FIRST-Lab Rules and Guidelines

FIRST-Lab Rules and Guidelines
(September 2014)
FIRST-Lab, the FIRST Center for Micro- and Nanoscience, is an interdisciplinary clean room
facility run by ETH Zurich. Its purpose is to serve departments within ETHZ, other Swiss
research facilities, as well as industry.
FIRST is a user lab, not a service lab, and therefore rules for the many users working in FIRST
are necessary and deﬁned in this document. Additional documents concerning speciﬁc
equipment or processes may apply as well and are part of FIRST rules, together with all
instructions given during introductory courses.
Users must respect these rules at any time, they should notify other users who are not
following them, and they must inform the FIRST Operations Team FOT of repeated breaches
of rules by any user.
Breaching of these rules may result in disciplinary actions or exclusion from FIRST, at the
discretion of the FOT.
These rules are available online at http://www.ﬁrst.ethz.ch/access/userrules.
If you are in doubt whether something is allowed in FIRST, please ask in advance!
Basic rules
1. Prospective users of FIRST have to participate in the general introduction day to
become familiar with the basic cleanroom rules, infrastructure and safety in FIRST, and
to become trained in a cleanliness seminar. They are required to pass the safety test at
the end of the introduction day.
2. New users must have a mentor to accompany them during the starting phase of
working in FIRST, according to the mentoring guidelines (see below). Mentors are
appointed and instructed by the FOT; their names are published on the FIRST intranet
webpage.
3. Each user must participate in the ETH ﬁre ﬁghting course within one year of starting
work at FIRST, and repeatedly in intervals of no more than three years.
It is the duty of the users to make sure they do not miss a course. Missing the course
may result in exclusion from FIRST.
4. Users need to pass an introductory training by a corresponding equipment responsible
for any equipment they want to use. Equipment use without training, or in a way or
with materials not explicitly mentioned during training, is forbidden. Only equipment
responsibles may provide introductory training. The list of equipment and
corresponding responsibles can be found on the FIRST webpage and at several places
in FIRST-Lab.
5. After prolonged absence from FIRST, users shall check back with the equipment
responsibles whether something important has changed.
In case of more than six (6) months of absence from FIRST, users will be excluded from
FIRST: they will be treated as new prospective users and have to participate again in all
introductory courses.
6. FIRST regular opening hours are Monday through Friday from 07:00 to 19:00 on
working days. During nights, weekends and holidays, night work rules apply (see
below), and users are required to wear a dead person's monitor and to have received
training for it.
Working outside regular opening hours without appropriate training is forbidden.
7. Any visitors to FIRST need preliminary permission by the FOT, and must be
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7. Any visitors to FIRST need preliminary permission by the FOT, and must be
accompanied all the time by the responsible user or FIRST team member, according to
the following guidelines:
Professional visitors (e.g scientiﬁc collaborators, PhD candidates) are welcome
in FIRST. Visitor groups are restricted to the greyroom area, due to higher
particle emission load.
The FOT decides about admission of any visitor and the conditions for the visit.
Visitors are accompanied by a FIRST team member or an experienced user, who
is responsible for their safety and appropriate behaviour.
Visits must be requested as early as possible (preferably two or more days in
advance) by e-mail to FOT, supplying the complete name, position and aﬃliation
of any visitor, as well as the purpose, time, date and duration of the visits.
8. Computers in FIRST may be operated only according to the FIRST-Lab IT guidelines
(see below).
9. Users are requested to support the operation of FIRST by taking over equipment
responsibility and mentoring duties, if considered capable by the FOT.
10. Users ending work in FIRST are requested to give notice to the FIRST administration
for access deactivation. They should collect all their samples, return glassware and
tools, and remove their data from FIRST computers by the time of their leave.
Cleanroom rules
1. Emergency procedures
Fire outbreak:
Alert emergency staﬀ (dial 888, or use ﬁre alarm buttons).
Rescue people, leave clean room (through emergency exit if necessary),
and provide ﬁrst aid if possible.
Fight ﬁre only if you feel conﬁdent, otherwise go to the meeting point and
wait for further instructions.
