Temperature-sensitive research materials are stored in low-temperature freezers all over campus. These materials can be the focus or result of years of research and be irreplaceable. If a freezer containing these critical materials loses power or an electrical circuit is tripped over a long weekend or holiday when the lab is unattended, the freezer contents could warm to the point where they would be destroyed. Years of critical research could be lost. Therefore, Risk Management has compiled the following list as advice to help researchers increase the chances of saving their research.
Analyze and confirm main power & backup power to your freezer
Maintain well-organized and labeled contents
Store backup samples in multiple freezers or have backup freezers
Schedule preventative maintenance & tank monitoring
Consider remote 24-hour alarms/monitoring
Create and maintain an accurate inventory of contents
Create, maintain and train staff on your emergency response and business continuity plans
Report university property loss or damage immediately to Risk Management
Analyze and confirm main power & backup power to your freezer
Ensure that the electric circuits supplying freezers are not overloaded. Adjacent freezer loads should be distributed and balanced between branch circuits. The most critical freezers should be placed on their own dedicated branch circuits. Confirm that freezers are fed by emergency power where available. In hospitals and medical facilities, red outlet covers or receptacles typically indicate that the outlet is connected to a backup power source. For questions about this you should contact your departmental or facilities administrator.
Maintain well-organized and labeled contents
Research samples are the products of painstaking experiments and often hold the key to groundbreaking discoveries. Some are so unique that they cannot be replicated. The loss of such samples due to haphazard freezer organization or lack of labeling can not only set back research but also result in substantial financial costs. A disorganized freezer can cause researchers to waste valuable time searching for samples during an emergency. A well-organized freezer with contents clearly and consistently labeled, on the other hand, ensures quick access to the most critical items and increases your likelihood of recovery.
Store backup samples in multiple freezers or have backup freezers
Storing duplicate scientific samples across multiple freezers is a strong risk mitigation strategy to safeguard invaluable research materials. Freezer malfunctions, power outages, natural disasters, or other unforeseen events can lead to the devastating loss of irreplaceable samples, potentially compromising years of research, significant financial investment, and even patient outcomes in clinical studies.
Another good practice is to have backup freezers that can be always accessed, including after regular business hours and on holidays. It is important to know in advance what racks will fit in the shelves of those backup freezers. Reserve space in a backup freezer by keeping empty boxes or racks in that freezer. The open space/shelves should be clearly identified on the outside of the backup freezer for quick access during an emergency.
Schedule preventative maintenance & tank monitoring
It's important to schedule preventative maintenance (ex: vendor service agreement) for lab equipment to ensure the continued efficiency, accuracy, and safety of research and experiments. Regular, scheduled maintenance can identify and address minor issues before they escalate into costly repairs or equipment breakdowns that halt operations and delay research. For questions about preventative maintenance, you should consult the equipment’s owner’s manual and/or the service provider for the equipment. It’s also a good practice to monitor CO2, LN2 or other tanks every 3-6 months to guarantee they are available when needed. For questions about tank levels, you should consult the vendor/provider.
Consider remote 24-hour alarms/monitoring
Departments can purchase systems/alarms to provide remote monitoring for temperature, humidity, open/closed doors, CO2 levels, occupancy/motion or loss of power. The alarms should signal to a location or locations where a reliable 24/7 response is ensured. Consideration should also be given to providing backup cooling (CO2, LN2, etc.) for those freezers judged to be most critical. For questions about this you should contact your departmental or collegiate facilities administrator. If systems/alarms are not available for budgetary or other reasons then at a minimum, department staff should be signed up to receive notifications regarding utility disruptions that could impact research. To receive utility notifications, you should go to the FM@YourService portal and use the blue button option to sign up for notifications.
Create and maintain an accurate inventory of contents
It is strongly recommended that researchers inventory the contents of their freezers before a power outage, or other loss event to mitigate the potentially catastrophic loss of invaluable research materials. An accurate inventory helps in identifying critical samples that require immediate attention and prioritization in case of a prolonged outage. Furthermore, having a complete inventory minimizes unnecessary opening of the freezer and streamlines the process of transferring samples to backup storage solutions when required. The following are some questions that should be included in a freezer inventory.
Where is the freezer located? Try to locate it where it will be visited at least once a day, preferably multiple times per day in case of issues.
What is the freezer size (ft³)?
What is the freezer temperature rating (-40°C, -80°C, etc.)?
What is being held in the freezer?
Are the freezer's contents replaceable?
What would be the replacement cost of the contents?
What would be the replacement time for the contents?
How many hours canthe freezer gowithout electric power before its contents are damaged?
Does the freezer share an electric circuit with any other freezers?
Does the freezer have a high-temperature alarm?
If it does, where does it alarm to?
Does the freezer have backup emergency cooling?
Create, maintain and train staff on your emergency response and business continuity plans
An emergency response plan focuses on immediate response efforts to protect human life and property. For more information on emergency plans see the https://safety.uiowa.edu/have-plan on the Campus Safety website or contact UI-EM@uiowa.edu with questions. A business continuity plan (BCP) ensures the continuity of critical functions following an incident that overwhelms normal everyday operations. Risk Management, Insurance and Loss Prevention maintains a subscription to Kuali Ready so that any/all departments wanting to create a BCP can do so. Please reach out to risk-management@uiowa.edu to create a plan for your area or to see who is responsible for the pre-existing BCP in your area. For other questions you can go to the Risk Management website at: https://riskmanagement.fo.uiowa.edu/business-continuity-university-iowa. After any plan is created you then need to train your staff how to implement the plan and make sure to update it regularly. A good practice is to remind staff of the plan(s) before holidays or long weekends.
Report university property loss or damage immediately to Risk Management
University policy requires the immediate reporting of any loss or damage to university property to Risk Management, Insurance and Loss Prevention. Losses more than $5,000 must be reported no later than the next working day following the loss. Losses can be reported by completing the Property Loss Report and submitting it to risk-management@uiowa.edu or calling 319-335-0010. Departments should initiate emergency repairs to prevent further loss. Risk Management will then work with the department/researcher to determine if there is any insurance coverage and/or a funding source available for the loss.
It is important to note that the university’s commercial property insurance only covers research samples at the retail cost of the material or input. Insurance does not account for or compensate the researcher for lost time or effort. That is why the Risk Management advice is so important! A researcher is much better off preventing a loss than depending on an insurance claim to get them back up and running.
So, your best defense against lost research samples is prevention!
Feel free to post this advice in your work area. For questions you should contact:
Risk Management, Insurance and Loss Prevention
319-335-0010
https://riskmanagement.fo.uiowa.edu