Chemical Safety – Post-Grad Induction
Laboratory safety, COSHH & risk
assessment
Dr Tim Woodman
Department of
Pharmacy & Pharmacology
CoSHH for Pharmacy and
Pharmacology
• This lecture will introduce you to CoSHH
regulations, chemical safety and Good
Laboratory Practice (GLP).
• Dr Tim Woodman – Senior NMR Spectroscopist
and Chemical Safety Officer
• 9W 0.03 (NMR suite)
• tw226@bath.ac.uk and ext 5555
A comic interlude…
Case Study 1
UCLA researcher's death draws scrutiny to lab safety
Four days after Christmas 2008, a 23-year-old research
associate working in a UCLA laboratory accidentally pulled
the plunger out of a syringe while conducting an
experiment.
The syringe contained a solution that combusts upon
contact with air. The solution spilled onto Sheharbano
“Sheri” Sangji’s hands and torso. Her polyester sweater
burst into flames. She wasn’t wearing a lab coat; no one
had told her she had to.
A postdoctoral fellow from China, working nearby, tried to
smother the fire with his own lab coat but didn’t think to put
Sangji under an emergency shower a few feet away. By
this point, deep burns covered almost half of her body.
She died 18 days later.
Case Study 1- findings (I)
1)
Adequacy of risk
syringe to transfer
was questionable.
conducted of this
chemical.
assessment. The appropriateness of using a
pyrophoric liquid in the experimental procedure
There was no record of any risk assessment
critical operation involving a highly hazardous
2)
Adequacy and record of safety training. The deceased research
assistant was a fresh graduate, and had joined the research group
for only three months. It was unclear how much training was given to
her, or whether it included any specific and hands-on training related
to handling pyrophoric chemicals and emergency response
procedures. The fact that the victim ran in the direction away from
the nearest emergency shower after the accident might indicate
there was inadequate safety training. A family member of the
deceased person alleged that no safety training was ever provided.
In any case, there was no safety training record available.
Case Study 1 – findings (II)
3) Proper use of fume hood and other safety devices. The victim was
conducting the chemical transfer inside a fume hood, however, the sash of the
fume hood was apparently raised too high to prevent the chemical from
spewing onto the body of the victim. If the sash was at a lower position, or if a
blast shield or a similar barrier had been placed between the body and the
chemical, it might have restricted the injury to the hands and forearms.
4) Lack of protective clothing. The victim was wearing a pair of rubber gloves,
which were not flame-proof, and she was not wearing a laboratory coat when
the accident occurred. It also happened that she was wearing a sweater that
was made of highly flammable synthetic material at the time. These factors
combined to create a highly unfavourable situation when the pyrophoric
material caught fire.
5) Inadequate supervision and unsatisfactory safety management. The
laboratory in question was inspected two months before the accident and was
found to be lacking in various aspects of chemical safety, such as improper
storage of hazardous chemicals, missing first aid kits and chemical spill kits,
personnel not wearing personal protective equipment such as eye protection,
laboratory coats and gloves. The situation was not corrected after the due
date for corrective actions. These all pointed to lack of supervision from the
professor in charge of the research laboratory.
Case Study 2
In January 2010, there was an
explosion at Texas Tech University
(TTU) that led to a graduate student
losing three fingers, perforating an
eye and sustaining significant burns.
The incident occurred when the grad student and a colleague were
working with a new energetic material, a derivative of nickel
hydrazine perchlorate.
A decision was taken to scale-up production of the material one
hundred-fold, against lab protocol and without consulting their
supervisor, with the end result being that the compound detonated.
COSHH – an overview
•
Regulations are based on the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974),
amended in 2002
•
COSHH, when correctly applied, is an extremely useful approach. It
will:
i.
Help assess risks
ii.
Minimise exposure to hazards
iii. Help establish safe working practices
•
The law requires you to adequately control exposure to materials in
the workplace that cause ill health
•
COSHH should not be seen as a pointless form-filling exercise – it is
a useful process to keep you, and colleagues working around you,
safe
Hazardous Substances
Many materials or substances used or created at work could harm
your health:
Pesticides
Fumes/gases
Powders
Micro-organisms
Liquids
Dusts
Harmful substances II
• Harmful substances can be present in anything from
paints and cleaners to flour dust, solder fumes, blood
or waste.
• Ill health caused by these substances is preventable.
• Many substances can harm health but, used properly,
they almost never do.
• In Pharmacy and Pharmacology our main concerns
are chemicals and micro-organisms.