Accidents, Injuries:
Alert emergency staﬀ (dial 888).
Provide ﬁrst aid, taking care of own safety (especially for accidents with
chemicals).
Fire alarm, Danger for Life alarm (acoustic horn and possibly ﬂashlight),
Evacuation alarm (acoustic horn and tape message):
Stop any activity in a safe way, but do not stop machines nor tidy up your
workspace.
Immediately leave clean room through the nearest emergency exit,
without caring about overall or logging out.
Go to the meeting point and wait for further instructions.
Danger for Equipment alarm (technical alarm, ﬂashlight):
Ask FIRST team about reason, or consult whiteboard at the entrance.
Decide whether you can (continue to) work; if not, stop working, shut
down processes in a regular way, and tidy up your workspace.
Inform colleagues (which may not have noticed the alarm).
Meeting point for FIRST-Lab is at the bike stands between HCI ﬁngers 1 and 2.
2. Entrance
Sign in and out (magnet table), and log in and out (access control system).
Observe any notes on the whiteboard, and the safety info board!
Working under inﬂuence of alcolhol, drugs or work impairing medication is
forbidden; if in doubt, please contact FOT.
In case of (possible) pregnancy, please contact Petra Burkard (or any FOT
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In case of (possible) pregnancy, please contact Petra Burkard (or any FOT
member) immediately, to allow for assessment of possible risks for the mother
or the unborn child. Of course, any communication will be held conﬁdential by
the addressed team member.
3. Introducing materials into the clean room
Unpack sample carriers, and clean them with isopropanol/water soaked tissues.
Paper from outside (reference or lecture material) must be put into plastic
pouches available at the entrance. For taking notes, use cleanroom paper and
notebooks, available from the FIRST team. Pencils are forbidden; please only use
pens or ball-pens!
If you want to introduce any other material or tool, you must contact FIRST team
before doing so (for personal electronic devices, see IT Guidelines below).
4. Dressing and leaving
Cleanroom overalls and shoes must always be worn correctly.
Never leave the cleanroom with overall or shoes still on, except in case of alarms
and emergencies.
Upon leaving, please hang the overall in the inner hallstands, and put the shoes
back in the clean shoe rack. Non-personal shoes must be cleaned with
isopropanol/water tissues, before you leave the wardrobe area.
Wash hands before entering and after leaving the cleanroom.
Switch oﬀ lights in unused rooms after 17:00.
5. Inside the clean room
Smoking, eating, and drinking (except from the water supply in the wardrobe
area) are forbidden, as well as any activity generating particles or dust. Please do
not smoke immediately before entering the cleanroom!
Mobile phones will not work in FIRST-Lab, but may be kept in pockets under the
overall, or be used under conditions set forth in the FIRST-Lab IT Guidelines. If
you notice electromagnetic interference on any system, please inform the FIRST
team immediately.
Avoid hectic and fast movements. No running in the clean room!
Close all doors manually. Observe any (also handwritten) notes on doors before
opening or entering.
Observe and understand alarm systems and procedures.
Label all containers with name, date, and description of contents. Unlabeled
items may be removed. Keep the lab tidy!
In case of accidents, immediately contact the FIRST team; in case of severe
accidents, call 888. The safety handbook for the HCI building applies and is part
of the FIRST user rules.
Inform the FIRST team about dirty or untidy areas.
Access from the cleanroom to service areas is allowed only if necessary through
the emergency exits from the main corridor or from the analysis room, and only
for short necessary activities (one minute or less). All other emergency exits may
only be used in case of an emergency or with explicit permission from the FOT.
6. Personal protection gear
In the photolithography room, or when working with chemicals or vacuum
equipment, gloves are obligatory. They have to be exchanged when damaged or
contaminated.
Do not touch your face with gloves!
Protective goggles must be worn whenever working with chemicals or at any
wetbench. Make sure they are ﬁtting well, without large gaps on the sides.
While handling cryogenic liquids, cryo-gloves and goggles or full-face protection
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While handling cryogenic liquids, cryo-gloves and goggles or full-face protection
must be worn.
