HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT

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

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT This on-line training package is intended mainly for laboratory-based workers (though office-based colleagues may find it useful too), but is not a substitute for more detailed training which may be organised by laboratory managers. Last updated: April, 2018

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT 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 last page of this presentation). Thank you

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Why Risk Assessment? It is a general legal duty for employers, set out in the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 19991,to assess risks to the health and safety of employees and anyone else who may be affected by the employer’s activities2. 1. Section 3(1)(a) 2. Section 3(2)(b)

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Why Risk Assessment? Notwithstanding the legislative imperative, you may find it helpful to view risk assessment as an opportunity and not merely an inconvenience ...

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Why Risk Assessment? Preparing a suitable and sufficient risk assessment often highlights important points regarding good experimental design, and may help expose weaknesses in previously accepted “best practice” that would be far better weeded-out before work commences.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT What is Risk Assessment? Risk assessment is a structured process intended to help identify hazards associated with activities in the workplace and evaluate the potentially harmful consequences of these, ultimately giving rise to a written Safe System of Work, and aiming overall to reduce the risks to levels that which are as low as reasonably practicable.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Some Relevant Definitions Hazard = A property of a substance, activity or situation that has the potential to cause harm. Risk = The probability that the harm linked to a hazard will actually occur, taking into account also the severity of that harm.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Some Relevant Definitions Safe System of Work = The principal end-product of competent risk assessment, usually in the form of written instructions, readily comprehensible and capable of being followed, regarding the means that have been agreed for a task to be safely carried out with the minimum level of risk to the health and safety of workers, etc.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Some Relevant Definitions As Low As Reasonably Practicable(ALARP) = Hinges in part on the interpretation of what precisely, in law, isreasonable, taking into account the costs, in terms of time, trouble and money, of removing or reducing risk. Differs from that which is as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), which is a more absolute legal requirement.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT So, since risk is a balance between probability (or likelihood) and the likely severity of harm (or impact) ….

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Low Risk/High Risk Anything that has been formally assessed as being low risk is generally best managed by the application of sound common sense and general good practice for laboratory work. But, if the risk is assessed at anything more than trivial, formal risk assessment procedures must be carried out.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Risk assessment should be a routine activity, very much part of normal laboratory management processes, and must take account of the totality of operations within the laboratory environment, addressing all relevant aspects of people, equipment, materials and the environment-related factors. And it should be a cyclical process, in that the assessment should be subject to regular review and updating.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Plan for and relate all hazards • Technical measures • Organisational measures • Personal measures

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Plan for and relate all hazards Local Rules (e.g. Late & Lone Working RA) Totality of process (e.g RA1) Specific risks (e.g. COSHH RA)

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT A free pdf guide on risk assessment is available from the UK’s Health and Safety Executive. Check the HSE’s web site for the most up-to-date information and legislation updates: http://www.hse.gov.uk/

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Look for hazards Review periodically and revise as necessary Who could be harmed. and how Record your findings Evaluate the risks, and design and implement controls

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Five Steps to Risk Assessment • Lookfor hazards. Walk around your working area, reviewing what work is being done, by whom, and using what materials and methods. Check to see if the work has already been risk assessed. If not, and you can see that the risk is greater than trivial, take steps to commence a formal Risk Assessment leading to a written Safe System of Work.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT The University has prepared a range of risk assessment forms that have been designed to ensure that the minimum statutory requirements are met, but also to prompt those undertaking the risk assessment to consider all relevant factors, including aspects of good experimental design …

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/health-safety/ risk-assessments-checklists/risk-assessments • General Risk Assessment - Form RA1 and Notes for Guidance • COSHH: Hazardous Substances: Form and notes for guidance • Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR): Form and Notes for Guidance • Display Screen Equipment Workstations Form • Fieldwork Assessment: Form FA1 and Notes for Guidance • Lone Working Risk Assessment Form and Notes for Guidance • Manual Handling Operations Form • New and Expectant Mothers Model Risk Assessment Form and Notes for Guidance • Radiation generic risk assessments • GM forms

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HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Examples of Hazards • Chemicals • Micro-organisms • GMOs • Radioactivity • Clinical material • Carcinogens • Mutagens • Allergens • Asthmagens • Pharmaco-active agents • Display screen equipment (computers etc) • Naked DNA • Toxins • TSE agents • Animals • Compressed gases • Slip/trip hazards • Working with sharps • Manual handling • Lone-working • Out-of-hours working

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Five Steps to Risk Assessment • Decide who might be harmed and how. Think not only of those who are handling substances and equipment, but also about others who share your working area, and how they could be affected by what it is that you propose to do. The number of people who could possibly be affected by your work is potentially rather large …

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Among those who may be at risk … • Staff • Undergraduates • Post-grad researchers • Visiting workers • Casual visitors • Cleaners • Any other people who, for whatever reason, might be at increased risk due to immaturity, inexperience, medical predisposition, etc. • Contractors • Maintenance workers • Expectant mothers • New starts • Trainees • Work experience students

