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UH Anthropology Dept.
Archaeology Program
Labs Home Page
Rules, Regulations, & Helpful Hints
Who Can Use the Labs and Equipment?
- Lab facilities and archaeology equipment may only be used for University-related
work. Faculty and students may not use the archaeology labs or archaeology equipment to
work on outside contract projects.
- Demand for lab and equipment use is high. To avoid scheduling
conflicts, consult the labs manager before planning classes or projects that will require
use of the labs and/or equipment. In cases of conflicting requests, the labs manager
will consult with the department chair to determine which request(s) take priority.
Health and Safety
All work in the archaeology labs is governed by State
and Federal Health and Safety laws, and by the policies adopted by the University of
Hawaii to be followed by all campus labs. For detailed information see the
U.H. Environmental Health & Safety Office's
web pages.
All faculty, staff, and students intending to use any
kind of chemicals in our labs must comply with the University's
Hazardous Materials
Management Program, including attending a 2-hour training session conducted by the campus Environmental
Health and Safety Office prior to being authorized to work in the labs.
Keep safety in mind at all times. Stay alert
while working with equipment or chemicals. Fatigue and loss of concentration are
major causes of accidents. If you find yourself in this situation, it's time to take
a break.
Use and Care of Equipment
- Teaching/learning are the primary purposes for our labs and
equipment. We have good equipment resources for those purposes, but your active
involvement is needed to help assure that these resources remain available. Make every
effort to see that you are well-informed about operation and care of equipment you will be
using. The labs manager keeps most of our equipment owner's manuals on file, and you
are encouraged to read them if you are the least bit unsure of how to use any of the
equipment.
- Don’t assume, just because you don’t see something,
that we don’t have it. Ask the labs manager about it. What you’re looking for may just be put away to save space,
to keep it clean when it’s not being used, or because it has the potential to go
missing when it’s not being monitored.
- You are expected to be well-informed about proper use and care of
equipment before you will be allowed to use it. If you’re uncertain what
equipment you need, or how it works and should be maintained, ask rather than causing
problems by unintentionally breaking something. Please don’t expect the labs
manager to be able to teach you how to use specialized equipment or computer
programs. That's not her job. The labs manager does keep most equipment
owner's manuals on file, and will provide them to you for reference upon request.
- Never force or pry anything. Brute force is
not the answer, and will only result in damaging the equipment. Examine the problem
carefully, refer to the owner's manual, and if a solution can't be found, consult the labs
manager. If you're in the field, take several deep breaths, a short break, and then
carefully examine the problem again.
- Keep all equipment clean. Never put equipment away dirty or wet.
Inform the labs manager if something is broken, or not working properly, so that it can be
repaired in a timely manner.
- Do not move lab equipment from one room to another
without first consulting the labs manager. Most of our equipment is in a particular place
for good reason. Moving equipment around without any word also needlessly confounds
security and inventory management.
- When you take equipment into the field, you, as the head of
the project, are responsible for seeing that it is used and maintained properly by both
yourself and any of your assistants. You will be held accountable for what appears to be
carelessness or ill-use, and depending on the seriousness of the problem you may be
required to bear financial responsibility for repairs or replacement, and almost certainly
you will have trouble getting good equipment the next time you go into the field.
Security
- We are responsible for the security of our labs and equipment.
Do not leave equipment unattended, or lab doors unlocked.
- When finished working in the labs, make sure that all the windows are
closed (102 is the only room where they should ever be open), the lights are turned off,
and the door is closed and locked.
- Having lab and office keys checked out to
you is a big responsibility. Don't lose them, lend them, or let them get stolen.
Air Conditioners
- The air conditioners in our labs are there for purposes of
environmental control for equipment and curation first, and human comfort second.
The labs can be cold if you’re not moving around in them, so bringing a sweater with
you is recommended. When there are two air conditioners in the room, they were designed to
run together to maintain a constant temperature. If you turn one off, the other will just
work harder to maintain that temperature, possibly shortening it’s working life. Don’t
turn the air conditioners off. If you really think a room is far too cold, talk
to the labs manager about adjusting the thermostat(s).
Door Stops
The following photos illustrate how the old door stops in our
building work. Please make sure the door stop is properly released before closing
lab doors, because if the door is pulled shut without properly releasing the stop, the
door can get jammed shut--which is not a good thing.
Cleanliness and Courtesy
- Our working space is very limited. It’s important that all lab
users make every effort to keep our labs clean and tidy so that the shared space can be
utilized to its best advantage.
- Use the covered rubbish can in the hallway to dispose of food and
food containers. Food is not allowed in the labs.
- Courtesy rules in the labs where music is concerned. Do not play
music in the labs unless (1) everyone working there agrees to listen to music and
agrees on what kind of music to listen to; or (2) ear phones are used.
Supplies
- Inform the labs manager of supplies that are running low.
Other Stuff
- One further don’t--Please don’t do anything to
encourage termite infestations. Termites are very destructive, and very hard to erradicate
once they’ve gotten into things. In the past, we've had to dispose of expensive
equipment and cabinetry because they were too damaged by termites for repair. We don't
want to have this happen again. Please keep windows closed at night, and if possible
try to avoid working at night during times when the insects are swarming. Check your books
and files frequently to make sure termites haven't gotten into them, and try to avoid
introducing anything made of wood into the building.
Information on Specific Archaeology Labs/Classrooms:
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