X-Message-Number: 2139 Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 10:24:12 CDT From: Brian Wowk <> Subject: CRYONICS Worker Safety It occurs to me that there is a worker safety advantage in having ballast stacked up two feet short of the ceiling. If someone fell into the room, it is not far to fall, and they could just step (scramble?) right out. (It would just be a small step up to the room ceiling edge, and a one meter climb up the adjacent foam block.) Since we are not using nitrogen anymore, there is also no risk of asphyxiation. At worst you end up with burn injuries. In fact, you can remove the burn risk entirely by laying down 1 inch Styrofoam panels on top of the ballast. (A bit of thought shows that this does not impair the functioning of the ballast) It may even be practical to stand on the ballast during patient handling operations. (Although perhaps this should be discouraged.) With cryonics being the politically and legally sensitive endeavour that it is, any improvements that can be made in personnel safety will go far in ensuring the safety of cryonics generally. --- Brian Wowk Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2139