work happens during building hours. After-hours work is allowed where building access permits it and the Team Lead knows about it.
• Low-hazard work alone — software, assembly, paperwork — is acceptable. Battery charging, 3D printing and vehicle testing are never done alone.
• Anyone working alone tells someone when they arrive and when they leave.
• Visitors sign in with the member hosting them, are told the exits and the emergency procedure, wear closed-toe shoes, and stay with their host. A visitor never operates equipment.

6.4 Waste disposal

7 Opening and Closing Checklist

7.1 Opening

• Walkway and route to the door are clear Visual
• Extinguisher present, in date and unobstructed Visual
• No unexpected smell of hot plastic, solvent or burning Smell
• Battery storage closed and undisturbed; no swelling visible Visual
• Printer idle and cool unless a print was handed over Touch and display
• Nothing left powered or charging from the previous session Visual

7.2 Closing

• All charging finished; nothing left connected to a charger Visual
• Packs at storage voltage, in bags, in closed storage Visual
• Printer finished or cancelled; nothing running unattended overnight Display
• Bench equipment and bench supplies powered off at the outlet Visual
• Tools back on the board; blades retracted; cutters closed Visual
• Benches and floor clear; walkway and exit route clear Walk it
• Waste taken out; nothing combustible at the charging or printer positions Visual
• Door locked and the room left secure Handle check

8 Procedure

8.1 Starting a session

1. Complete the opening checklist.
2. Confirm you are cleared for whatever you plan to do. If you are not, do something else or work alongside someone who is.
3. Set out only what you need. A clear bench is a safety control, not a preference.

8.2 Hand tools

• Use a tool for what it is for. A screwdriver is not a chisel and a knife is not a pry bar.
• Secure the work. Cut and drive away from your hand, not towards it.
• Retract blades and close cutters the moment you put them down.
• Withdraw a damaged tool and tell the Operations Coordinator instead of working around it.
• Wear safety glasses for cutting, filing, drilling and anything under spring tension.

8.3 Bench electrical work

• Nothing above 60 V in this room, at all.
• De-energise and disconnect any battery before rework. Confirm it with a meter rather than assuming.
• Set the current limit on the bench supply before connecting a new circuit for the first time.
• Check polarity and continuity before applying power. Most magic smoke is a reversed connector.
• Remove rings, watches and metal bracelets for wiring work. A ring across a battery terminal is a burn.
• Handle boards by the edges and use the ESD precautions available. Static damage is invisible and shows up later as an unexplained fault at speed.

8.4 Chemicals in the room

• Isopropyl alcohol is used in small quantities on cold, unpowered parts, away from the printer and the charging station, with the cap back on straight away.
• Nothing is decanted into an unlabelled bottle. Original labels stay on.
• Safety data sheets are in Appendix A and available to anyone in the room.
• Spills are wiped up immediately with the room ventilated, and the wipes go to the flammable-solvent waste route.

8.5 Storage and inventory

• Everything has a place and goes back to it. Bins and shelves are labelled.
• Heavy items live at waist height. Nothing heavy goes above shoulder height.
• Vehicles are stored in their assigned position with packs disconnected.
• The Operations Coordinator keeps the equipment inventory current and checks the safety equipment list at the start of each semester.

8.6 Ending a session

Complete the closing checklist. Whoever is last out is responsible for it, whether or not they created the mess. Leaving the room in a state you would not want to walk into is the one thing that is genuinely unacceptable here.

9 Accidental Exposure and First Aid

Every injury is reported the same day under SOP-ADM-09, however minor it looks.

10 Housekeeping and Waste

The housekeeping standard is in §6.1 and the waste streams are in §6.4. Two points bear repeating because they are the ones that slip.

• Housekeeping is done as you go and again at closing. It is not a job saved for the week before an inspection.
• Waste is segregated at the point it is produced. Sorting a mixed bin later does not happen, and a lithium pack in a general bin is a fire somewhere else in the building.

11 Emergency Procedures

11.1 Fire

1. Pull the fire alarm, evacuate and call 911, then Campus Public Safety on 778-782-4500.
2. Only someone trained in extinguisher use may attempt a very small, early-stage fire with the ABC extinguisher, and only once the alarm is pulled and the exit is clear.
3. If a lithium pack is involved, do not attempt to move it. Follow SOP-TECH-01 §11.
4. Close the door behind you if it is safe. Go to the assembly area. Do not re-enter until authorised.

11.2 Fire alarm with no fire in the room

1. Stop what you are doing. Disarm and disconnect anything energised if it takes seconds.
2. Leave immediately by the nearest safe exit. Do not collect belongings or equipment.
3. Go to the assembly area and account for everyone who was in the room.

11.3 Injury, spill or building emergency

Injury: §9. Chemical spill beyond a wipe-up: ventilate, keep people out and call Campus Public Safety on 778-782-4500. Earthquake, power failure or building evacuation: follow SFU emergency procedures and the direction of Campus Public Safety.

11.4 Reporting

• Injuries, fires, smoke, property damage, extinguisher use and near misses are reported the same day to the Team Lead and the Operations Coordinator, and to the FAS Safety Officer.
• An SFU incident report is filed for any injury, fire, exposure, property damage or significant near miss.
• The full process — what counts, who is told, how the review runs — is SOP-ADM-09, Incident Reporting and Post-Incident Review. Reporting in good faith is never penalised, including when the person reporting caused the problem.

Emergency contacts:

Assembly area for the Applied Sciences Building is the point shown on the evacuation map posted in ASB 9819. Do not re-enter the building until emergency or safety personnel authorise re-entry.

12 References

• SFU Racerbot POL-03 — Operations: Safety, Facilities and Property, §§1–4.
• SOP-TECH-01 — Lithium Battery Safety, Charging and Storage.
• SOP-TECH-02 — Autonomous Vehicle Testing and Configuration Management.
• SOP-TECH-04 — 3D Printing Safety and Operation.
• SOP-TECH-05 — Soldering and Electronics Assembly.
• SOP-ADM-09 — Incident Reporting and Post-Incident Review.
• SFU Racerbot Student Team Lab Safety Plan, 2026-09-10.
• SFU Racerbot Student Team Risk Assessment, 2026-09-10.
• SFU Safety & Risk Services — emergency procedures and Burnaby assembly areas.

Appendix A — Attachments

Attachments are listed in the order they are referenced and filed behind this page.