Unit 4: Laboratory techniques and their application.
Health and Safety in scientific organisations.
Introduction:
The Cheney School Science Department and the Oxford University Laboratories are the two scientific
organisations I'll be looking at in this study, along with how they operate and evaluate the activities of
both workplaces. The education lab I am going to be looking at is Cheney school, it is a secondary
school and sixth form that over 1600 students attend. They have many laboratories and a science
department. The science department differs from the rest of the school because of various risk
assessments and operations put in place as they have to deal with practicals and risk assessments
for their practicals because they have to deal with many harsh chemicals and such etc. The
pharmaceutical lab I am looking at is Oxford University laboratories, they have an outstanding
reputation for their research and contributions to our society, they have over 13,000 graduate students
and outstanding facilities and resources. Oxford university is a containment laboratory as they do
pathogen research and work with biological agents, this is very different and more advanced to what
an educational lab does. I am going to examine the health and safety policies of both businesses and
how they are implemented. I am going to review how both laboratories follow safety and health
regulations like the RIDDOR, COSHH, and the health and safety work act.
The Health and Safety Work Act is an important piece of legislation for all workplaces in the UK. It
makes sure that all workers and employers are being looked after and are in a safe environment
where they can work safely, it also looks out for the health of everyone who works there and makes
sure they are being looked after.
Scientific organisations are expected to comply with the Health and Safety Act by always making an
assessment of the health risks and general risks to the employees and making sure they are safe at
all times. Examples of this could be making sure all employees have training to ensure that health and
safety procedures are all understood and adhered to, making sure that employers and employees do
not put others or themselves in danger and always providing them with safe equipment and proper
facilities.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is the United Kingdom's national regulatory body for
occupational health and safety. The HSE's main objective is to reduce the number of fatalities,
illnesses and injuries associated with work-related activities.(1)
RIDDOR (stands for Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations).
“RIDDOR is the law that requires employers and other people at work to keep the records of and
report workplace incidents/accidents”. In order for organisations to comply with RIDDOR they need to
report when they have an employee or even a self- employed person is absent from work or is not
able to do their normal work for more than 7 days, they must also report within 15 days of the
accident. (2)
COSHH (stands for the control of substances hazardous to Health regulations), it is the law that
employers must abide by to restrict chemicals that may be harmful to the health of everyone.The
required steps that organisations need to do in order to comply with COSHH is to carry out some
important steps in order to prevent workers' exposure to hazardous substances. For example, find
out what the health hazards are, then decide how to prevent harm to the risk (this could be done by a
risk assessment), making sure control measures are provided to reduce the harm to health and
making sure they are all in working order. (3)
Health and Safety in scientific organisations.
Introduction:
The Cheney School Science Department and the Oxford University Laboratories are the two scientific
organisations I'll be looking at in this study, along with how they operate and evaluate the activities of
both workplaces. The education lab I am going to be looking at is Cheney school, it is a secondary
school and sixth form that over 1600 students attend. They have many laboratories and a science
department. The science department differs from the rest of the school because of various risk
assessments and operations put in place as they have to deal with practicals and risk assessments
for their practicals because they have to deal with many harsh chemicals and such etc. The
pharmaceutical lab I am looking at is Oxford University laboratories, they have an outstanding
reputation for their research and contributions to our society, they have over 13,000 graduate students
and outstanding facilities and resources. Oxford university is a containment laboratory as they do
pathogen research and work with biological agents, this is very different and more advanced to what
an educational lab does. I am going to examine the health and safety policies of both businesses and
how they are implemented. I am going to review how both laboratories follow safety and health
regulations like the RIDDOR, COSHH, and the health and safety work act.
The Health and Safety Work Act is an important piece of legislation for all workplaces in the UK. It
makes sure that all workers and employers are being looked after and are in a safe environment
where they can work safely, it also looks out for the health of everyone who works there and makes
sure they are being looked after.
Scientific organisations are expected to comply with the Health and Safety Act by always making an
assessment of the health risks and general risks to the employees and making sure they are safe at
all times. Examples of this could be making sure all employees have training to ensure that health and
safety procedures are all understood and adhered to, making sure that employers and employees do
not put others or themselves in danger and always providing them with safe equipment and proper
facilities.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is the United Kingdom's national regulatory body for
occupational health and safety. The HSE's main objective is to reduce the number of fatalities,
illnesses and injuries associated with work-related activities.(1)
RIDDOR (stands for Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations).
“RIDDOR is the law that requires employers and other people at work to keep the records of and
report workplace incidents/accidents”. In order for organisations to comply with RIDDOR they need to
report when they have an employee or even a self- employed person is absent from work or is not
able to do their normal work for more than 7 days, they must also report within 15 days of the
accident. (2)
COSHH (stands for the control of substances hazardous to Health regulations), it is the law that
employers must abide by to restrict chemicals that may be harmful to the health of everyone.The
required steps that organisations need to do in order to comply with COSHH is to carry out some
important steps in order to prevent workers' exposure to hazardous substances. For example, find
out what the health hazards are, then decide how to prevent harm to the risk (this could be done by a
risk assessment), making sure control measures are provided to reduce the harm to health and
making sure they are all in working order. (3)
