Health and Safety
The Health and Safety (H&S) of all colleagues in the School is of the utmost importance. Procedures can be found on the Sii safety webpage. As part of their induction, staff must read the H&S procedures as soon as possible.
Fire Alarm
Upon hearing the fire alarm, exit the building immediately via any of the exits or emergency exits to the assembly point. Fire Wardens will provide further instructions
The fire assembly point for the Sir Graeme Davies Building (SGDB) is just beyond the bollards on University Place.
Fire alarm tests at SGDB occur every Wednesday morning for 30 seconds.
Professor Tom Evans is responsible for Health and Safety in Sii and Dr Susan Gannon is Technical and Building Manager (phone 01413303543).
There is a generic Health and Safety email address to report any non-emergency H&S issues.
Safety Training Record
Recording safety training in the SGDB – new procedures.
Following a safety audit of SGDB, the University SEPS (Safety & Environmental Protection Service) now require us to use a standardised document across the SGDB to record local frontline safety training. HSE also require that safety training is documented and that a researcher’s ability to work safely is assessed following training, before the researcher carries out the work independently, and reassessed over time to ensure this competency is maintained. This is now mandatory.
While attendance at formal safety training courses e.g. those offered by SEPS and outside agencies is often recorded through certification, informal training within SGDB is not.
We are, therefore, piloting a new record form, available here: SGDB_informal safety training record form_2023.xlsx.
In the first instance, completion of this form will be compulsory for all short-term wet lab project students in the SGDB (e.g. undergraduate and masters students) from autumn 2023.
It is particularly important that we record the training these students receive, as they often have little or no previous lab experience, and do not usually have the opportunity to attend formal training courses. Please note that CVR has separate procedures for recording safety training.
We will invite feedback on the new form towards the end of 2023, and if necessary, modify it for project students starting in January 2024.
It is envisaged that a final version of this form will then be rolled out for all lab workers later in 2024. However, PIs are encouraged to adopt the use of this form for all their lab members, especially new researchers, if they wish to before then.
The form consists of five tabs:
- Instructions for completing the form. While project students will be asked to drive completion of this form themselves, please note that PIs/lecturers will need to customise the form with techniques applicable to their lab and the student’s project ahead of the student’s arrival. This should only take a few minutes.
- Training outline. This outlines the inductions and training that each new lab worker should receive and the paperwork that they should complete.
- Research group induction. In addition to SGDB building and floor inductions, all new lab workers should receive a research group-specific induction. PIs/lecturers should customise this tab with any topics they wish covered. They may delegate the research group induction to a senior member of their team if they wish to, but the student and trainer should sign this tab to indicate the induction has been completed.
- Informal safety training. PIs/lecturers should customise this tab with a comprehensive list of techniques carried out in their labs. Students/new lab workers should be trained and supervised by a senior member of the research group, and training should be recorded using this tab, with both student and trainer signing the form. It should be noted when the student is deemed safe to carry out the procedure without side-by-side supervision.
- Risk assessment checklist. This tab is optional but may be helpful for students to keep track of the risk assessments they need to read, understand and sign before starting lab work.
PIs/lecturers should ensure that their customised proforma is available on their lab’s Team site, and that a copy is made for each new student.
The training record form should be completed electronically and be available to the student and any lab members involved in their training; it may also need to be produced in the event of an incident/accident or during a safety inspection.
PIs/lecturers are asked to review the form weekly when they meet their project student to ensure that it is being completed.
For longer-term students and staff, we also have a form where formal safety training can be recorded: SGDB_formal safety training record form_2023.xlsx
This form provides a summary of the training courses offered by SEPS as well as an individual record form that can be completed by lab workers as they undertake formal training.