1 / 29

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS

An online training package for staff and students working with microwave ovens at the University of Edinburgh's Little France campus.

eversole
Download Presentation

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Welcome to an on-line health and safety training package intended for staff and students working within UofE buildings on the Little France campus Information contained within these pages is intended for use by University of Edinburgh staff and students only.

  2. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS This on-line training package is intended principally for laboratory-based workers, but is not a substitute for more detailed training which may be organised by laboratory managers. Last updated: February, 2018

  3. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Please take time to view the following material, and direct any urgent questions to your H&S Advisor, Laboratory Manager, or the Little France Buildings H&S Manager (the contact details for whom are shown on the penultimate page of this presentation). Thank you

  4. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Seriously? Microwave ovens?? Does anyone really need to consider safety related to something as simple and straightforward as a microwave oven??? Well, yes, as it happens. There have been two or three unfortunate incidents already on this campus. On at least one occasion someone was burned by steam liberating from a bottle of media being heated inside an oven, and there have been a couple of occasions when bottles have exploded inside ovens.

  5. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS For those reasons, amongst others, a risk assessment should always be undertaken to underpin safety related to laboratory work entailing use of microwave ovens. The risk assessment should take into account the nature of the potential hazards … not only in terms of the work involved, and the potential for harm likely to be associated with the substances to be handled, but also the techniques to be carried out.

  6. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Regardless of the nature of work that is to be done using an microwave oven, there are certain safety-related features that are more or less applicable to all such tasks, and which you should design into your work plan. The following guidance is based on measures described more fully in Section 14 of the Safety Manual for University buildings on the Little France campus, which you will find at: http://docstore.mvm.ed.ac.uk/HealthAndSafety/manual/Manual14.pdf

  7. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Microwave oven may come in several different forms, including: • Ovens manufactured specifically for use in laboratories; • Ovens manufactured mainly for commercial/semi-industrial applications; and • Domestic microwave ovens suitable for some laboratory applications.

  8. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS The basics …

  9. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Characteristics usually sought in a laboratory microwave oven include: • Easy and safe to use • Easy to clean • Suitably sized • Sensible and affordable alternative to conventional ovens • Doesn’t interfere with any other apparatus in the lab

  10. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Applications for microwave oven in of our laboratories include: • Melting agar • Warming solutions • Partially sterilising glassware (though noting that this is not a particularly reliable method of sterilisation)

  11. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS But, most emphatically, microwave ovens in laboratories are NOT for: Warming up soup and pies for your luncheon. There are microwave ovens in many of our kitchens that are available for that purpose. Food and drink must neither be prepared nor consumed in any of our laboratories … never … not even once … nor when you think that no-one is looking.

  12. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Portable Appliance Testing • All equipment to be plugged or otherwise connected into the electrical supply must first be tested for electrical safety by a competent person, and regularly thereafter. • Visual safety checks at other times should be a matter of routine good practice.

  13. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS • Carry out regular visual inspections of sockets, plugs, cables, connections and appliances. • Report faults immediately, and discontinue use of the appliance pending repair or replacement.

  14. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Check that the microwave oven is in a good state of repair and operating within normal parameters before commencing work (this includes electrical safety considerations). Do not use the microwave oven if you have any doubts about its performance.

  15. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS While microwave ovens are not in in themselves particularly high-risk items of laboratory equipment, there may be hazards associated with electricity (which is why they must be included in periodic electrical safety checks).. There is also the potential for contamination within a microwave oven.

  16. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS • Thought should be given to the location of microwave ovens, ensuring that these are not placed in confined spaces, that cats don't wander into them, and that staff are made properly aware of the risks associated with …. • Steam being released from overheated liquids; and • Sealed bottles exploding as steam pressure builds up.

  17. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Steam build-up in bottles that have no means to release pressure, other than to explode, may result in glass and the contents of bottles releasing catastrophically into the body of the oven, or even exploding out through the oven’s door, creating further potential for harm as shards of glass from the door add to the potential for injury.

  18. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Consider also the contents of vessels being placed within the microwave oven. If these contain hazardous materials, including harmful chemicals, and containment is breached, the substance may well have contaminated the inside of the incubator and may spread out into the surrounding environment. If the possibility exists, users must prepare a spill management and disinfection plan before commencing work.

  19. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, things that are put into microwave ovens to be heated up will be hot when you take them out. Nevertheless, many people seem to be taken by surprise every year, suffering painful burns and scalds when retrieving things from microwave ovens (some so serious that they require to be treated in hospital). Exercise caution and handle with care!

  20. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS In the confident expectation, therefore, that materials being retrieved from a microwave oven WILL BE HOT, it would be sensible to employ suitable hand protection to avoid being burned or scalded. Appropriately insulated gloves or gripper pads should be located alongside the oven, instantly ready for use, but these should be kept clean and well maintained.

  21. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS By the same token, it is quite possible for steam to be released from recently microwaved liquids, and there is some potential for face and eye injuries. So, once again, suitable protective equipment should be located alongside the oven for ready use (perhaps including a full-face shield), and that too should be kept clean and well maintained.

  22. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS And it should go without saying that laboratory coats, properly fastened up, are mandatory in all containment laboratories, so you must be wearing one anyway regardless of whether or not you’re using a microwave oven … But, since you will be wearing one (!), IF there’s a spillage, your laboratory coat (properly fastened up) WILL afford some degree of protection against burns and contamination.

  23. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS One very serious risk is of tightly-sealed bottles exploding as steam pressure builds up during heating. Injuries may be sustained as glass shatters (and, since heating continues for some time after the microwave is turned off, that potential may persist for a little while after microwaving) or as steam is liberated when the cap is released (with the potential to scald unprotected skin or damage eyes)

  24. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS That being the case, it makes sense to plug bottles and tubes with something like cotton wool, through which steam will be released as it evolves without increasing pressure inside the glassware (or, at the very least, ensure that screw-on caps are placed only loosely onto the neck of the bottle, and not actually screwed-down onto the threads on the neck of the glassware).

  25. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS And, even though we all (should) know that metals objects, or objects containing (or painted-over with) metal, should not be placed inside microwave ovens, sometimes we overlook small metal components integrated into plastic and glass objects, and run the risk of damaging the oven by operating it with those metal components present within.

  26. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Although care is taken to ensure that microwave radiation does not leak from ovens, it is sensible not to look too closely into the oven when it is operating, and those who have heart pacemakers should exercise particular care when working in proximity to operating ovens.

  27. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Problems and Questions Refer all other enquiries to your H&S Advisor, Laboratory Manager or the Little France Buildings H&S Manageras soon as possible.

  28. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS Lindsay Murray Health & Safety Manager, The University of Edinburgh, College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine (Little France/Bioquarter Campus) Room SU225, Chancellor’s Building Ext: 26390 lgm@staffmail.ed.ac.uk

  29. HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE MICROWAVE OVENS You have now completed this on-line training package summarising the correct use and potential limitations of microwave ovens. Please also attend any additional training that may be organised by your laboratory manager. Thank you

More Related