Risk assessment for Postgraduate Students
Postgraduate Students working on Projects in the
Department of Physics
Health and Safety information
Your Supervisor
Your Project Supervisor is your primary
contact for advice and guidance.
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You are likely to be:Working in laboratories/offices; maybe outside the
department; away from the campus.
Using:Valuable/Sophisticated/Sensitive/Hazardous materials/
equipment.
Carrying out a Risk Assessment.
Ensure adequate controls
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Consider the hazards
Chemicals.
Electricity.
Ionising Radiation eg X-Rays, radioactive substances.
Non- Ionising Radiation eg EMF fields, Magnets
Cryogenics.
High Vacuum/Pressure.
Specialised apparatus [seek advice].
Personal Protective Equipment [PPE]
First Aid.
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Chemicals
Most laboratory chemicals are hazardous.
 COSHH [control of substances hazardous to
health].
 Care with chemicals – how to
handle safely.
 Learn chemical symbols.
 Learn how to dispose of waste chemicals.
Yellow triangles =
advisory- warnings
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Electricity
Risk – Contact
• Shock (fibrillation)
• Burns
What is Safe
• 25 volts or less
• Used in a protected environment
What you can and can’t do
Connect cables and plugs 
Dismantle powered equipment 
Magnetic fields & Magnets
 Where?
–
–
NMR
Magnetometers
– High strength permanent magnets [Emats].
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Radiation
Where do we find it?
 X-Ray generators.
 Radioactive sources
 Lasers.
 High power light sources.
 Radio frequency generators.
Cryogenics/Heat
Hazards
Extreme cold / heat
Oxygen deficient environment
Flames
Risks
Contact – burns (hot/cold)
Asphyxiation
Controls
Training
Appropriate storage methods
Appropriate PPE
High Vacuum and Pressure
Hazards
• UHV apparatus
• High pressure gas cylinders
 Transfer and handling
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Specialist Equipment
• Seek permission – advice
before attempting to use.
• Read any
instructions/rules for use
• Examples of these :
• Laser machining centre
• Electron microscopes
• NMR
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Personal Protective Equipment -
PPE
 What is it?
 How it should be used.
 When and where to use it.
Other controls must be adopted
before PPE
Normally part of local rules
Blue symbols =
Mandatory – do
it.
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Offices
Hazards
• Seating
• The workstation
• The Environment
Controls
Correct Adjustment
Breaks
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Hazard and Risk
Hazard
Anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from
ladders, an open drawer etc
Risk
A risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody may be harmed by the hazard.
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is the process of evaluating risks to workers’ safety and health
from workplace hazards. It is a systematic examination of all aspects of work
that considers:
• what could cause injury or harm
• whether the hazards could be eliminated and, if not,
• what preventive or protective measures are, or should be, in place to
control the risks.
Must be reasonably foreseeable
Five Steps to Risk Assessment
• Identify the hazards
• Decide who might be harmed and how
• Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
• Record your significant findings
• Review your assessment and update if
necessary
Example Hazards
Biological hazards,
Confined spaces,
Explosive atmospheres
Electricity,
Experimental rigs,
Exposure to extreme temperatures,
Falls from a height,
Fire
Ionising and non-ionising radiations,
Lifting operations using lifting equipment,
Manual handling,
Noise,
Lone working, personal safety,
Pressure systems,
Slips, trips and falls,
Substances hazardous to health,
Transport of dangerous substances,
Vibration,
Work equipment,
Working environment,
Workplace transport,
Work-related upper limb disorders.
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Risk Control
To enable the consequences of the effect of the
Hazard to be reduced to -
AS LOW AS REASONABLY
PRACTICABLE
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Risk Control
Risk control is a method of managing the risk with the primary emphasis on controlling the hazards at source. For a risk that is
assessed as “high”, steps should be taken immediately to minimize risk of injury. The method of ensuring that risks are controlled
effectively is by using the “hierarchy of controls”.
The Hierarchy of Controls are:
• Avoid the problem altogether
• Do it another (safer) way, eg substituting for less hazardous material.
• Isolate the problem at source - for example by enclosure or guarding, or
removing a hazardous dust at source.
• Isolate the person from the hazard - for example by placing a person in a
refuge from noise.
• Reduce the amount of time that the person spends in the hazardous
environment.
• Provide the person with personal protective equipment (note that this
may be required to augment other measures, but should not be chosen
instead.).
• Provide welfare facilities (e.g. washing facilities for removing
contamination).
Remember, the greater the hazard, the more robust and reliable the measures to
control the risk of an injury / incident occurring will need to be
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Sustained an injury
• Call a first-aider if you are injured
• Ring 22222 if emergency services are
required
• Report the accident and inform your
supervisor
Emergency 1st Aiders
First Aiders in Physics
Mark Hadley
24263
Robb Johnson
23988
Kayleigh Lampard
50287
Julie Staunton
23381
Sarah Parkin
23353
Ayesha Rahman
51380
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The Safety Plan and Risk evaluation form
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Any
Questions ?
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