ROOF ACCESS Program

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Contents

> [Page]{.underline}

Glossary 2

I. Policy 3

II\. Scope 3

III\. Introduction 3

IV\. Building Roof Categories 4

> Restricted Access Roofs 4
>
> Limited Access Roofs 5
>
> Unrestricted Access Roofs 6

V. Signs 6

VI\. Responsible Parties 7

VII\. Regulations/Orders/Standards 8

VIII\. Related PUB-3000 Chapters 8

**Appendices**

Appendix A: Building Roof Access Categories

Appendix B: LBNL Building Managers and Deputies (not currently
available)

Glossary

**As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)** is the goal to minimize
employee radiation exposure.

A **High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA)** filter is one that is
capable of filtering 0.3-micron particles or greater with at least 99.97
percent efficiency.

A **Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)** **system** is
the system that supplies fresh air to a building. It may also provide
heating and/or cooling.

**Long-term** work is nonroutine roof work that is greater than three
days in duration. Examples include reroofing an entire building, or
replacing large portions of ventilation systems.

**Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)** and **Threshold Limit Value (TLV)**
are employee airborne exposure limits established for particular
chemicals by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(**Fed/OSHA**) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial
Hygienists (**ACGIH**), respectively. DOE requires that employee
exposures must not exceed PELs or TLVs. **Time Weighted Average (TWA),
Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL), and Ceiling (C)** standards are
summarized as follows:

**[Organizations and Standards Work Exposure Duration]{.underline}**

Fed/OSHA PEL-TWA and ACGIH TLV-TWA 8-hour shift and 40-hour week

Fed/OSHA PEL-STEL and ACGIH TLV-STEL 15 minutes

Fed/OSHA PEL-C and ACGIH TLV-C Any point in time

**Roof access** means going onto a roof by any means.

**Short-term** work is routine work that is 8 hours or less per day for
not more than 3 consecutive days. Examples include small roof repairs,
changing a blower motor, and replacing HVAC filters and environmental
stack monitors.

**Threshold Limit Value (TLV)** is defined under **Permissible Exposure
Limit**, above.

Roof Access PROGRAM

I. Policy

Berkeley Lab will take a conservative approach to roof access in order
to minimize potential exposure to chemicals, magnetic fields, and
radiological hazards for personnel who are working on roofs. This
approach involves restricting or limiting access to building roofs when
potentially hazardous materials originating from operations inside of a
building may reach the roof, even though it unlikely these hazards will
exceed occupational health limits.

II\. Scope

This policy applies to all personnel access on roofs maintained by
Berkeley Lab. The primary focus of this policy is to address concerns
regarding employee exposure to chemicals, magnetic fields, and
radiological hazards when working on rooftops. Other safety issues
involved when working on roofs, and equipment on roofs, (e.g., fall
protection, electrical safety, lockout tagout) are covered separately in
other PUB-3000 chapters.

III\. Introduction

Laboratory employees are often required to gain brief access to the
roofs of Berkeley Lab buildings for such tasks as routine maintenance,
equipment inspection, minor roof repairs, environmental sample
collection, and changing HVAC filters. Less frequently, work may require
employees or contractors to be on roofs for extended periods of time,
such as when reroofing or installing ventilation systems. Although it is
unlikely that individuals working on roofs will be exposed to chemical
substances in concentrations that exceed the PEL or TLV (because of the
large amount of dilution that occurs in a laboratory hood and the
further dilution when the exhaust gases mix with the surrounding
air),**1** it is good practice to minimize employee chemical exposures.
Radioactive materials are also a concern, but the consistent use of HEPA
or other specialized filters for hoods used for volatile radioactive
materials mitigates release to the roof. In keeping with the policy to
minimize potential employee exposure, certain buildings have been placed
into **restricted** or **limited** roof access categories.

