HSC 3-9 (13-14)
[Health and Safety Committee, 15 July 2014]
Item 6
HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE
GOOD LABORATORY PRACTICE: E-LEARNING FOR ALL
LABORATORY USERS
Summary:
Outline of a new general laboratory safety e-learning training course for
discussion and approval.
Action proposed to the Committee: To agree that the proposed e-learning course on good
laboratory practice becomes mandatory safety training for all new post-graduate UCL
laboratory users.
Author/Proponent: Jillian Deans
Background
1.
Safety Services currently only offers formal laboratory safety training courses in
certain hazard-specific areas as follows:

Biosafety

Radiation

Lasers

Gas cylinders

Liquid nitrogen
2.
There is no single course that covers general laboratory safety; currently, this should
be addressed during local induction.
3.
It is recognised that laboratory-based research is either multi-disciplinary or else will
involve multiple hazards even if working in a specific discipline. So rather than continue to
focus only on specific hazards, a general basic laboratory safety course is proposed. Such a
course would support the local induction process but also ensure consistent delivery of key
safety messages across UCL.
4.
E-learning is the preferred method of delivery of this training; this general course can
then be supplemented by specific face-to-face practical training/workshops as required.
Proposed scope and content
5.
The course will be based around a series of general principles of laboratory safety
and focus on simple and practical ways of staying safe and preventing harm to both the
individual and those around them:
i.
Understanding hazards in laboratory environments;
ii.
The importance of reading procedures and risk assessments;
iii.
Understanding your responsibilities and how to work safely;
iv.
How to store, use and move hazardous substances safely;
v.
The importance of managing waste;
vi.
Understanding how to respond in an emergency
6.
The course can be completed one module at a time or as a whole course, taking the
all modules together.
7.
These general modules will be supplemented, over time, with more detailed
information on topics including the use of certain equipment such fume cupboards,
microbiological safety cabinets and autoclaves.
8.
Given the fundamental information delivered by the training and the means of
delivery, it is proposed that this should become a mandatory safety training course for all
new UCL laboratory-based post-graduate students. It will be recommended that all new
laboratory staff complete this training also but rather than make it mandatory across UCL,
this will be for departments to determine at the local level.
Timescales and consultation
9.
We plan to launch the training in mid-October. A first draft of the script for the
presentation is currently under review and supporting photographic material has been
sourced and/or commissioned.
10.
Consultation/user-testing is planned for early September and will include laboratorybased DSOs, but if any members of the HSC would like to volunteer either themselves or
members of their department to be involved in this process, this would be welcome. We are
also seeking volunteers to be filmed talking about aspects of laboratory safety. These films
would just be short “talking head” videos that would sit alongside and complement the formal
training.
Action
11.
HSC are asked to:


Suggest volunteers who could help test the training course and/or be filmed
talking about laboratory safety
Approve this course as mandatory safety training for laboratory-based postgraduate students.