The Electrical Engineering Department has responsibility for the security of its part of Anderson Hall and the Engineering Science Building. Most of our research and educational instruments are housed in these buildings. As a graduate student, laboratory assistant, and research assistant, you are an integral part of maintaining security in these buildings. You will be provided with keys which give you access to areas that are necessary for your graduate career--please safeguard these keys. Do not loan them out to friends. When the building is locked and you come to work, make sure the door is locked behind you when you enter. In particular, do not prop a door open at night--some equipment has already been lost due to security lapses. Finally, when you leave an area, classroom, or building, please check to make sure that it is secured; even if you were not the one to open it. By working together we can make sure that computer facilities and other research equipment remain accessible to all EE graduate students.

Maintaining safety in instructional and research areas is another responsibility we all share. We often deal with currents and voltages that can reach dangerous levels (even standard 60 cycle, 120 volt outlets are dangerous). Do not let your familiarity and understanding of electromagnetic phenomena lead you into carelessness which creates a dangerous situation. Each action should always be evaluated with safety as the first regard. This particularly holds for laboratory assistants, who are responsible for the safety of students in the laboratory as well as their own safety. You must always be alert for possibly dangerous situations and "head them off" before they become dangerous. Remember, overloaded capacitors, resistors and transistors have been known to explode--you cannot always expect them to simply disappear in a puff of smoke. While this discussion has focused on electrical safety, it applies in all situations. Protective glasses or goggles should be worn whenever there is danger to eyes (such as in the machine shop) and ear protection should be used whenever the sound level is high.