**1**For example: A laboratory hood typically exhausts at 800 cubic feet
per minute (cfm), or 22,640,000 cubic centimeters (cc) per minute. This
means that every cubic centimeter of gas emitted in a minute is diluted
by a factor of approximately 22 million in the laboratory exhaust
system. For example, it would take an emission rate of 226 cc/min of
hydrogen sulfide gas (an odiferous gas that has a rotten egg type odor)
to reach the PEL of 10 ppm inside the laboratory fume hood duct. Because
of its low odor threshold (i.e., 0.008 ppm or 1,200 times less than the
PEL), releases of hydrogen sulfide gas can generate odor complaints when
it is released at a rate of 0.2 cc/min . One of the purposes of limiting
roof access on certain buildings is to minimize employee exposure to
noxious odors, even though it is likely that the airborne concentrations
are well below the PEL.

IV\. Building Roof Categories

Berkeley Lab buildings have been placed into one of three roof access
categories, depending on the type of work performed in the building.
Appendix A consists of a comprehensive list of Berkeley Lab Buildings
and their assigned access category.

A. **Restricted Access** building roofs require the approval of the
Building Manager before [any]{.underline} work is performed.

B. **Limited** **Access** building roofs can be accessed by notified
personnel for short-term work, long term work requires approval by the
Building Manager.

C. **Unrestricted** **Access** building roofs are open to work access
with no special restrictions.

Future additions or recategorizations must be reviewed by the Building
Manager, Maintenance Supervisor, and Industrial Hygienist assigned to
these areas before a building roof access category is added or changed.
The types of building classifications are listed below. Note that all
trailers are designated as type C, **open access**, unless they are
located in a restricted area.

Restricted Access Roofs

Buildings specified as having **restricted access** roofs in Appendix A
were placed in that category because they are in a restricted access
area, such as a hazardous waste yard, accelerator, etc., or because
there is a research-related reason or hazard, such as a high magnetic
field. The Building Manager, who is the point of contact between
building occupants and Facilities, also has the option to restrict
access to roofs for other reasons, such as damage to sensitive
equipment, disruption to building occupants, experiments, etc.

**Restricted access** roofs require that the Building Manager (or
designee) be contacted for approval before [any]{.underline} work can be
performed on the roof. Access doors must be kept locked and posted with
the sign shown below.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Caution**                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| This roof is designated as                                            |
|                                                                       |
| \"Restricted Access\"                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| Building Manager approval is required before any roof work can be     |
| performed                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| Contact the Building Manager at ext.\_\_\_\_\_\_                      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Limited Access Roofs

Buildings specified as having **limited access** roofs in Appendix A
were placed in that category because there is some potential for diluted
chemical emissions from the exhaust stacks to be present. Typically
these roofs have large numbers of exhaust stacks, or the exhaust stacks
are relatively low in height. In some cases there are enclosures that
may restrict outside air flow in part of the roof area.

Roof work on **limited** **access** buildings has been placed into two
classifications:

1\. **Short-term** (i.e., 8-hours per day for not more than 3
consecutive days)

2\. **Long-term** (i.e., \>3 consecutive days).

Short-term work by employees who have been notified of the potential
hazards associated with their task is permitted without restriction.
Verbal approval by the Building Manager is required for long-term work.
If requested, an Industrial Hygienist (or designee) will review the type
and amounts of chemicals used in each laboratory hood in the building.
Experiments that have the potential to cause problems to roof workers
(e.g., fuming acids, releasing odiferous chemicals such as hydrogen
sulfide) may be restricted. Access doors must be kept locked and posted
with the sign shown below.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Caution**                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| This roof is designated as                                            |
|                                                                       |
| \"Limited Access\"                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| Authorized Personnel Only                                             |
|                                                                       |
| For information contact the Building Manager at ext.\_\_\_\_\_\_      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Unrestricted Access Roofs

Buildings (including all trailers) with **unrestricted access** roofs
were placed in that category because they are office-type buildings with
virtually no potential for chemicals or other hazardous agents inside of
the building to affect roof work. The building manager should still be
notified for long-term roof work and for work that may disrupt building
occupant activities (e.g., shutdown of the HVAC system, roofing repair
near an air intake, interruption of utilities, etc.). Access doors to
these roofs will not be posted with signs.

