South Shop Policy & Procedure

A. Use of EDDS South Shop during normal working hours by persons other than regular employees of the Shop.

1. In this P&P statement, the EDDS South Shop (Shop) is understood to include the following rooms in Bainer Hall: 1307 (machine shop), 1329 (fabrication shop), 1329A (tool room), 1329B (office) and 1334 (plastics and wood shop). As needs arise, fabrication activities may extend the Shop to include room 1330 and the courtyard.

2. The Shop will provide “open” access for faculty and students from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (Bio./Ag.) who have completed safety and basic shop skills/shop orientation training. Graduate students in other departments who are working on Bio./Ag. faculty projects will be considered Bio./Ag. users. Requests of faculty and permanent research staff from college based departments for access during normal working hours will be given consideration in accord with need, qualifications, and space availability. These college-wide personnel will provide financial support from their home department for shop maintenance and logistics via an access fee, at a rate commensurate to their shop use. The access fee is an hourly charge that is determined by campus administration. Access hours for individual users are totaled each month, recorded on a Shop service request form, and processed in a similar manner as recharge rates, described in Section B. Permanent staff from the College of Engineering special facilities (e.g., Electronic General Services and Student Faculty Shop) will be allowed reasonable access to the Shop, under the shop manager’s jurisdiction.

3. The shop manager, or his/her designee, has full responsibility and authority for coordinating all activities in the Shop, including enforcing safety regulations, seeing that equipment is properly used, maintaining equipment, and determining which machines/equipment/tools each user wishing to work in the Shop is approved to use. Individuals who wish to use the Shop must complete initial safety and shop skills/shop orientation training and demonstrate proficiency in operating tools and equipment before access can be granted. Consideration will be given to prior experience and/or successful completion of appropriate courses, such as offered by Bio./Ag. or the Student/Faculty Shop. Acknowledgment by signature of permitted access, familiarity with safety regulations, and shop policy and procedures is also required. Some equipment, such as the mills, lathes, and tool grinders in the machine shop, room 1307, are reserved for use only by the shop staff. Exceptions are the South Bend lathe, the Gorton mills, three drill presses, and the arbor presses located along the north walk-way.

4. All users of the Shop must follow the same safety practices, general shop practices, cleanup rules, equipment care and use practices, etc., as full time mechanicians. It is the individual user’s responsibility to return tools and supplies to their proper place, including the return of drill bits to the correct location in the index and cleaning of drill presses, lathes, welding tables, etc.

5. All users of the Shop are expected to interface with other activities in a manner that minimizes interference with others, especially the shop staff. While shop staff are available to address requests for immediate “walk-in” service requiring 10 to 15 minutes, all needs/requests for consulting or fabrication exceeding this scope require a service request. The shop manager will assign service requests to shop staff on the basis of his/her assessment of work loads.

6. Users who need work bench space and/or hand tools should primarily utilize the work bench and tool board nearest the courtyard door. Those who need to use tools and/or other equipment outside of the Shop, must sign out the items in the tool room binder. Borrowed items are to be returned as soon as possible on the same day to accommodate other users. Failure to return items may result in use restrictions. Users are responsible for returning items to their stor­age location in a ready-to-work condition. Losses, broken and/or unsafe items are to be reported to the shop manager.

B. Requests for Service

• All work performed by the shop staff will be recorded on a service request, available on the shop office desk, and be subject to the current recharge rates, with exceptions including immediate safety and security issues, facility maintenance, approved special meetings and “five minute” requests at the discretion of the shop manager. It is the requester’s responsibility to provide all of the necessary information as outlined on the service request forms. Request forms without valid account numbers or authorization by PI or course instructor will not be processed. Other information included should be the name of the requester, telephone number, date submitted, project information, and a detailed description of the work to be performed, with attached sketches and drawings if possible.
  
• The shop manager has full authority and discretion to schedule all service requests and determine the urgency of any single request with regard to the total workload of the shop. “Emergency” work will be critically evaluated on a case-by-case basis to minimize the interruptions of work in progress being performed by shop staff. It is the responsibility, and in the interest, of the requester to be informed of the current workload in the shop, and to plan and schedule their requests as well in advance of the desired completion date as possible to meet their deadlines, before there are conflict issues. Emergency work will include events, such as safety and security issues, equipment failure during peak seasons for all departments of the College of Engineering. Requests for service from units elsewhere on campus will be accepted and scheduled on a time available basis.
  
• The requester will provide the materials required for his/her projects. If staff assistance is required, the requester will make authorized accounts available from his/her workgroup for the acquisition of materials. Time spent by staff for consultations or ordering materials longer than 10 to 15 minutes will be recharged against the service request at the current rate. Materials used from the inventory of shop stock will be charged against the requester’s project for re-stocking at the discretion of the shop manager.

C. After hours use of EDDS South Shop

1. After hours use of the Shop is available to Bio./Ag. faculty, staff, and retired faculty working on university business as long as there are at least two people present when equipment is in use. Access is a privilege and not a right. Consequently, strict adherence to the safety regulations and shop policies and procedures in effect during regular work hours is required to avoid loss of individual access or imposition of a closed-shop policy.

2. Bio./Ag. graduate students may be issued a key for short-term access under special circumstances. The shop manager will consider need, past performance, safety issues associated with the request, and shop skills competence when determining whether to grant permission for short-term access.

3. All doors to the Shop shall be kept closed and locked at all times outside of normal working hours. Authorized users of the Shop are to use their keys each time they enter or re-enter and not unlock or block the doors open. Overhead doors are not to be left raised while unattended.

4. Access to specific equipment after hours has the same restrictions as during regular work hours. The machine Shop is especially off limits (excepting that qualified persons may use the South Bend lathe and Gorton Mills, three drill presses, and the arbor presses located along the north walk-way).

5. The Shop facilities are for use by the shop staff, Bio./Ag. faculty, staff, retired faculty, and authorized students, not by their friends or family, or for the support of commercial enterprises or non-university business.

6. All users of the facilities must put away all tools and supplies and leave the equipment and work space at least as clean as found. Users must report damages or unserviceable equipment or other items to the shop manager.