EH&S Data Model 1

Here is the data model (a work-in-progress) based on our revised blackboard drawings from the EH&S meeting of August 16, 2001. (See bigger image.) The notes below the diagram were last modified on January 25, 2002.

There is also an adjunct EHS training data model .

EH&S Data Model

Description of Entities
EntityDescriptionExamples
School-or-AreaA school or area that contains DLCs
  • School of Science
  • School of Engineering
  • Central
  • VP Research & Dean of the Grad. School
DLCA department-level organizational unit (Department, Lab, or Center)
  • Biology
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Controllers Accounting Office
  • Media Lab
EHS-officer A person officially responsible for compliance with environmental health and safety standards for all facilities within a DLC  
RoomA room within a building at MIT
  • 56-202
  • E19-010
FacilityA group of one or more rooms used as a laboratory, shop, storage area, etc., where CBRs may be used or stored
  • 4th floor bld 16 lab suite
  • E19 basement machine shop
Facility-typeType of facility
  • Laboratory suite
  • Machine shop
  • Stock room
FunctionA business function that a person performs -- in this context, it will refer to a person's function within a laboratory or other facility
  • Works with chemicals
  • Uses an irradiator
  • Works in a Facility
PersonAn MIT employee, student, or affiliate
  • Joe (ID #946315439)
  • Sally (ID #987654321)
Role-within-labA person+business function+qualifier (in this case, the qualifier is a facility)
  • "Joe", "Uses CBRs", "4th floor bld 16 lab suite"
  • "Sally", "Facility Safety Coordinator", "4th floor bld 16 lab suite"
ProjectWe may not need the next 3 entities in the first version of our system
A research or other project for which work is done within a lab or other facility
 
PIA Principal Investigator for a project  
Role-within-project A person+business function+qualifier (in this case, the qualifier is a project) 
Hazard-typeThe type of hazard presented by a CBR for which there may be certification or policy requirements
  • Chemical
  • Radioactivity
  • Laser
  • Biohazard
  • Extra hazardous material
Certification-typeMIT's local terminology for a specific "license" or group of successfully completed courses, requirements, signatures, etc., that must be granted to a person as a prerequisite for handling or working with or near a class of hazardous substances or equipment (based on government regulations and MIT policies)
  • Standard chem. hygiene cert.
  • Special Chem. Department
    chem. hygiene cert.
  • Biohazard Certification
  • Radioactive Materials Certification
Training-moduleA course unit that should be taken as a prerequisite for a certification-type 
CBR-container (The next two entities will be needed for a complete inventory, but the first version of our system may avoid this level of detail.)

A specific bottle, can, jar, tank, or other vessel containing a chemical, biohazard or radioactive substance

  • Bottle no. 14235 containing 50 grams of MnO2
  • Tank no. 63409 containing 500 liters of liquid nitrogen
CBR-substance A kind of substance (chemical, biohazard, or radioactive)
  • MnO2
  • Liquid nitrogen
  • E. coli O157:H7
  • Plutonium

    Functions

    A Function, along with a Person and a Qualifier (such as a Facility) is used to describe a person's role. A person may have more than one Role, and more than one person may have a Role with the same Function.

    We agreed on the following Functions for people's roles within a Facility or DLC:

    Functions (for people's roles in a Facility or DLC)
    FunctionQualifier type
    Uses CBRs
    (Should we rename this "Works in Facility"?)
    Facility
    Facility Safety CoordinatorFacility
    Facility director/supervisor
    (one per facility - recorded as an attribute of a Facility)
    Facility
    EHS OfficerDLC

    We discussed the following Functions, but concluded that they were either not needed or could all be combined into "Uses CBRs":

    Functions that are probably not needed
    FunctionQualifier type
    Purchases CBRs (not needed) Facility
    Creates new CBRs (covered by "Uses CBRs") Facility
    Works near CBRs (covered by "Uses CBRs") Facility
    Receives/stores CBRs (covered by "Uses CBRs") Facility

    We also listed the function "Works with PI" with a qualifier of a PI. However, it seems that it would be better to add a "Project" entity (shown in the data model above), and linking people with Projects rather than with PIs. (You still could use the database to determine all people who work on Projects for a given PI, or people who work in given Facility.) Thus, we would have the following Function, which probably will not be needed in the first version of the system anyway:

    Function (for people's roles related to a project)
    FunctionQualifier type
    Works on a Project Project