Restarting A Laboratory After an Unexpected Shutdown

COVID19 caught almost all laboratories by surprise and led to their being shut down rather suddenly for extended periods. There is a lot of discussion as to when laboratories (and everything else) can safely reopen and more discussion about appropriate protective measures. A topic that often is overlooked or only casually addressed is the other, non- COVID19 potential hazards. In my 45 years I have only experienced a few sudden laboratory shutdowns usually due to a power or ventilation failure that took much longer than expected to correct. I have however, seen the results of sudden down sizings which resulted in many laboratories simply losing their workers without any real effort to render them safe. Eventually, these laboratories usually were either returned to service on the next economic upswing or at least rendered safe and properly decommissioned. The learnings from these experiences suggests the following issues that restart up plans should carefully address.