News from the pit

25 February 2008

ATLAS safety protocols


With the LHC start planned for the summer, ATLAS safety measures have to be changed to comply with the new challenges.  From April, the current underground access rights to the ATLAS pit will no longer be valid. Therefore, ATLAS collaborators need to update their status in matters of safety in order to maintain their access rights to the pit.

Olga Beltramello is the ATLAS GLIMOS, the Group Leader in Matters of Safety, and she has been coordinating the safety measures down in the ATLAS pit. “The level of access control and the level of safety training are both increasing because of the risks associated with the operation of the LHC and ATLAS,” Olga explains.

For this reason, underground access to ATLAS personnel will be granted in a different way starting in April. One of the two main changes is that the current MIFARE system card will not provide access to LHC interlock areas anymore. Instead, a dosimeter badge system, which will be linked to an eye scan, will be required. Also, the LHC Access and Safety system, which are already installed, will start being operational. “We move to a new access philosophy which is compatible with the LHC access operation mode,” Olga says.

How are the new measures going to affect ATLAS collaborators? Mainly, the ATLAS U and LHC12/LCC24 rights, which are currently associated to the USA15, US15 and UX15 caverns will be replaced with six new access rights. Each of the six types of rights is linked to a specific area, namely ATL_USA, ATLUSAT, ATL_UX, ATL_TOR, ATL_US and ATLUST.

Two different categories of personnel

Depending on the type of work performed down in the ATLAS cavern, personnel will be classified in two categories.

Category 1 include people who are working on a long term scale in the ATLAS underground. They will receive a badge with dosimeter. Category 2 is for people who will finish an activity in the ATLAS cavern in the coming months and, most importantly, before the first beams. They will receive a temporary badge that will not be associated to a dosimeter.

What you need to do to gain access to the ATLAS pit is:

If you belong to category 1, first apply on EDH for the access rights to the zone that you need to access. You will also need to change your old access card for an operation access badge with an integrated dosimeter. Category 1 personnel also needs to take the Radioprotection General Safety course, which is already available in English and French.

If you belong to category 2, you should also apply for the access rights for the zone you need to access. You need to change your access card for an operation access token (without dosimeter). Category 2 personnel do not need to take the Radioprotection General Safety course.

You will soon find updated information on the ATLAS safety website.

Colin Barras

 

Cristina Jimenez

ATLAS e-NEWS