7. Chemicals
Before planning to bring in new chemicals, provide MSDS and discuss with FIRST
team.
Before doing any wet chemistry work, take the introductory training for wet
benches.
Protect yourself and your colleagues: make yourself familiar with the complete
information supplied by MSDS sheets for each chemical, before starting to work
with it!
8. Equipment
Users are forbidden to connect, disconnect or manipulate any media installation
(electrical power, gas lines, pressure reducers, valves, water tubes, etc). Report
any suspicious setting or observation to the team!
Only equipment responsibles may do maintenance on their equipment, but
never alone nor outside of regular opening hours.
FIRST-Lab IT Guidelines
General remarks
There are more than 30 computers in FIRST-Lab, most of them with access to the ETH
network, some of them with unrestricted internet access. All of these computers primarily
serve the control of machines and measuring instruments - this is their main purpose and all
other functionality (such as reading of e-mail or scientiﬁc papers) has lower priority. Besides
the FIRST-Lab internal IT rules, the IT regulations of ETHZ and of the Informatics Support
Group of the Physics Department also apply; see link list further down!
Responsibilities
In general, three persons are responsible for the safe operation and the availability of a
FIRST-Lab PC system: the FIRST IT manager, and the two equipment responsibles.
(Current FIRST IT manager as of August 2014 is Yargo Bonetti.)
Permitted use
With the exception of dedicated surf stations, it is generally forbidden to use FIRST-Lab
computers for anything else than strictly process related.
In particular, web surﬁng, processing of e-mail, and accessing of personal oﬃce computers
by RDP, VNC or similar protocols and applications is forbidden, except where allowed for
individual systems, as deﬁned by the equipment responsibles together with the IT manager.
In general, accessing the booking system is permitted.
Users may use their own portable devices (see below), surf stations, or other computers
where allowed, for web browsing, e-mail processing or remote connections. However, surf
stations and lab computers may not be blocked long time, and process related work has
higher priority.
PC Installations
PCs in FIRST are installed by FIRST staﬀ only. Systems pre-installed by suppliers must be
announced to the IT manager before the installation in FIRST-Lab. The IT manager examines
the delivered installation and coordinates the release of the system into FIRST-Lab with the
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the delivered installation and coordinates the release of the system into FIRST-Lab with the
equipment responsibles.
Software installations
The IT manager may keep inventory lists for hardware and software for any system,
using network scanning or any other tools.
Software installations are done only by FIRST Team members or by the equipment
responsibles,which are obliged to coordinate themselves and inform each other about
any changes to the system.
All software has to be properly licensed.
Software not registered in inventory lists may be removed from systems without
further notice or inquiries.
Only software necessary for the main purpose of the system is allowed (e.g no Java,
Flash players etc).
Maintenance
Maintenance tasks are deﬁned by the IT manager, and are performed by the equipment
responsibles, by special support staﬀ, or by the IT manager. Typical examples of
maintenance tasks are application of patches, updating of software, or monitoring of
optional backups. The IT manager deﬁnes a reasonable time window for maintenance tasks,
based on urgency and workload.
Patch day
Once per month, or after advance information of the IT manager, software updates and
patches must be applied. The patches must be applied completely, and must be registered in
the patch list supplied (patchday.xls). Unpatched systems may be removed from the
FIRST network after an advance warning by the IT manager, and may only return to the
network after consultation with the IT manager.
Laboratory
The following conditions must be met for operating a laboratory PC in FIRST-Lab (see below
for personal devices not bound to these conditions):
The IT manager must be informed about the planned application and the location.
The IT manager must have unrestricted administrative access to the system, in case
the PC is connected to any FIRST equipment or network.
Equipment responsibles and deputies are deﬁned.
The software on the system is installed correctly as noted further above.
If one of these conditions is not met, it is not permitted to take the system into operation
inside of FIRST-Lab. In case of problems, the IT manager is available for support.
Network access
For operation on FIRST-Lab networks, some additional conditions must be met:
The system must be kept up to date. This concerns both the operating system and the
installed software and should be considered with each desired installation. Machines
running Windows XP or something older must be isolated on a dedicated network; please
consult with the IT manager!