V. Signs

Listed below are examples of signs that may be posted on laboratory
hoods when they are out of service or their use has been limited because
of roof work.

A. Appropriate sign for posting on a laboratory fume hood when air is no
longer exhausting through it (for example, when Facilities maintenance
is replacing belts or the blower motor).

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **DO NOT USE**                                                        |
|                                                                       |
| **FACILITIES DEPARTMENT**                                             |
|                                                                       |
| **NOTICE**                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| **OUT OF SERVICE**                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| **FUME HOOD and EXHAUST SYSTEM**                                      |
|                                                                       |
| > **BLDG \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**                                         |
| >                                                                     |
| > **DATE \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**                                       |
| >                                                                     |
| > **FROM APPROXIMATELY \_\_\_\_\_\_TO \_\_\_\_\_\_\_**                |
| >                                                                     |
| > **REASON                                                            |
| > \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**      |
| >                                                                     |
| > **FOR INFORMATION CONTACT \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_AT          |
| > EXT\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

B. Examples of signs that are appropriate for posting on hoods that
exhaust adjacent to work areas where long-term roof work is being
performed. The type of sign used will depend if the Building Manager
chooses to make a blanket work restriction or to designate a specific
roof work schedule time.

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Caution**                       | **Warning**                       |
|                                   |                                   |
| Do not perform any experiment     | Do not release                    |
|                                   |                                   |
| in this hood before contacting    | hazardous or odoriferous          |
| the                               | materials                         |
|                                   |                                   |
| Bldg. Mgr. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_at | into this hood during posted work |
| ext \_\_\_\_\_\_                  | times.                            |
|                                   |                                   |
| Painters are working on the roof  | Workers may be on the roof.       |
| near the hood exhaust.            |                                   |
|                                   | Roof work schedules are posted at |
| Date\_\_\_\_\_\_                  | entrance doors, the elevators,    |
|                                   | and staircases.                   |
|                                   |                                   |
|                                   | For information contact the       |
|                                   | Building Manager                  |
|                                   |                                   |
|                                   | at ext.\_\_\_\_\_\_               |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

VI\. Responsible Parties

Personnel With Access to Roofs

• Review the roof work plan and the implementation of this policy with
your supervisor prior to starting work.

• Determine the type of building roof access category from Appendix A.

• Contact the Building Manager for:

A. **restricted access** buildings.

B. long term work on **limited access** buildings.

C. work that will disrupt building occupants in **unrestricted access**
buildings.

• Ensure that the appropriate sign(s) are posted, and that other safety
precautions, such as lockout/tagout, etc., are performed if they are
required.

• Stop work immediately and contact your supervisor if the previously
discussed scope of work or conditions change.

• Remove signs after the work has been completed, and inform the
building manager of the completion of the work if they were notified.

Building Manager

• Know the roof access classification of the building and the
requirements for gaining access to the roof.

• Appoint a designee for times when the Building Manager is not
available.

• Ensure that researchers and other building occupants are notified of
roof work (e.g., laboratory hood shutdown) that may directly affect
them.

• Serve as the point of contact between Facilities and the building
occupants, as needed.

EH&S Field Support Department

• Upon request, assist in the evaluation of chemical, radiological, or
other hazards that may affect roof workers.

• Make final decisions on roof categories based on input from building
operations personnel.

Facilities Supervisors/Project Managers/Superintendents

• Review the roof work plan and the implementation of this policy with
employee(s) prior to starting work. Request assistance from EH&S if
there are concerns regarding chemical, radiological, or other hazards.

• Notify employees who perform roof work of the potential hazards
associated with their task, as well as the measures implemented to
mitigate these hazards.

• Notify the Building Manager of work that may disrupt building occupant
work activities, such as shutdown of the HVAC system, roofing repair
near an air intake, or interruption of utilities.

