BMS4667 Laboratory Leadership and Management Dr. David Ricketts

MSc/PgDip Biomedical Science

Postgraduate Course Feedback Lesson 9: Patient and Laboratory safety

Learning outcomes Understand the concept of risk How you can manage staff safety How you can manage visitor safety

What do we mean by risk? Risk can be managed by removing, adapting or accepting! Discuss examples of all three! 5

Responsibilities Employer: To ensure safe working environment Employee: To follow health and safety procedures

Regulations These help us manage risk so know them. Who in your organisation has responsibility for advising on safety? Is there a mechanism to cascade local and national updates. Who reviews the safety data sheets to ensure the current ones are in use? Do you have a safety committee with actionable minutes which are displayed for all to see? 7

Safety documentation Safety rules which instruct individuals Safety policies which describe systems These must be up to date and easily accessible. 8

Safety rules Who is it aimed at? What information should you give? Why should everyone know about them? 9

Examples of safety rule content Instructions for drivers if there is a hazard Instructions for visitors on how to behave in a laboratory Instructions to staff on PPE Instructions for visiting service engineers Make this available as part of the contract negotiations 10

What to include A statement of intent Who the safety officers are and their responsibility General safety guidance for areas such as hand washing, visitors, tea rooms, back care, staff rooms, pest control, fridges and freezers. Hygiene rules in general 11

Safety policy Global and local Have an overreaching document with a local documents for discrete areas if appropriate. 12

Other areas First aid Accident and incident reporting Occupational health Sharps injuries PPE Security Equipment safety 13

Yet more ideas Electrical hazards Waste disposal Chemical hazards, including spillage Disinfection procedures and check lists Transport Fire Safety committee Competence questions. 14

Safety walkthroughs These should be planned. One trained person from another area should walk through a section with someone from that section. They are solely looking for safety issues. This should be documented and any non compliances brought to the safety committee. Any critical non compliances must be dealt with immediately 15

Safety and SOP’s Include in your sop’s any safety aspects. If there are hazards in a procedure set competency questions against them to ensure understanding. The wrong time to find out how to treat a chemical spill is after it has happened!!! 16

How to assess the risks in your workplace –Step 1 Identify the hazards –Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how –Step 3 Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions –Step 4 Record your findings and implement them –Step 5 Review your assessment and update if necessary

REPORTING OF ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS It is very important that all accidents are reported to the safety officer or deputy, together with any incidents that may under less favourable circumstances have resulted in an accident. The reasons for reporting such incidents are: To document injury to employees in case a claim is later made to the Trust for compensation. Without documentation, it will be more difficult to obtain compensation. To detect defects in safety procedures and therefore enable corrective action to be taken

Communication Safety board Minutes of safety meetings Agenda item in team meetings Action plans from incidents Suggestion box 19

COSHH All chemicals must have a COSHH assessment carried out prior to introduction in the laboratory. Before using any chemical it is the individuals responsibility to make themselves aware of the hazards associated with the chemical. All poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals must be stored in a locked, labelled cupboard. The key to this cupboard is held by the safety officer. All inflammable chemicals must be stored in a labelled inflammable cupboard.

Comply With National Legislation Documents –Biological agents: Managing the risks in laboratories and healthcare premises – HSE ACDP –Working with substances hazardous to health - COSHH –The Approved List of biological agents – ACDP –Sealability of Microbiological Containment level 3 facilities

Microbiology Hazard Group 1: Unlikely to cause human disease Hazard Group 2: Can Cause human disease, there is prophylaxis and effective treatment available Hazard Group 3: Can cause severe human disease, may spread to the community. There is usually effective treatment Hazard Group 4: Causes severe human disease and likely to spread to the community. Usually no effective treatment or prophylaxis available

Containment Negative Pressure Sealability Decontamination procedure

Security Discuss!!! And its not just about people remember we have nasty samples as well.

Questions?