Health and safety
Unit 4: Learning aim A- understand the importance of health and
safety in scientific organisations
,ab
Introduction- in industry as well as in laboratories there are many risks to health implications
which are associated to hazards, hazard is something that can cause harm and risk is the
probability of hazard that will cause harm, in this report I will be looking at how two different
scientific departments are following health and safety legislation, how health and safety is
measured in both department and describing the hazards, I will be comparing microbiology
lab to a college lab.
Health and safety laws- all health and safety laws are looked over by HSE the overall body,
the law states that every business must have a policy, for managing health and safety.
Different organisation will have different rules to follow under the Health and Safety
Executive.
Control of substances hazardous to health regulations COSHH it came out in 2002, this law
states that, the employers are required to control substances that are hazardous to health.
Once part of this legislation is that all hazardous substance must be correctly labelled. It is
important to label all hazardous substance, so people know what kind of hazardous
substance is present.
Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrence regulations RIDDOR it came out
in 2013, this law requires employers to report accidents, dangerous occurrence, and cases
of ill health to the HSE, if there are more than a certain number of employers by law than
there should be an accident book, it is beneficial to have an accident book as it would be
efficient to report incidents, as these incidents will allow to analyse patterns and occurrence
of accidents and injuries.
Personal Protective Equipment PPE it came out in 1992, these equipment’s will protect you
against health and safety risks in labs, items such as googles, masks, lab coat, helmet,
safety shoes are used, HSE states that when working in a lab everyone needs to wear PPE
because it helps protect from health and safety risk when in a hazardous environment, it
protects the body from extreme cold and hot, protects skin from any spillages of corrosive
acid and other dangerous acids.
Health and safety HSAWA at work it came out in 1974, the three main objective of this
legislation are to secure the health, safety, and welfare of workers and to limit the use of
dangerous substance within UK.
, Display screen equipment DSE, it came out in 1992, regular users of DSE require protection,
and this is done by carrying out a risk assessment, making sure the DSE users have proper
breaks, provide regular eye test and health and safety information and ensure that
adjustable furniture such as desk and chair are provided.
In both labs these legislations are followed by-
Risk assessments- for COSHH – if any spillages take place, a risk assessment could tell us
what substance was spilled in a college lab – this is done by teachers before the experiment,
it includes all possible hazards that could occur, it tells us which substance has spilled, the
senior technician is called to check what substance is spilled and a spill kit is available for
the spillage. Whereas in a microbiology lab- this is done by higher management, because
everything is looked after HSE, they also have to evacuate, and the spillage is reported
which is then investigated and cleaned using spill kits.
Staff Training- for RIDDOR - all the staff are trained to make sure they know about the health
and safety laws, how to use equipment, how to react when an accident takes place etc. In a
college lab- it is done once a year; the teacher explains the health and safety rules briefly. In
a microbiology lab- it is done regularly, where the staff is trained to follow specific
instructions, such as stop working and leaving if any spillage occurs
Signs and posters- for HSAWA – signs and posters are almost everywhere in labs in a
college lab- there are signs and posters in the college corridors and in labs and classrooms.
Similarly In a microbiology lab- there are signs and posters of hazards and health and safety
everywhere, the health and safety at work covers college and microbiology lab, this law ais
same but there will be differences in equipment, method and substance used.
Labelling of chemicals- for COSHH- chemicals needs to be labelled as it is critical to
workplace safety, there are different labelling to hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals, in
a college lab- all chemicals are properly labelled, similarly in a microbiology lab- all
chemicals are properly labelled
Safety equipment- for PPE- safety equipment’s need to be worn to protect yourself from any
hazards, in both microbiology lab and college lab safety equipment are worn such as
googles, lab coat and gloves.
Hazards –
Unit 4: Learning aim A- understand the importance of health and
safety in scientific organisations
,ab
Introduction- in industry as well as in laboratories there are many risks to health implications
which are associated to hazards, hazard is something that can cause harm and risk is the
probability of hazard that will cause harm, in this report I will be looking at how two different
scientific departments are following health and safety legislation, how health and safety is
measured in both department and describing the hazards, I will be comparing microbiology
lab to a college lab.
Health and safety laws- all health and safety laws are looked over by HSE the overall body,
the law states that every business must have a policy, for managing health and safety.
Different organisation will have different rules to follow under the Health and Safety
Executive.
Control of substances hazardous to health regulations COSHH it came out in 2002, this law
states that, the employers are required to control substances that are hazardous to health.
Once part of this legislation is that all hazardous substance must be correctly labelled. It is
important to label all hazardous substance, so people know what kind of hazardous
substance is present.
Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrence regulations RIDDOR it came out
in 2013, this law requires employers to report accidents, dangerous occurrence, and cases
of ill health to the HSE, if there are more than a certain number of employers by law than
there should be an accident book, it is beneficial to have an accident book as it would be
efficient to report incidents, as these incidents will allow to analyse patterns and occurrence
of accidents and injuries.
Personal Protective Equipment PPE it came out in 1992, these equipment’s will protect you
against health and safety risks in labs, items such as googles, masks, lab coat, helmet,
safety shoes are used, HSE states that when working in a lab everyone needs to wear PPE
because it helps protect from health and safety risk when in a hazardous environment, it
protects the body from extreme cold and hot, protects skin from any spillages of corrosive
acid and other dangerous acids.
Health and safety HSAWA at work it came out in 1974, the three main objective of this
legislation are to secure the health, safety, and welfare of workers and to limit the use of
dangerous substance within UK.
, Display screen equipment DSE, it came out in 1992, regular users of DSE require protection,
and this is done by carrying out a risk assessment, making sure the DSE users have proper
breaks, provide regular eye test and health and safety information and ensure that
adjustable furniture such as desk and chair are provided.
In both labs these legislations are followed by-
Risk assessments- for COSHH – if any spillages take place, a risk assessment could tell us
what substance was spilled in a college lab – this is done by teachers before the experiment,
it includes all possible hazards that could occur, it tells us which substance has spilled, the
senior technician is called to check what substance is spilled and a spill kit is available for
the spillage. Whereas in a microbiology lab- this is done by higher management, because
everything is looked after HSE, they also have to evacuate, and the spillage is reported
which is then investigated and cleaned using spill kits.
Staff Training- for RIDDOR - all the staff are trained to make sure they know about the health
and safety laws, how to use equipment, how to react when an accident takes place etc. In a
college lab- it is done once a year; the teacher explains the health and safety rules briefly. In
a microbiology lab- it is done regularly, where the staff is trained to follow specific
instructions, such as stop working and leaving if any spillage occurs
Signs and posters- for HSAWA – signs and posters are almost everywhere in labs in a
college lab- there are signs and posters in the college corridors and in labs and classrooms.
Similarly In a microbiology lab- there are signs and posters of hazards and health and safety
everywhere, the health and safety at work covers college and microbiology lab, this law ais
same but there will be differences in equipment, method and substance used.
Labelling of chemicals- for COSHH- chemicals needs to be labelled as it is critical to
workplace safety, there are different labelling to hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals, in
a college lab- all chemicals are properly labelled, similarly in a microbiology lab- all
chemicals are properly labelled
Safety equipment- for PPE- safety equipment’s need to be worn to protect yourself from any
hazards, in both microbiology lab and college lab safety equipment are worn such as
googles, lab coat and gloves.
Hazards –
