Fume Hood Inspection and Repair Procedures

As of 6/2022

What to do if your hood goes into alarm or is not functioning properly

If your hood is in alarm, first try closing the sash to see if the alarm will reset.  If the alarm resets, reopen the sash to the safe operating height.  If hood alarm is triggered, contact your Building Administrator (see specifics for TRL, Smilow, Tangen, and New Bolton Center buildings below).  Do not disable the alarm.  

As soon as the hood issue is recognized, the lab must close chemical bottles, turn off any heat sources, and close the sash.  If hazardous (biological, chemical, or radioactive) materials or equipment must be removed from the hood to perform the repair, it is the lab’s responsibility to move them.  Hazardous materials and equipment may remain in the hood if the mechanic does not need to enter the hood. 

Under no conditions is it acceptable to work with hazardous materials in a fume hood that is not functioning properly.  Even if you can feel/hear air flowing in the hood, you may not work in hood while the alarm is indicating low or no flow.

Expectations for Building Administrators

The building administrator must request the work order and place a completed orange Out of Order sign on the fume hood as soon as possible after receipt of a problem from a building occupant, from EHRS, or from the Facilities Services Call Center.

Prompt posting of the Out of Order sign by the Building Administrator is critical to the protection of lab workers and those conducting repairs on the hood.  Building Administrators should consider developing an alternate method/back up for times of absence.

Building Administrators should remind laboratory occupants not to remove orange signs.  To request more Out of Order signs, send an email request to ehrs@ehrs.upenn.edu with your name, building, and delivery location.

Expectations for Call Center

It is the Call Center’s responsibility to call the building administrator to report that a work request on a fume hood has been received.

Expectations for Mechanics/FRES

Mechanics should not perform work on the hood unless there is an orange Out of Order sign posted on the sash.  Mechanics must call their supervisor in the absence of an Out of Order sign.  The supervisor will then contact the Building Administrator to report the unlabeled hood.

Mechanics should wear the appropriate PPE (disposable nitrile gloves) when performing any repairs inside the hood.  Mechanics must not move or remove any chemical bottles or lab equipment from the fume hood.  If chemical bottles or equipment must be removed from the hood to perform the repair, it is the lab’s responsibility to move them.  The mechanic can ask a lab occupant to move the items in the hood; otherwise, the mechanic should contact his/her supervisor.  The supervisor should then contact EHRS at 8-4453 for further guidance. 

Chemical bottles and equipment may remain in the hood if the mechanic does not need to enter the hood. 

FRES Supervisors should remind mechanics not to remove orange signs under any circumstance.

Upon completion of the repair, the Supervisor closes out the work ticket.  An email to EHRS will be generated informing EHRS that the fume hood repair is complete. 

Expectations for EHRS

During routine annual inspections, EHRS will place an orange Out of Order sign on a hood that fails inspection.  EHRS will notify the lab via email that the hood is out of service and will cc the Building Administrator.

Upon receipt of the work order closeout email, EHRS will conduct a post-repair flow check/alarm calibration.  Repair of a fume hood is considered complete when EHRS has conducted the post-repair flow check/alarm calibration and removed the FUME HOOD OUT OF ORDER sign.  EHRS will notify the lab via email if the hood has been returned to service or if further repairs are needed.  EHRS will cc the Building Administrator on these communications. 

EHRS is the only office permitted to remove orange Out of Order signs from fume hoods. Under no circumstances should a laboratory occupant or a mechanic remove an orange sign.

Biosafety Cabinets (BSCs) are used when working with infectious agents and human source material to protect the product, personnel, and environment.  Clean benches provide protection for the product only.  Fume hood are used for handling chemicals and protect personnel only.

Looking for Biosafety Cabinet repair procedures?  See Biosafety Cabinets.  

As of 3/2022

Annual inspection of fume hoods will be conducted by the EHRS Lab Safety staff, except for those hoods that are included in a preventative maintenance program conducted by an outside contractor.  As of 2018, a University-contracted vendor is responsible for performing annual inspection and calibration of the Phoenix Fume Hood Control systems installed at the University of Pennsylvania. This preventative maintenance program includes the following buildings: BRB, Chemistry ‘73, Chemistry ‘58, CRET, Vagelos, Singh, Ryan, Rosenthal, Leidy, Skirkanich, LRSM, and select hoods in various other buildings.  

EHRS will place an orange Out of Order sign on the hood sash if the hood does not pass its annual inspection.

As of 11/2022

EHRS oversees the entry of annual fume hood certification data in BioRAFT. You can find the information for the hoods in your lab by going to the “Equipment” tab in your lab’s BioRAFT profile. The fume hoods that are associated with your lab spaces will be listed there along with the “audit expiration date.” Click on the record for each fume hood to view details, including service records. Fume hood certification data is tracked in BioRAFT only, not on the hood itself. 

As of 9/2024

PSOM off-campus properties include TRL, and 1 UCity.  

Lab occupants in any of the above facilities should report issues with their hood operations to the PSOM Associate Director of Real Estate Operations.

The PSOM Associate Director of Real Estate Operations will help coordinate repairs via an outside contractor and will notify EHRS when repairs have been completed.  EHRS will complete a post-repair flow check and alarm calibration per the general procedures outlined above. 

As of 2/2021

The Smilow Building Administrator or EHRS places an orange Out of Order signs on the hoods. 

During routine annual inspections, EHRS will place a sign on an out of order hood if the hood does not pass inspection.  EHRS will notify the lab via email that the hood is out of service and will cc the Building Administrator.  It is the Building Administrator’s responsibility to request the work order through the Maximo system. 

If lab staff observe a hood in alarm or suspect the hood is not functioning properly, they must report this to the Building Administrator.  The Building Administrator must then place an Out of Order sign on a hood.  The Building Administrator will submit the work order through the Maximo system. 

Upon receipt of the work order, HUP’s Physical Plant will contract a vendor of their choice to complete the repair.

The Building Administrator will notify the EHRS fume hood team as soon as they receive notice that the repair is complete. EHRS will then complete a post-repair flow check and alarm calibration per the general procedures outlined above. 

As of 2/2021

If EHRS encounters any issues during the annual inspection, they will post an orange Out of Order sign on the hood sash and communicate these issues to Taylor Caputo and Eric Enders.  Taylor and her team must request the work order.

Lab occupants should report issues with their hood operations to Taylor Caputo and Eric Enders.  Taylor and her team must place a completed orange Out of Order sign on the fume hood and request the work order. 

Upon receipt of the work order closeout email, EHRS will conduct a post-repair flow check/alarm calibration per the general procedures outlined above. 

As of 2/2021

At New Bolton Center (NBC), labs are responsible for contacting a vendor in the event repair is needed and for arranging payment themselves.  Typically Anne Drumheller assists Clinical Studies departments with this function.  If a lab worker wants NBC staff to look at the hood first to verify simple issues aren’t the cause, then the user should place a work order in the Facilities system at NBC.

Upon repair of the hood, the lab is responsible for contacting EHRS with a copy of the repair report so that we can verify adequate flow rate and alarm calibration.  If satisfactory, we will return the hood to service per the procedures outlined above.