AUTOCLAVES Welcome to an on-line

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE
AUTOCLAVES 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.

AUTOCLAVES This on-line training package is intended for laboratory-based workers, but is not a substitute for more detailed training which may be organised by laboratory managers. Last updated: January, 2018

AUTOCLAVES Please take time to view the following material, and direct any 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

AUTOCLAVES Do not operate autoclave devices for the first time without arranging and obtaining appropriate supervision.

AUTOCLAVES Ensure that you are wholly competent to operate autoclave devices and are fully authorised before even attempting to do so.

AUTOCLAVES Failure to do so may have extremely serious consequences:

AUTOCLAVES The following presentation 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 within:

AUTOCLAVES Workers in the University must refer to and follow the general guidance at: (Section 11) and assessment.pdf (Section 9.8.2)

AUTOCLAVES Safety aspects of the installation, maintenance and operation of autoclaves are addressed in the Pressure System Safety Regulations 2000. But attention is drawn also to hazards associated with electricity supplies etc, which are governed by other regulations that must be considered alongside the Pressure System Safety Regulations.

AUTOCLAVES A risk assessment should always be undertaken to underpin safety related to work involving the use of an autoclave or other pressure vessel. The risk assessment should take into account the nature of all potential hazards, in terms not only of the work involved and the likelihood of harm associated with the substances to be handled, but also the techniques to be carried out.

AUTOCLAVES Autoclaves exist in several different forms, for example: Top-loading Front-loading Downward displacement Vacuum-pulsed

AUTOCLAVES Autoclaves in action disrupt cell proteins and nucleic acids. Autoclaving is not, though, an instantaneous process, and cells must be exposed to a temperature and pressure for a sufficiently long time to ensure that they actually are disrupted as intended.

AUTOCLAVES Heat treatment causes cell death at an exponential rate, but assessments never assume 100% kill. Since, therefore, autoclave heat-treated waste cannot be presumed to be 100% effective, all such waste must still be handled with care, and removed from site only by authorised contractors.

AUTOCLAVES Also, it should be noted the some micro-organisms and agents are quite resistant to conventional autoclave heat treatment (e.g. Prions). Source of image: Mary Bates, Science Writer

AUTOCLAVES Be aware of the concept of the D-value, which is the time required, at a certain temperature and pressure, to kill 90% of the organisms subject to heat treatment. Thus, after organisms are reduced in number by 1 D-value, 10% of the original number of organisms will remain. D values vary considerably for different types of micro-organism at the same autoclave temperature and pressure.

AUTOCLAVES Largely for that reason, autoclave heat-treatment of materials containing (e.g.) prions will require a minimum autoclave heat treatment regimen of 134oC for 18 minutes (generally dictating the need for a vacuum-pulsed autoclave to be used). Source of image: The University of Arizona

AUTOCLAVES Hazards associated with autoclaves include creation of high temperature steam inside pressure vessels, loading and unloading operations, and failure to properly sterilise contaminated waste.

AUTOCLAVES This is not a function solely of the size and complexity of the equipment. Care must be taken also with small bench-top devices, including pressure cookers.

AUTOCLAVES Care should be taken with materials committed for autoclave treatment if these are consigned in containers with tight-fitting lids. There is a risk then not only of steam not being able to penetrate throughout the container, but of the container exploding (perhaps even after the autoclave door is opened).

AUTOCLAVES Protective clothing should be available in the loading/unloading area, including an impervious apron, heat-resistant gauntlet-type gloves, suitable heavy-duty footwear or overshoes, and eye protection.

AUTOCLAVES Autoclaves should be operated only by Competent Persons who have been properly trained to use them safely and correctly.

AUTOCLAVES Before each use, a visual inspection should be made of seals, valves, metal surfaces designed to come into contact during operation, dials, gauges and other instruments, to check that all of these are undamaged. Always conform to manufacturer’s instructions for the equipment being used.

AUTOCLAVES Where an autoclave is used to decontaminate or make-safe waste, the process must be validated at least annually and at any other times when the previous test may no longer be valid (such as part of re-commissioning after maintenance work). Records of validation must be kept for at least five years.

AUTOCLAVES More rigorous validation testing requirements apply for autoclaves serving Containment Level 3 or 4 laboratories, or where waste has arisen from work involving genetically modified organisms, and which may dictate more frequent tests and/or more robust tests to confirm that temperatures and pressures have been achieved throughout the autoclave chamber.

AUTOCLAVES Records should be kept also to note, on each and every occasion, who used the autoclave, when it was used, what it was being used for, and at what temperature and pressure and for how long treatment was applied.

AUTOCLAVES All faults and defects must be reported to the relevant senior laboratory manager, and steps taken to ensure that the equipment is not used again before inspection by a Competent Person. After completion of such repairs as may be necessary, the equipment must be properly certified as safe for use before recommencement of operations.

AUTOCLAVES Care should be taken by those handling bagged laboratory waste not to come into contact with any sharps that may inadvertently have been placed into plastic bags instead of proper sharps bins. Handle bags with care and using a technique that will minimise the risk of sharps injury

AUTOCLAVES It should go without saying, of course (but we’ll repeat it anyway), that that sharps should never ever be disposed of in anything other than the containers that are available specifically for that purpose.

AUTOCLAVES Manual handing-related risks may arise during loading and unloading of autoclaves and/or during conveyance of materials to and from autoclaves for heat-treatment. Risk assessments should take into account how these activities are to be undertaken, with efforts being made to reduce risks to a level as low as reasonably practicable, perhaps partly through delivery of training.

AUTOCLAVES Where manual handling may be a significant consideration, the nature of the Load, Individual, Task and Environment (LITE) must all be considered, and proper use made of mechanical aids etc.

AUTOCLAVES Some amount of training related to safe manual handing operations may be obtained by addressing the on-line training course available at or by requesting classroom training from the H&S Manager (contact details on the penultimate page of this presentation).

AUTOCLAVES All autoclaves and other pressure vessels (including pressure cookers and other gas pressure vessels such as gas cylinders) must be notified to a designated engineering insurance surveyor, and inspected at the statutorily required interval.

AUTOCLAVES Notification of newly acquired equipment within Little France should be made by contacting the relevant Building Manager to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations. Buildings Managers will also advise regarding the arrangement of inspections and repairs.

AUTOCLAVES In Summary … Use robust, secure containers for waste. Ensure that containers permit sufficient steam penetration Wear appropriate PPE. Ensure that each cycle is properly completed. Ensure safe disposal of autoclaved sharps. Be alert to the potential for superheated liquids.

AUTOCLAVES But DO NOT … Use unsuitable materials for containment. Carry out unnecessary or risky manual handling. Open the autoclave door until it is safe to do so. Leave non-autoclaved material in an unsafe place or in an unsafe condition. And never, ever allow untrained and unauthorised people to operate autoclave equipment.

AUTOCLAVES Problems and Questions Refer all enquiries to your H&S Advisor, Laboratory Manager or the Little France Buildings H&S Manager as soon as possible.

AUTOCLAVES 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

AUTOCLAVES You have now completed this on-line training package summarising the correct use and potential limitations of autoclaves. Please also attend any additional training that may be organised by your laboratory manager. Thank you

AUTOCLAVES Welcome to an on-line

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