• Notify the Building Manager and EH&S of long-term roof work on
**restricted access** and **limited access** roofs as far in advance as
feasible.

• Coordinate roof access procedures for outside contractors.

VII\. Regulations/Orders/Standards

29CFR 1926.500 - Fall Protection

VIII\. Related PUB-3000 Chapters

• Occupational Safety

• Lockout/Tagout

Appendices

Appendix A: Building Roof Access Categories

**Restricted** **access**: Requires approval from the building manager
for [all]{.underline} work (i.e., both short and long term). These
buildings are shown in bold type in the table below.

**Limited** **access**: Access only by notified personnel for short term
work. Long-term work (i.e., \>8 hours) requires the building manager\'s
verbal approval.

**Unrestricted** **access**: No special restrictions for roof work. This
also includes all trailers not individually listed in this table.

  ---------- ------------------------ ----------------- -------------- ------------------- -------------------------
  **Bldg**   **Description**          **Re-stricted**   **Limit-ed**   **Unre-stricted**   **Comments**

                                                                                           

  1          Donner Laboratory                                         X                   **Limited access** inside
                                                                                           blower enclosure areas

  2          Advanced Materials       \-                \-             X                   **Limited access** inside
             Laboratory Center                                                             blower enclosure areas

  3          Calvin Laboratory                                         X                   

  4          Magnetic Fusion Energy   \-                \-             X                   
             (MFE)                                                                         

  5          Magnetic Fusion Energy   \-                \-             X                   
             (MFE)                                                                         

  **6**      **Advanced Light Source  **X**             **-**          **-**               Notify the Control Room -
             (ALS)**                                                                       ALARA\*

  7          ALS storage/offices      \-                \-             X                   

  10         ALS Labs/shops           \-                **X**          \-                  ALARA

  14         Earth Sciences,          \-                \-             X                   
             Accelerator & Fusion                                                          
             Research                                                                      

  16         MFE Lab                                                   X                   

  17         EH&S Shops               \-                \-             X                   

  25         Mechanical Technology    \-                \-             X                   
             Shops                                                                         

  25A        Electronics Shops        \-                \-             X                   

  26         Medical Services         \-                \-             X                   

  27         High Voltage Testing     \-                \-             X                   
             Facility                                                                      

  29         Electronics              \-                \-             X                   
             Instrumentation                                                               

  31         Chicken Ranch            \-                \-             X                   
             Maintenance Building                                                          

  34         ALS Chiller              \-                \-             X                   

  36         Grizzly Substation       \-                \-             X                   
             Switch gear                                                                   

  37         Utilities service        \-                \-             X                   

  40         Electronics Development  \-                \-             X                   
             Lab                                                                           

  41         Engineering &            \-                \-             X                   
             Electronics                                                                   

  43         Compressor Building      \-                \-             X                   

  44         Air Pollution Studies    \-                \-             X                   

  45         Fire Apparatus           \-                \-             X                   

  46         Offices/shops            \-                \-             X                   

  46A        Engineering              \-                \-             X                   

  47         Advanced Accelerator     \-                \-             X                   
             Study                                                                         

  48         Fire House               \-                \-             X                   

  50         Physics, Accelerator &   \-                \-             X                   
             Fusion Rsrch                                                                  

  50A        Administration,          \-                \-             X                   
             Directorate                                                                   

  50B        Physics, Computer Center \-                \-             X                   

  50C        Public Information       \-                \-             X                   
             Department                                                                    

  50D        Nuclear Science          \-                \-             X                   

  50E        Physics                  \-                \-             X                   

  50F        Computing Services       \-                \-             X                   

  51         Bevatron                 \-                \-             X                   

  51A        Bevatron Experimental    \-                \-             X                   
             Area                                                                          

