Module 1 Lesson 1

Module 1 Lesson 1 Health & Safety

Welcome

Welcome to Module 1 of the Laboratories Induction: Health & Safety

Start

Objectives - what will you learn?

By the end of this module you will be able to:

explain the importance of health & safety and compliance within the lab spaces

assess risks in the lab spaces & apply knowledge to mitigate those risks

When ready, go to the NEXT PAGE!

Navigation

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Toolkit

The resources below will be available to you at the end of the module

Templates

Company Intranet

Documentation

QMS

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What do you already know?

What tasks will you do BEFORE, DURING & AFTER using the lab spaces? Drag the tasks from the list and drop them in the appropriate box

AFTER

BEFORE

DURING

Task List

CONSIDER OTHER LAB USERS

LABEL & STORE CHEMICALS

FIND PROJECT RISK OVERVIEW CARD

CLEAN WORKSTATION

USE CORRECT EQUIPMENT

READ RISK ASSESSMENT

UNDERTAKE TRAINING

WASH HANDS

WEAR CORRECT PPE

SOLUTION

Lessons

This module consists of 3 lessons:

Standard Equipment

Responsibilities & Practices

Managing Risk

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Topics

This lesson consists of 4 topics:

Compliance

Risk Assessments

COSSH

Traffic Light System

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Traffic Light System

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Red

Orange

Green

Introduction

Risk Assessments

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Risk Overview Cards

Distribution

Review & Approval Process

Project SpecificRisk Assessment

Generic Risk Assessment

COSHH

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Lab Signage

Your Responsibility

Employer Responsibility

What is Covered?

What is COSHH?

Compliance

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Internal Audit

External Audits

ISO Standards

What is Compliance?

Challenge

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Summary

Well done! You have completed Lesson 1: Managing Risk Remember:

ensure that a risk assessment is in place & that you have read it before beginning an activity in the lab spaces

we are in a highly regulated industry and must work in ways that keep us compliant with those standards

pay attention to all signage & labelling in the lab spaces & act accordingly before beginning activities

When you are ready, select the NEXT PAGE button to continue to the next lesson

Green

No additional training is required, perhaps job responsibilities allow you to use it or it is a simple piece of equipment such as calipers.

Your Responsibilities

As an employee you also have responsibilities to ensure that tasks are carried out safely to ensure no harm comes to you or a colleague. These responsibilities include:

• Helping to create a safe environment
• Following correct procedure
• Wearing correct PPE
• Reporting accidents, spillages & breakages
• Keeping clean workstations
• Keeping up to date with required training

Project Specific Risk Assessment

If your activities are outside the scope of the Generic Risk Assessment, you will need to complete a Project Specific Risk Assessment. This is generally written by the Project Leader. You MUST have one in place BEFORE starting work in the lab. Do not start setting up in a lab unless you have a risk assessment in place that covers what you are doing.

Generic Risk

Any activity in the labs need to be covered by a risk assessment. We have Generic Risk Assessments which you can use if the activities you undertake in that lab are covered under that risk assessment. Most basic tasks, like using a scalpel or superglue, are covered under the Generic Risk Assessment.

Risk Overview Cards

Each project is required to complete a risk overview card and display it in the lab. This is a safe way for the project to make sure that all team members have their risk assessment. It includes special hazards, required PPE and the risk assessment number. It also makes clear what lab benches and spaces are in use and who is using them.

Project Specific Risk Assessment

If your activities are outside the scope of the Generic Risk Assessment, you will need to complete a Project Specific Risk Assessment. This is generally written by the Project Leader. You MUST have one in place BEFORE starting work in the lab. Do not start setting up in a lab unless you have a risk assessment in place that covers what you are doing.

Review & Approval Process

All risk assessments need to be reviewed and approved. Each risk assessment is reviewed & approved by a minimum of three people to ensure they are comprehensive. These are the Project Leader, Lab Supervisor and Partner responsible for Health & Safety. Please submit your risk assessment via the Lab Helpdesk.

Link to Labs Helpdesk

Red

You need to undertake formal training before using the equipment. The primary reason for this is your health & safety. Without formal training there is a high likelihood that you could hurt yourself. Also, there is a high risk to the equipment itself e.g. it is very expensive or easy to damage. If you need training, please talk to your Coach, People Development Team or a member of the Production Team, who can all point you towards the right person for the training.

Internal Audits

The Production Team do monthly internal inspections of every lab, to make sure that all employees are following workspace rules & procedures. It covers over 35 checks, categorised into the following:

• Lab users
• Safety
• General housekeeping
• Storage
• Signage & Labelling

The Self-Inspection and Lab Owners Checklist (QMS-QP-1130) is primarily used by Lab Owners to ensure that workspaces remain compliant, clean and safe. An information only version of the checklist can be found in every lab so that you can always know what the rules are.

Lab Signage

We label everything appropriately, and to HSE guidance, so you will find our signage throughout the labs conforms to HSE requirements. We do this for two reasons:

• To make signage very clear
• To make signage consistent

There are 9 primary hazard symbols relating to COSHH

Distribution

After approval the risk assessment will be distributed to all members of the project team. If the team changes, the new team members must read the risk assessment before starting. If you have not been asked to read the project risk assessment, you cannot work on that project. You need to make sure you read the risk assessment and are fully aware and comfortable with the risks and mitigations outlined in it.

What is Compliance?

Compliance is the act of obeying a law or rule, especially one that controls a particular industry or type of work. Many of our workplace rules stem from compliance.We are accredited to 3 ISO standards – 9001, 27001 and 13485. To comply with the standards there are certain things our clients expect from us. Each year we get audited to ensure we are compliant and that gives our clients confidence that we are professional and are able to do their work. Without these accreditations most of our clients wouldn’t work with us.

Generic Risk

Any activity in the labs need to be covered by a risk assessment. We have Generic Risk Assessments which you can use if the activities you undertake in that lab are covered under that risk assessment. Most basic tasks, like using a scalpel or superglue, are covered under the Generic Risk Assessment.

External Audits

Every year we get audited by the certification bodies of the ISO standards we are accredited for. If we fail these audits we may lose our accreditations and key clients may choose to no longer work with us.It is vital that throughout the year we all do what is necessary to comply with the ISO standards. We are also audited annually by our clients, so they can be sure that we are working in the agreed ways.

Orange

This means that you need to find further information before using the equipment. This could be a user manual or a work instruction. You need to seek out the information in the QMS, where we keep all info about assets.

Introduction

CDP encourages a safe and healthy environment. In particular the labs and workspaces contain many hazards if you are not properly trained. Our policy is that you are free to use these facilities on condition that you are adequately trained and take responsibility for your actions. All our Assets (equipment) have a colour coded label to inform you of the training requirement:

• Green – low – no additional training required
• Orange – medium – Read and understand manual or work instruction before use
• Red – high – formal training required before use

ISO Standards

Our work is governed by the following ISO standards:

• ISO 9001: quality management system - providing the policies, processes & procedures to meet customer & regulatory needs & improve customer satisfaction
• ISO 27001: information security management - it defines the requirements an ISMS must meet & helps organisations become risk aware & proactively identify and address weaknesses
• ISO 13485: quality management system in the medical device industry. It covers the entire life cycle of a device, from design & development to production, installation & servicing, & ensures that medical devices are effective for their intended use

Employer Responsibilities

To comply with COSHH the company has to:

• Identify the hazards & undertake risk assessments
• Provide controlling measures to reduce harm & make sure they are used
• Provide information, instruction & training to lab users
• Provide monitoring
• Plan for emergencies