As I have settled in to life in Switzerland, one thing that I have noticed is that Swiss people really like their rules. There are rules about when you can recycle, when you can do your laundry, when you can vacuum your flat, when you can talk on the trams, what colors you are allowed to wear, when you are allowed to wear certain colors, how your recycling must be bundled, when you have to register, what bags you use for your trash, when you are allowed to have a bank account, how you buy your produce, etc.
Most of these are unwritten rules, learned by dirty looks or scoldings or round-about comments. For example, a friend had her laundry turned off by a neighbor because she was washing on Sunday. Or other friends have been scolded by passers-by for recycling on Sunday. Or I have had someone say, "You're wearing white? We don't wear white in the winter."
While this took some getting used to, there is some comfort for me to live in such an orderly society. Although, I do have to admit that I pick and choose the rules that I want to follow. I definitely refuse to adhere to the no-color-wearing code that seems to exist here.
I recently had an experience, however, when I came up against Swiss rules and did not really find them anything except exasperating.
I am in charge of safety for my lab at ETH. Having recently assumed this responsibility, I did a walk-through of the lab and discovered a safety concern: the lab where we do essentially all of our potentially dangerous chemical reactions is a smaller lab with only one door. There is the possibility for a fire to start directly in front of the door, blocking the only exit. While we really don't expect anything so drastic to happen, we thought that it was better to address the possibility by installing a fire extinguisher in the lab.
I contacted the safety folks, who finally directed me to the person in charge of fire safety. He could not authorize a fire extinguisher without personally inspecting the situation, so we scheduled an inspection.
The day of the inspection arrived, and I showed him the lab and explained the problem to him. Our conversation went something like the following:
I have to admit that this was one of the most frustrating encounters I have had. All I really wanted was to safeguard my colleagues' lives by the small addition of a fire extinguisher. And this guy seemed so much more in to policy than people's lives. I think our conversation lasted over half an hour before he finally agreed- we just went round and round. And then, once he had made the concession, it really seemed like a little bit of revenge that he went through the lab with a fine-tooth comb to find things that we were doing wrong and that will require some doing to address.
Well, at any rate, I carried my point and we will someday get a fire extinguisher.
Most of these are unwritten rules, learned by dirty looks or scoldings or round-about comments. For example, a friend had her laundry turned off by a neighbor because she was washing on Sunday. Or other friends have been scolded by passers-by for recycling on Sunday. Or I have had someone say, "You're wearing white? We don't wear white in the winter."
While this took some getting used to, there is some comfort for me to live in such an orderly society. Although, I do have to admit that I pick and choose the rules that I want to follow. I definitely refuse to adhere to the no-color-wearing code that seems to exist here.
I recently had an experience, however, when I came up against Swiss rules and did not really find them anything except exasperating.
I am in charge of safety for my lab at ETH. Having recently assumed this responsibility, I did a walk-through of the lab and discovered a safety concern: the lab where we do essentially all of our potentially dangerous chemical reactions is a smaller lab with only one door. There is the possibility for a fire to start directly in front of the door, blocking the only exit. While we really don't expect anything so drastic to happen, we thought that it was better to address the possibility by installing a fire extinguisher in the lab.
I contacted the safety folks, who finally directed me to the person in charge of fire safety. He could not authorize a fire extinguisher without personally inspecting the situation, so we scheduled an inspection.
The day of the inspection arrived, and I showed him the lab and explained the problem to him. Our conversation went something like the following:
Me: ...so, there is only one exit, and we thought that it would be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher just in case a fire started in front of the exit. We don't think it would happen, but we would rather be safe than sorry!
He: Well, we have adequate and well-thought-out safety rules and policies, you know. We require that every lab is within 40 m of a fire extinguisher. In fact, this lab is closer to the fire extinguisher than the large lab next door.
Me: Well, yes. But the other lab has at least 4 exits, and this has only one exit.
He: Well, this lab is too small to have two exits according to the building policy.
Me: Ummm... yes. But it still has only one exit.
He: Well, you know, policies exist for a reason. If we grant one exception, soon everyone will want one. Not every case is a special case.
Me: Well, we do the more dangerous chemistry in this lab. And there is only one exit. So it would seem to make sense to have the extinguisher, just in case.
He: Well, why don't you move this lab into the large lab with exits.
Me: The infrastructure for this sort of chemistry was built into this room and can't be moved. Also, we have only a small group doing synthetic chemistry, while the majority do less-dangerous work. So we need the larger lab for the other work. We think that installing a fire extinguisher would be the easiest solution.
He: Well, you know people have to stop by every year to check the extinguisher, and that is a lot of work. We really can't just install them everywhere.
Me: I realize this. I don't want them everywhere! I just want one in here. Just a little one. Just in case the worst should happen. I don't think that my colleagues should have to jump out of the 3rd-story window in case of emergency.
::We talk in circles for the next 10 minutes, he defending the policies and me hitting my talking points: one exit. fire potential. need a fire extinguisher.::
He: Well, I can maybe understand the situation. I think that we can possibly make an exception and have a small fire extinguisher installed in here. But I would like to look around the lab to make sure you're following the other rules.
::Looking around the lab.::
He: Why do you have this dangerous chemical in the hood by the door? You only have one exit, so you really shouldn't put such a dangerous thing in front of the only exit.
Me:... I realize we just have one exit. I've spent the past half-hour explaining to you that we only have one exit! But we only have three hoods, and the other ones have other dangerous things in them.
(At this point, I just stop arguing. I have gained their concession that a fire extinguisher will be installed. Now he scours the lab and finds several other potential safety problems.)
He: Well, you will need to change these things by the end of the month. And the fire extinguisher people have already done their mandatory check of this building for this year, so we are not sure when they will be back to install your extinguisher. But it will probably be done by the end of the year.
Me: Thanks. I think.
He: Do you want me to go through the other labs to make sure you're doing things correctly?
Me: Ummm. No, I think we've got everything under control.
He: Okay. Well, I'll email you my report!
Me: Thanks.
I have to admit that this was one of the most frustrating encounters I have had. All I really wanted was to safeguard my colleagues' lives by the small addition of a fire extinguisher. And this guy seemed so much more in to policy than people's lives. I think our conversation lasted over half an hour before he finally agreed- we just went round and round. And then, once he had made the concession, it really seemed like a little bit of revenge that he went through the lab with a fine-tooth comb to find things that we were doing wrong and that will require some doing to address.
Well, at any rate, I carried my point and we will someday get a fire extinguisher.
