Physics Avenue closed 9th July
The work to replace the old liquid nitrogen tank has begun and will continue next week with the removal of one of the Chemistry vessels and our vessel.
To enable the crane and transport vehicles to operate, the avenue will be closed to all other vehicles.
Shonah Ion
Lab safety
After a safety tour by Roger and myself we find poor housekeeping is an issue in many labs. This has got to improve.
We expect the building to become more occupied as we approach the start of term, and with increased occupation the potential for trips and falls increases.
Also storing heavy objects at height is also something we are seeing more of. Please store heavy or awkward items at ground level.
Look at your workspaces critically and throw away things you no longer require. If the items may be hazardous waste please get in contact with me for assistance.
Shonah Ion
Liquid nitrogen vessel replacement
The works to break out and re cast the plinth for the liquid nitrogen vessel will begin next week. This will entail noise and vibration. We will try and minimise the disturbance but be aware of activity in the area.
It is hoped to re surface the area of avenue from the QTC gas gage to the plant room when the plinth is complete. I will pass on the details when I have them.
Shonah Ion
Water Hygiene checks
We have been informed by facilities that water hygiene and shower head cleaning will take place in the Physics building during the week commencing 12th of July 2021 from 9am daily.
Two Lancaster University engineers will require access to kitchens and shared bathrooms to test hot water temperatures. The engineers will not test every kitchen/bathroom just a sample from different locations within the building.
This brief survey will take approximately five minutes, and is to ensure that the hot water is maintained at the correct temperature to prevent any instances of legionella. There will be no shutdown of service.
Lancaster University appointed engineers will require access to bathrooms to remove shower heads for cleaning to prevent the build-up of materials and bacteria as well as to ensure their effective operation. This will take approximately 5 minutes per shower head.
Shonah Ion
Resolving the impact of outflows and small-scale structure in the CGM with TNG50
Online event via MS Teams
Monday 12 July 2021
3:00pm to 4:00pm
Astrophysics webinar
Speaker: Dr. Dylan Nelson (Heidelberg University)
Izzy Garland
Performance Development Review
Just a reminder that it’s PDR (Performance Development Review) time. In case you have not seen it, HR put out a communication about PDRs for 20/21 which includes links to guidance, training and demos of the electronic form.
Please note that I only have access to my own PDR form so if you need technical assistance with yours, please contact HR Systems.
If your line manager/ PDR reviewer needs to be changed on Core HR so that they can access your form, HR systems can do that for you too.
FAO Non-academic staff on probation (and their line managers)
Staff that are on probation should have an initial PDR in place and complete the accompanying Probation Review form. These can be found in the bottom section of this webpage.
Grainne Wilkinson
Mandatory Training
As you will have seen on the news pages of the staff intranet, mandatory training compliance is low so please check your training and complete any refreshers or first time training required. The link to the news story, listing the training, is mandatory training.
Shonah Ion
Building occupancy
Dear Colleagues,
The proposed changes to restrictions that were due to happen next week have been postponed, so the continuing message is to work from home if possible and only come onto campus if it is necessary. We recognise that it is necessary for some staff & students to come onto campus to complete experiments, attend in person events etc. Some limited more general working on campus can also be approved for those who find are finding home working unsuitable due to health and similar issues.
However, we are still operating under distancing and other restrictions and we need to keep the occupancy of the building low and managed to meet the Public Health requirements. This is a particular problem in multi-occupancy offices, but we also need to keep occupation of single occupancy offices low.
To manage occupancy in the Department and ensure we remain compliant with current regulations, we have designated a responsible person and booking system for the multiple occupancy offices used by many researchers & PG students.
If a multi occupancy office user needs to come in, they would first contact their line manager/supervisor and explain their request. If the supervisor approves the request they (the line manager/supervisor) would then contact the room manager and discuss the dates, time, frequency or duration of the access with the room manager, who would then book the access to allow occupancy management and social distancing.
The rooms and their managers are listed below.
| Room Number | Room Manager |
| A14 (within A15) | Sam Jones (PG Student) |
| A15 | Sam Jarvis |
| B06a | Andy Blake |
| B06b | Andy Wharton (PG student) |
| B06c | Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy |
| B504 | Jim Wild |
| C01 | Aneta Stefanovska |
| C07 | Adam Craig |
| C08 | Alessandro Romito |
| C14 | Colin Lambert |
| C45 | Brooke Simmons |
| C52 | Robert Young |
| C62 | Jonathon Gratus |
Please note that when you have to come in, you must continue to observe the Dept rules, wearing a face covering within the building, one way system and marked room occupancies. This particularly applies to kitchen spaces – please do not use these for prolonged periods, as it will block others from being able to use them.
Shonah Ion & Roger Jones.