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Five Steps to Risk Assessment • Evaluatethe risks and decide on precautions: • Can the hazard be eliminated entirely? (If it can, then it must). • If not, how can I reduce the risk to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable? It is important that these questions are seen to be asked (as well as seen to be properly answered), and that the answers are reliably documented.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) • Elimination • Reduce/Replace (substitution) • Isolate/Innovate • Control • PPE (policy and procedures) • Discipline ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) If you don’t really need to use the harmful substance, or undertake the hazardous activity, health and safety regulations say, quite simply, you should not proceed. ERIC Prevents Death Only if you can justify the risk should you proceed.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) The next step, once you’ve justified the risk, is to consider whether you could use a less harmful substance, or a less energetic radioactive source, or a less pathogenic micro-organism, and still achieve the same desired effect. If you can, the same Regulations say that you must. This is the concept of Substitution. ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) And then health and safety regulations compel us to consider how we might (re)design the experiment to reduce risk even further. We might, for example, separate ourselves from a harmful substance by employing barriers and shielding (Isolate). But what we really must be doing is thinking about the work before even starting it, and plan accordingly (Innovate). ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) Just because “It’s always been done that way” is no reason to persist with a method that is unjustifiably unsafe. Challenge the assumptions. Do the research. Has someone else found a better, safer way of doing the work? If not, can you think of a way that might be better and safer? Who knows? There might be a publication in that aspect alone. ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) As regards controls, we’re well provided on this site with a battery of engineered controls (fume hoods and biological safety cabinets etc), but we need to be sure that the tools that we’re planning to use are correct for the job in hand; each has potential limitations, and we need to be aware of these. Equally, controls may be methodological and procedural rather than engineered. ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) Note that Personal Protective Equipment comes a long way down the hierarchy of controls. So, donning a lab coat and snapping on nitrile gloves is not, and must never be considered to be, the first line of defence. Most of the risk should have been designed out even before the first exposure to a harmful substance. That was meant to be a joke! Why eliminate the hazard when you can buy PPE?

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) The ‘P’ in ERIC-PD also encompasses Policy and Procedures, and local rules may dictate a particular approach to management of a potential risk (e.g. late and lone working policies may include embargos on certain procedures being carried out outside of normal working hours for the buildings). ERIC Prevents Death

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Hierarchy of Controls (ERIC-PD) And, finally, buildings-wide policies* and local rules also set out the minimum expected standard to be observed by all staff and students with regard to health and safety arrangements, and must therefore be read and understood, and all workers must agree to comply with them. ERIC Prevents Death * http://www.mvm.ed.ac.uk/LittleFrance/mvmhlthsaf.htm

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Five Steps to Risk Assessment • Recordyour findings Written or computerised records are equally acceptable, providing that workers have ready and easy access to these. The University has a range of forms for Risk Assessment, covering a range of possibilities, each guiding the user through relevant questions and suggesting sources of further information: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/health-safety/risk-assessments-checklists/risk-assessments

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Five Steps to Risk Assessment • Review periodically, and revise as necessary. Take account of changes in personnel, equipment, substance(s) and/or procedures; changes in legislation and guidance; and records of accidents, ill-health and near-miss occurrences. So, probably review and at least annually, and update whenever significant details change.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT HSE also promote eight principles of good practice related to risk assessment: • Design and operate processes safely • Consider all relevant routes of exposure • Control exposure • Choose effective and reliable controls • Choose suitable PPE • Check and review regularly • Inform and train • Must not increase overall risk to H&S

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Useful questions to be considered at the same time … The cartoon reproduced in this presentation originates with the HSE, which agrees to its use for internal circulation within an organisation. Attention is drawn to the HSE web site (http://www.hse.gov.uk/index.htm), where further details of the “Myth of the Month” (and previous myths) highlighted by these cartoons may be obtained.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Chemicals and Biological Agents (COSHH Regulations*) • COSHH risk assessments must be done. • Consider less hazardous alternatives. • Consult safety data sheets. • Assess risks associated with use, storage and disposal. • Use control measures as required. • Plan for accidents in advance. * Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Radiation • Justify use of radioactivity. • Optimise experimental design to ensure that doses are as low as reasonable practicable (ALARP). • Dose limits apply. • Discharge authorisations apply. • Plan for accidents in advance. • Defer to your Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS).

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Biological Hazards • UndertakeRisk Assessments: http://www.docs.csg.ed.ac.uk/Safety/Policy/ Part6.pdf (Para 3.4) • Additional requirements for work involving genetically modified organisms: http://www.docs.csg.ed.ac.uk/Safety/Policy/ Part6.pdf (Para 4.5) • Understand the rules and constraints associated with containment laboratories: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/health-safety/biosafety/policy/guidance-rules/lab-management

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Biological Hazards • Understand the correct use of biological safety cabinets: http://www.docs.csg.ed.ac.uk/Safety/bio/guidance/blm/safety_cabs.pdf • Seek advice if transporting pathogens etc: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/health-safety/biosafety/policy/guidance-rules/transport

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Safe System of Work (SSW) • The principal end-product of the process of competent risk assessment. • An easy-to-follow summary of the nature of a specific hazard, and how it has been planned that workers and other people will be protected from it. • Those who will be handling the hazardous substance (for example) should sign the SSW to acknowledge that they have read it, understand it, and agree to comply with the arrangements.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT In the event of an accident, questions will be asked; not least of which will be … • Had risk assessments been done? • Were they suitable and sufficient? • Were procedures being followed correctly (a Safe System of Work)? • Were proper records being kept?

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Who should carry out a Risk Assessment? • A “competent person” who is knowledgeable regarding the relevant substances and/or processes, and who has a good working knowledge of how to carry out a meaningful risk assessment (i.e. often the person routinely doing the task or handling the substance/equipment). • Someone with the time to do it properly and also to maintain it over the longer-term. • Some special training may be justified/ necessary.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE RISK ASSESSMENT