2O1SCI skills for Science

2016/17
Week 2: Session 3: Introduction to
Health and Safety (1.0)

Hazards and Risks

Hazards = POTENTIAL to cause harm
Risk = How LIKELY it is that harm will happen
Health and safety legislation requires you to:
Identify hazards
Identify ways to reduce/ remove any risk of
incident/ accident
Identify how any incident/ accident will be
dealt with to minimise the harm caused

Risk Assessment Forms

Details any risks associated with a
procedure.
Hazards
Any protective equip etc.
How to handle spills etc.
must be completed for ANY project that
involves humans and/ or any sort of
practical work in a lab or at another
location.
Note you only need risk assessments for
anything you are causing to happen

What is risk assessment

Evaluating your research for
situations where you are putting
yourself in danger.
Working with chemicals/ bacteria
Interviewing members of the public
Using a piece of equipment....

What is COSHH?
Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health

In essence COSHH requires you

to evaluate the risks associated
with your experimental lab
procedure and consider suitable
control measures
It doesnt just consider
substances used, but how they
are used

For your project

You need to complete a combined
Risk & COSHH form in order to start
you project/ lab work.
Initially your supervisor checks this
IMPORTANT This must attached to
your online ethics application

For your project

As with the ethics application
No form/ approval = No
project

The form
This form is split into two sections
Section One: General Risk of the
research work
Including brief lab risk if appropriate

Section Two: This risk specific to

laboratory work

Section One
Included in this section
Who is doing the project
Similar projects? If you all sign fine

General summery of you research

What are you doing, who/ what is
involved, why
Dates of research
Location James Starley (JS114)

Whether travel is required

Another part of UK for more than one

Section One
Included in this section
Hazards and Precautions
Work factors i.e. Dealing with public
Site Specific - i.e. Plague hospital
Environmental - i.e. Collecting cliff soil
Equipment - Brief (section 2 covers)
Other i.e. Is permission required

Section Two
In essence the COSHH requirements
of your experiment
An explanation of your experiment and
the substances/ equipment used
Risks associated with these points
What control measures you have in
place to protect yourself and others

Sections in the COSHH Form

Considerations for each section?
The experimental design: Is it
sensible?
The hazards & risks of the
experiment
What you are doing to control the
risks
And implications if controls fail

The materials and equipment used

The Forms
The blank form
and a worked
example are
available on-line
Consider the
worked example

Why do you need to do this?

1. To ensure your safety
a) Have you thought this experiment
though and considered the risks

2. To ensure the safety of others

a) Have you thought how it may effect
others.

What will happen next?

You need to write a COSHH form
Have it checked by your supervisor
It then MUST be uploaded with
your ethics application online

Help available.
COSHH Workshop
You must have a COMPLETED COSHH attempt in
order to receive feedback

Any questions?

Summary
BEFORE any research
EXPERIMENTER completes:
Ethical approval
Risk assessment forms
+ Produces ICF / information sheet