Divisional Safety Handbook
The Safety Co-ordinator is Mr Paul Phillips:
Paul.Phillips@glasgow.ac.uk; Ext 4625.
The Chief Technician in this Division is Mr Paul Paterson:
Paul.Paterson@glasgow.ac.uk; Ext 3924.
The Senior Technician in the Bower building is Mr Craig Carr:
Craig.Carr@glasgow.ac.uk; Ext 5081.
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Contents
1.1
Door Entry
5.1
Disposal and Recycling
5.1.1 Chemicals and Solvents
5.1.2 Fridge/Freezer
5.1.3 Disposal of old IT equipment
5.1.4 Radioactive waste
5.1.5 Classification of Radiation Areas
5.1.6 Disposal of Sharps
6.1
Electrical Safety
6.1.1 Electrical Safety PAT Testing
7.1
Fieldwork Safety
7.1.1 Arrangements for the Booking and Use of the MVLS Vehicles
7.1.2 Advice to Drivers
7.1.3 Appendix 1
7.1.4 Appendix 2
7.1.5 Road Worthiness
9.1
Use of Equipment
10.1
Manual Handling
10.1.1 Manual handling equipment
10.1.2 MVLS Handymen
1.1 Door Entry
Request for main door entry cards should be made to John Craig, J.W.Craig@bio.gla.ac.uk,
using the completed key/card request form. Keys for offices and labs within the Davidson
building and Wolfson Link building should be made to Tom Carr, Tom.Carr@bio.gla.ac.uk.
Please return all surplus keys and cards to them.
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5.1 Disposal and Recycling
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Duty of Care is a law which
says that you must take all reasonable steps to keep waste safe and secure and that you
must prevent it causing pollution or harming anyone.
In MVLS buildings all non-hazardous waste is disposed via bins emptied by cleaners. Only
black bin bags are used for non-hazardous waste. Non-hazardous waste items that are too
large for bins in labs or offices should be put securely into the larger bins outside the building.
In particular, packaging and bulky items should be made as flat as possible.
Disposal of old computing equipment
Computers and peripheral computing equipment cannot be thrown out with general waste, but
must be collected by one of the University's approved suppliers, and a full record kept of its
details and when it was disposed. The safety co-ordinator or chief technician should know the
location in your building for uplift by the external contractors. There is a charge for this
service.
Please ensure that the PAT test sticker is removed prior to uplift from your lab and forwarded
to either Alison Neill or John McDougall so that the PAT/asset database can be updated.
Broken glass
Each laboratory should have a clearly-labelled deposit point for clean broken glass.
Microbiologically contaminated glass should be autoclaved prior to disposal. All bags sent for
autoclave disposal must be double bagged as this helps prevent tearing and leakage from the
bags, which may be a hazard to the handlers.
Re-usable glassware and plasticware
Small items should be fully immersed in disinfectant solution. Large glassware should be filled
with disinfectant. Pasteur pipettes should be filled with disinfectant before removal of the teat.
Heavily contaminated glassware may be autoclaved, but do not leave disinfectant in any item
prior to autoclaving.
General contaminated plastic waste should be placed directly into waste disposal bags. All
plastics which are, or may be, contaminated with a microorganism or the molecular products
of a genetic modification procedure must be autoclaved prior to disposal. Plastics used only
for biochemical work should be put into a sealed bag before being included with nonhazardous waste.
All bags sent for autoclave disposal must be double bagged as this helps prevent tearing and
leakage from the bags, which may be a hazard to the handlers. Please ensure that all waste
from your laboratory intended for the autoclave is double-bagged.
Sharp blades and needles
Theses must be discarded into a CinBin. Full cinbins must be sealed, labelled and disposed
of as clinical waste. Arrangements for uplift are available from your chief technician or safety
co-ordinator in each building.
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Disposal of fridges and freezers
New controls on ozone depleting substances require the disposal of waste fridges and
refrigeration equipment in an environmentally sound manner. Fridges that do not contain
CFCs do not require special uplift, and should therefore be disposed by uplift from MVLS
handymen or Estates and Buildings.
Fridges/freezers containing CFCS can be uplifted by CCL North for disposal (cost currently
£15). To arrange uplift, remove any asset stickers, write your name and project code on the
item and ask Alison Neill to arrange for uplift. You can alternatively arrange with the supplier
to uplift (eg, Comet) when delivering a new one (similar cost).
Please ensure that the PAT test sticker is removed prior to uplift from your lab and forwarded
to either Alison Neill or John McDougall so that the PAT/asset database can be updated.
Paper Recycling
The University recycling policy requires all offices and writing up areas to use paper and
plastics recycling waste boxes for all paper and non-contaminated plastics. New boxes are
available on request to Alison Neill, and cleaning staff routinely empty them.
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