  51B        EPB Hall                 \-                \-             X                   

  52         MFE Lab                  \-                \-             X                   

  53         Super HILAC Development  \-                \-             X                   

  54         Cafeteria                \-                \-             X                   

  **Bldg     **Description**          **Re-stricted**   **Limit-ed**   **Unre-stricted**   **Comments**
  \#**                                                                                     

  **55**     **Life Sciences**        **X**             **-**          **-**               ALARA

  **55A**    **NMR**                  **X**             **-**          \-                  Magnetic Fields

  **56**     **Life Sciences**        **X**             **-**          **-**               ALARA

  **58**     **Heavy Ion Fusion**     **X**             **-**          **-**               ALARA

  **58A**    **Accelerator R&D        **X**             \-                                 ALARA
             Addition**                                                                    

  60         Physics Hi-bay           \-                \-             X                   

  61         Standby Propane Bldg     \-                \-             X                   

  62         Material & Chemical      \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
             Sciences                                                                      stacks

  63         Energy & Environment     \-                \-             X                   
             (EE)                                                                          

  64         Life Sciences            \-                \-             X                   

  65         Visitor\'s Center        \-                \-             X                   

  66         Material & Chemical      \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
             Sciences                                                                      stacks

  68         Upper Pump House         \-                \-             X                   

  69         Purchasing / Receiving   \-                \-             X                   

  70         Nuclear Sciences(NS), EE \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
                                                                                           stacks

  70A        NS, LS, CS, ES                             **X**                              Laboratory hood exhaust
                                                                                           stacks

  71         HILAC                    \-                \-             X                   

  71A        HILAC Rectifier          \-                \-             X                   

  71B        HILAC Annex                                               X                   

  72         National Center for      \-                \-             X                   
             Electron Microscopy                                                           
             (NCEM)                                                                        

  72A        High Voltage Electron    \-                \-             X                   
             Microscope                                                                    

  72B        Atomic Resolution        \-                \-             X                   
             Microscope (ARM)                                                              

  72C        ARM Support              \-                \-             X                   

  73         Atmospheric Aerosol      \-                \-             X                   
             Research                                                                      

  74         LS Lab                   \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
                                                                                           stacks

  **75**     **NTLF, EH&S**           **X**             **-**          \-                  ALARA

  **75A**    **Hazardous Waste        **X**             \-             \-                  Restricted waste storage
             Storage**                                                                     area

  75B        EH&S Trailers            \-                \-             X                   

  **75C**    **EH&S**                 **X**             \-             \-                  Restricted waste storage
                                                                                           area

  76         Facilities Maintenance   \-                \-             X                   

  77         Engineering Shops                                         X                   

  77A        Engineering Shops        \-                \-             X                   

  77H        Engineering Shops        \-                **X**                              Contact UHVC supervisor -
                                                                                           exhaust stacks

  78         Craft Stores             \-                \-             X                   

  79         Metal Stores             \-                \-             X                   

  **80**     **ALS**                  **X**             \-             \-                  Notify the ALS Control
                                                                                           Room - ALARA

  80A        ALS Offices              \-                \-             X                   

  81         Gas Storage              \-                \-             X                   

  82         Lower Pump House         \-                \-             X                   

  83         Life Sciences Lab        \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
                                                                                           stacks

  84         Life Sciences Lab        \-                **X**          \-                  Laboratory hood exhaust
                                                                                           stacks (when operational)

  **85**     **Hazardous Waste        **X**             **-**          **-**               Restricted waste storage
             Handling Facility**                                                           area

  85B        EH&S Offices             \-                \-             X                   

  **88**     **88 Cyclotron Hibay**   **X**             **-**          **-**               Notify the Control Room -
                                                                                           ALARA

  88         88 Cyclotron - Office    \-                \-             X                   
             Section                                                                       

  90         E& E, EH&S               \-                \-             X                   
  ---------- ------------------------ ----------------- -------------- ------------------- -------------------------

\* **ALARA** (**As Low As Reasonably Achievable)** The goal is to
minimize employee radiation exposure.

Appendix B: LBNL Building Managers and Deputies