Background
No hunt for illegal sandwich toasters
Lecturers are not allowed coffeemakers in their offices but everyone has them.
Thursday 12 September 2013

The same applies to electric kettles, sandwich toasters and rice steamers: they’re all over the university, in the offices of the student fraternities, PhD students and lecturers. These “sundry personal electric appliances” as the Safety, Health and Environment Department (VGM)’s annual report puts it, are actually prohibited unless the appliance is inspected annually. But the prohibition is difficult to enforce and nobody is about to change that.

“They are prohibited”, said Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker at the meeting of the University Council two weeks ago where the VGM report was discussed. “There are so many reasons why they are hazards.” He was referring to the fire that destroyed Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture in 2008. “That was caused by a faulty coffeemaker.”

“The Board might have outlawed them, but everyone still uses them, of course”, said Marc Newsome of the BeP student party. “If someone comes round to check, people hide the coffeemakers behind a pile of books. Wouldn’t it be more practical to stop banning them and make a survey of hazardous situations?”

The Board harbours a different view. Checking up on them is a lot of work but Stolker warned anyone who makes coffee or toasted sandwiches illegally: “If something goes wrong and we discover that it was caused by a prohibited appliance belonging to a member of staff, that employee will be held personally liable.”

The Council was still not convinced. “The tea from the legal automats is disgusting”, said historian Joost Augusteijn of the abvakabo/FNV union. “That’s why I have an electric kettle and I’m not the only one. It’s better to allow their use and then check them to prevent any dangerous situations arising. I quite agree that appliances strung together with connectors should be forbidden but you should be able to use certified electric kettles and coffeemakers without extension leads.”

Stolker: “This discussion is not a reason to set off on a hunt for electric appliances, starting with Humanities”. VB