What are the hazards?
Possible effects of hazardous substances (not
exhaustive):
Timescales:
• Sometimes very rapid (dizziness, stinging eyes
from fumes)
• OthersAsthma
may take years to develop,
such as lung
Cancer
disease, often from repeated exposure.
• Many long-term, chronic effects cannot be cured
once they develop…
Mesothelioma
Dermatitus
How is COSHH approached?
•The law requires us to adequately control exposure to
materials in the workplace that cause ill health. In practice this
means:
•Identifying which harmful substances may be present in the
workplace
•Deciding how workers might be exposed to them and be
harmed
•Looking at what measures you have in place to prevent this
harm and deciding whether you are doing enough
•Providing information, instruction and training
•In appropriate cases, providing health surveillance
How to carry out a COSHH assessment
There are three main steps to follow in an
assessment
1. Identify the hazards
2. Decide who might be harmed and how
3. Evaluate the risks and decide on
precautions
Identifying the hazards
•
Identification of which substances are harmful is usually
achieved by reading product labels, safety data sheets
(MSDS) and suppliers catalogue information. All chemicals
are supplied with an MSDS, and this information is also
available at several supplier websites (e.g. Sigma-Aldrich
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/safety-center.html)
•
If in doubt contact suppliers for further information
•
Consider the possibility of harmful substances being
produced by your process (reaction). Sometimes two
relatively benign chemicals can react to generate something
far more harmful
Decide who might be harmed and how
•
How might you be exposed? Consider the route into the
body (whether the substance can be breathed in, get onto or
through the skin or can even be swallowed) and the effects
of exposure by each of these routes
•
Think of how often the substance is used and for how long
•
Think about anyone else who could be exposed (colleagues
in the laboratory etc)
•
Remember cleaners, technicians, contractors and other
visitors or members of the public who could be exposed
•
Consider what happens if controls fail
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
•
Once you have carried out a risk assessment and
identified which harmful substances are present, and
how workers can be harmed, you need to think about
preventing exposure.
•
Do you really need to use a particular substance, or
is a safer alternative available?
•
Can you change the process to eliminate its use or
avoid producing it? If this is not possible, you must
put in place adequate control measures to reduce
exposure
Possible measures to reduce risks
Changing the process to reduce risks
•
•
Reduce temperature (use a lower boiling solvent?)
Use pellets rather than powders
Containment
• Use fume cupboards/safety cabinets to minimise escape or release of harmful
substances
• Minimise handling, and wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
Systems of work
• Restrict access to those people who need to be there
• Plan the storage of materials, and use appropriate containers
• Plan the storage and disposal of waste
Cleaning
• Keep working areas clean and tidy
• Have the right equipment and procedures ready to clear spillages quickly and
safely
• Accept that accidents will happen – be ready to deal with this
Worked example
You are planning to reflux a Friedel-Crafts reaction of toluene
with acetyl chloride, using AlCl3 as a catalyst
Firstly consider the hazards (consult MSDS, containers etc):
• Toluene - Highly Flammable, harmful by inhalation
• Acetyl chloride – Highly flammable, reacts violently with
water, causes burns
• Aluminium trichloride – Causes burns
Consider safety advice:
• In case if contact with eyes, wash thoroughly with water and
seek medical advice
• After contact with skin, wash immediately with plenty of
water
COSHH
Who might be harmed?
• You
• Lab co-workers
• Visitors to the lab (technicians, your supervisor, cleaners)
Can you avoid the use of these chemicals?
• In this case no – toluene is a reactant and solvent
• Minimise the volume used (20 mL is better than 200 mL)
If use cannot be avoided use suitable control measures:
• Use a fume cupboard
• Wear appropriate PPE (nitrile gloves, lab-coat, safety
glasses)
• Be prepared to deal with spills and accidents
An example form…
Example cont…
Forms to be signed off before
activity commences
COSHH – final comments
•
These COSHH forms should be seen and initialled by TJW
before work commences
•
Forms can be put in TJW pigeon hole, or taken to 9W 0.03
(NMR suite) for signing
•
Use COSHH as a positive thing, to help prepare for when
things don’t go to plan
Risk Assessment
•
COSHH assessment are used for hazardous substances
•
For other risks, a formal Risk Assessment should be
completed
•
A trivial example might be – “use of a hydrogenator”, where
there will be a combination of high pressure, high
temperature and potentially explosive gases/liquids
•
Use the provided form (next slide) and if not sure – ask for
help!
