Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI)

Laboratory rules

Wear lab coats and safety glasses when in labs

The basic rules of the laboratory are:

  • Wear your lab coats and safety glasses at all times.
  • Do not eat or drink within the labs.
  • Keep your work area clean and tidy, wipe up spills immediately and work on the trays provided.
  • If you are handling samples or chemicals you should wear appropriate chemical resistant gloves.
  • Never work alone

Normal prescription glasses are not a substitute for lab glasses. You must either wear safety glasses on top of your prescription glasses or get special prescription lab glasses (see N:\Earth&Environment\SEE\Technical\Health and Safety documents).

Do not touch door handles, computers, or telephones with gloves on. This is a health and safety risk and risks the cross contamination of yours, and other users, samples and skin.

Clothing

When you are working in a lab there is a risk that toxic or corrosive chemicals can be spilt and land on you, hence you must wear your lab coat and glasses at all times. It is also the reason you must wear clothing that minimises the amount of skin that is not covered. It is generally common sense, if you spilled concentrated acid on yourself what would you want to be wearing:

  • NO SHORTS OR SHORT SKIRTS allowed in the lab!
  • Trousers or long dresses are ideal
  • Tights, tight fitting trousers and leggings are discouraged as they afford minimum protection.
  • In general, try to minimise the amount of skin that is uncovered
  • Do not wear clothing which is loose enough to knock over containers on the work bench or drag or dip into flames or chemicals.

 Hair and jewellery

  • Ensure that long hair is tied back
  • No “low hanging” jewellery

 Shoes

  • NO SANDLES
  • Closed toed shoes only please - ideally impermeable (i.e. not canvass)
  • Ideally no slipper type shoes - the top of your foot should be covered
  • Shoes with steel toecaps should be worn when handling gas cylinders
  • Impermeable shoes must be worn when handling cryogens

Office rules

Relating to your use of Cohen labs rules of offices are:

  • No lab coats allowed.
  • No samples should be stored in offices.

If you need space to store samples in the labs – just ask a technician.

Gloves

In Cohen labs we have four main types of gloves.

This is not a recommendation - you should consult your local H&S office before choosing gloves for a laboratory task.

Types of gloves used in Cohen labs
Types of gloves used in Cohen labs

Health and safety paperwork

Anything is possible – with the right paperwork!

Absolutely NO work is permitted in the lab without you actively discussing, and agreeing, any laboratory procedures with your supervisor. You will then fill out your own paperwork and give a signed copy to a technician. There are no exceptions to this rule. However, many of the procedures in the laboratory already have paperwork in place. Please check before writing new documents, just in case.

If you medical condition undergoes a significant change (e.g. you become pregnant) this may impact on your risk assessments - contact Sarah Burdall.

As part of any COSHH assessment you may require an assessment by Occupational Health. This will be highlighted when you assess your experiments.

Required paperwork

This paperwork may have been prepared for you or you may have to complete it yourself. Check with your supervisor/manager. The minimum you should complete is a Risk Assessment (RA). You may also need to complete:

  • COSHH assessment(s).
  • Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or Method.
  • Biological risk assessment.
  • Manual handling risk assessment.
  • Etc.

 They must be signed by you and your supervisor/manager then placed in the correct folder in the storeroom (9.132). You should have a copy of the SOP kept with your lab book.

 Absolutely NO work is permitted in the lab without you actively discussing, and agreeing, any laboratory procedures with your supervisor. You will then fill out your own paperwork and give a signed copy to a technician. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Out of hours / lone working

 Out of hours working is defined as anything outside 8.30am-5pm, Monday to Friday. Lone working is working in an isolated area where there is not someone in shouting distance. Out of hours working counts as lone working and so you must follow certain procedures for both.

If you are required to work out of hours / lone work:

  1. You need to have completed either a lone work risk assessment or have included a detailed out of hours working assessment on your original risk assessment for the work you are doing.
  2. You should have a buddy, that is someone who knows where you are and who you can call to tell them you have left – they must also have access to Cohen.
  3. You should fill in the log book outside reception, you should log in AND OUT. This so in the case of a fire so the fire brigade know you are in the building. So if you are going to stay late at 5pm you need to go down to reception and fill in the book.

When working out of hours or alone in an isolate area please:

  • Do not handle concentrated reagents and material.
  • Prepared diluted stock reagents earlier in the day for later use.
  • See notes on fume cupboards with regard ventilation.
  • See guidance on lone working for full details.

Written by Andy Connelly (2/9/2016)

Last updated by Andy Connelly (12/10/2016)

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