An up-to-date virus scanner must be installed. This has to be active (real time
protection) and must always be equipped with the most current virus signatures.
Internet access
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Internet access for networked PCs in FIRST is subject to the network access conditions
explained above, plus the following additional conditions:
A modern operating system must be running on the machine, which allows for regular
patching and hardening against attacks from the internet. For machines running
Windows, only Windows 7 is allowed.
The ﬁrewall of the system must be fully activated, and no unnecessary services may be
visible to the outside.
Personal Electronic Devices (Smartphones, Tablets, etc)
The use of personal devices like smartphones or tablets is permitted under the following
conditions:
Only devices with ﬂat surfaces are permitted, i.e smartphones, e-readers, tablets and
the like. Devices that cannot be easily cleaned ("delicate devices", e.g with hinges or
real keyboards) may only be brought in after acceptance by the IT manager; in case of
doubt, please consult with the IT manager before attempting to bring any device to
the lab.
Personal devices may not be connected to any installation in the lab, except to ETHZ
WiFi access points. In particular, it is forbidden to connect them to any USB or similar
port on any machine (even if it is only meant for charging), or to any FIRST-Lab internal
WiFi access point.
Personal devices must always be cleaned from dust with IPA-water wipes available at
the entrance, before bringing them into the cleanroom. If this cleaning is considered
harmful to the equipment, they are treated like "delicate devices" as described above.
FIRST-Lab is not liable for any damage to personal electronics due to chemical spills,
accidents or mistakes; all risks are with the user of personal devices.
Devices connected to the ETHZ wireless networks are subject to ETHZ IT rules (see
links below).
Further information, links
ETHZ
IT Hausregeln
Standards fuer Verantwortlichkeiten und Systempﬂege
Acceptable Use Policy for Telematics Resources (BOT)
ISG D-PHYS
ICT Security at the Departement of Physics
D-PHYS Computer Usage Policies
Recommendation for the Use and Care of Data on Computers
FIRST-Lab Mentoring guidelines
All new users are required to have mentors which supervise them during the ﬁrst 6 months
of work in FIRST-Lab. The duties of a mentor are complementary to the duties of equipment
responsibles. Preferably, a mentor is selected from the group the new user belongs to. It is
in the competence of the FOT to decide on the eligibility of an experienced FIRST user for
mentorship. Mentorship workload is counted as FMT staﬀ contribution.
Non-FMT professors with limited processing or clean room experience in their groups are
requested to approach FMT professors for support.
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Rights and Duties of a Mentor
The Mentor is co-responsible for the proper clean room behavior of their trainees and
should help them to deﬁne appropriate process ﬂows to account for the interference of unit
process steps, their competing inﬂuence on device performance and their inﬂuence on
equipment performance. In order to reach this goal, the following rules apply:
The designated Mentor counter-signs the application of the new user for clean room
access.
Mentors plan and discuss with their trainees the process plan and process ﬂow. They
help the trainees to eﬃciently develop the ﬁrst processes, taking safety,
contamination and cleanliness requirements into account. The process plan, process
ﬂow, list of required materials and equipment will be submitted to the FOT for
approval, preferably well before participation in the FIRST-Lab introductory seminar.
Mentors spend the ﬁrst working days of their trainees together with them in the lab,
and instruct them about cleanroom adequate behavior (examples: cleanliness and
work hygiene, tidying up after ﬁnished work, causing minimal laboratory pollution,
supply and disposal of consumables, checking of working parameter of machines, etc).
Mentors have the competence to decide on the degree of independence of their
trainees in the course of time; nevertheless they remain co-responsible for the
trainees as deﬁned above.
Mentors are contact persons for their trainees in case of work related questions and
problems, and encourage them to ask in case of need.
Mentors help trainees to contact people with additional knowledge when needed
(FOT and team members, fellow group members, colleagues inside and outside FIRST,
process experts, equipment responsibles).
Mentors verify that the trainees understand what they were taught by them and in the
introduction and cleanliness seminars as well, and that they act accordingly.
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