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment
How not to do it…
University Health and Safety
Main link to the university H and S site
http://www.bath.ac.uk/hr/stayingsafewell/
P & P wiki on safety can be found here
https://wiki.bath.ac.uk/display/CAF/COSHH+and+S
afety+in+Pharmacy+and+Pharmacology
(This includes links to the COSHH form both as
PDF and editable word document)
GLP
Good laboratory practice – general do’s and don’ts…
•
Lab coats and safety glasses to be worn at all times
(unless specifically advised)
•
No food or drink in the labs (I found breakfast cereal in
one last year in a cupboard!)
•
Be aware of fire exits and routes, and also of safety
showers and eye washers
•
Try to work as clean and tidy as possible – it is good
practice to wash up and tidy before you go home each
night
•
These are all examples of Good Laboratory Practice
GLP
Laboratory Coats
Laboratory coats are a requirement in all laboratory environments, if you
enter the laboratory you will be expected to wear a lab coat and safety
glasses (even if you are not conducting an experiment)
You should also wear
appropriate clothing under
your lab coat. In particular
solid shoes.
Sandals and open shoes
will not protect your feet
from chemicals or dropped
equipment!!!
Safety Glasses
If there are people in the laboratory
conducting experiments
you are
required to wear safety glasses at all
times…..
Even if you have finished your
experiment and are writing in your book
you still require safety glasses.
“It is statistically relatively unlikely that
you will throw hot acid or boiling solvent
into your own eyes. It will be your
colleagues / friends on the next
bench…….”
Contact lens wearers also need to be
particularly careful. In accidents contact
lenses will trap material between the
lens and the eye.
Note: Ordinary glass (spectacles) will
meet the minimum requirements.
However they offer no side protection
and modern small minimalistic frames
offer little general protection.
Always let someone know
•
Homer’s got it right –
make sure you report
things that go wrong
•
You won’t get blamed, but
it can help us take the
appropriate action
•
Repeated accidents can
point to failures of
procedure – this can help
us eliminate problems in
future
There is NO room for interpretation!
Chemical (waste) disposal rules
•
Solvent waste must not go down sink – use appropriate
bottles. This includes acetone used for washing glassware.
•
Solids can be bagged (e.g. silica).
•
Small samples can be disposed of in solvent waste.
•
Toxic wastes should be collected for special disposal (Bath
University does this twice a year).
•
Sharps to sharps bins.
•
You will be told what to do in labs when you start.
NMR for Pharmacy and Pharmacology (9W, 0.03)
•
P & P has two NMR spectrometers, as part of the
Faculty’s Chemical Characterisation and Analysis Facility
(CCAF)
•
Bruker 400 MHz Avance III for walk-up, general use, fitted
with 60 position automated sample changer
•
Bruker 500 MHz Avance III service instrument, fitted with
60 position automated sample changer, run by Dr
Woodman. This is also available to approved users when
not in use by TJW
•
In addition there are 5 further instruments in Chemistry
(but ours are better and less busy…)
Bruker 400 MHz Avance III Spectrometer
•
Used for routine all routine spectra
(i.e. initial 1H characterisation)
•
Automated queue system (BACS) and
sample handling using Topspin
(Bruker’s current NMR software) and
automation via IconNMR
•
Fully auto-tunable probe, so most
nuclei can be run from automation,
without expert intervention
•
Used for routine 1H, 13C etc but also
for 2D characterisation on final
compounds
•
Longer experiments (over 15 minutes
are queued overnight)
Bruker 500 MHz Avance III Spectrometer
•
Run as a service by Dr Woodman
•
Samples submitted with form
•
Runs identical software to the 400
(Topspin, IconNMR), but is much
more powerful
•
Used for all aspects of NMR - ideal
for more demanding samples (such
as VT, very small quantities)
•
Approved users can use this
instrument when not in use by TJW
NMR training
•
NMR training (for use of the 400) will be on Friday 2nd October at 2.15
pm
•
Please let me have you details via email (to tw226@bath.ac.uk),
phone 5555 or let me know if you are unable to attend this session
•
Once you are happy using the 400 and have proven to be competent,
training for use of the 500 is available on request
•
There is an NMR WIKI available which provides valuable information
about NMR – search confluence for NMR or CCAF
•
Download the NMR sample submission form for the 500 from the
WIKI or print it in the NMR room from the 400’s PC
•
If you feel your chemical analysis skills are weak consider attending
the PA10029 undergraduate lectures on analysis – ask TJW about
this