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Lab Safety

SAFETY OBJECTIVES

To have a zero harm workplace by establishing a culture of safety.

We will do this by improving and changing the workplace so that our Health and Safety teaching and practice:

Meets exceeds own Culture, Policies and Rules
Meets or exceeds the health and safety standards required by the University of Auckland.
Meets or exceeds the standards required by the HSNO exempt lab regulations.
Meets or exceeds the health and safety requirements of our accrediting professional institutions (IChemE and IPENZ).
Incorporates the suggestions made by our Industry Advisory Board.

Guide to Laboratory Use

This document provides information and guidelines related to the use of laboratories for research in the C&M department. ALL users of laboratories need to be familiar with the guidelines for laboratory use.

C&M Current Safety Plan 10/02/2009

UNDERGRADUATE SAFETY
General Safety

At all times, explicitly follow the instructions in your laboratory manual, those given in lectures and the instructions of your laboratory supervisor(s).

For specific safety issues relating to any particular laboratory experiment please refer to your lab book, and/or lecturers and laboratory supervisor.

Dress Code

The following must be worn in order for you be allowed to do laboratory work in the Department:

Closed shoes - no jandals, sandals, strap shoes of any kind or barefeet.
Safety glasses - normal spectacles are not acceptable.
Laboratory coat

If you do not have CLOSED SHOES, SAFETY GLASSES and a LAB COAT, YOU WILL BE DENIED ACCESS TO THE LABORATORY. You will then need to rearrange another time (if spaces are available) to do the lab. REMEMBER: Doing laboratory work is a course requirement - you cannot complete a course without completing the laboratories.

SAFE METHODS OF USE (SMOU)

Laboratory safety requires that ALL users follow certain Safe Methods of Use (SMOU)

The following are general SMOUs applicable to all laboratories in the Department

SMOU 2 - Laboratory Work Practices

SMOU 19 - General Laboratory Requirements

SMOU 3 - Personal Protective Equipment

SMOU 6 - Gases and Gas Cylinders

These are general SMOUs. Anyone working with hazardous or toxic chemicals must check if there is an SMOU SPECIFICALLY covering the use of such. More specific SMOUs can be found on the University of Auckland Health and Saftety Website

MSDS

All chemicals used in a laboratory must have MSDS safety sheets. THESE SHOULD BE KEPT IN THE LABORATORY. These are normally provided by the supplier at the time of purchase. Generic MSDS for many chemicals can be downloaded using:

CHEMWEB GOLD

Instructions for using Chemweb Gold

HAZOPS

Hazard and Operability Studies

All new postgrad and year 4 research experiments must have a Hazop conducted and documented to the satisfaction of the student's supervisor. This also applies when exisiting experiments are modified. For current experiments a mini Hazop is required and should be properly documented. In all cases the review needs to reflect the complexity of the experiments.

To assist those who have forgotten the details of a formal Hazop, the following documents may be useful, and Dr R Kirkpatrick (Rm 1.814) and Dr B Young (Rm1.713) are also available to assist
HAZOPS - What is Involved
HAZOP - detailed
EXAMPLE OF OPERATING PROCEDURE / HAZOP

SAFETY FORMS

The following are safety forms to be used in line with the safety policy of the Department

C&M CHEMICAL DATABASE

Database File or V:\ChemInventory\Chemical Inventory.mdb (MS Access)

UPDATED: March 2009 ACCESS IN C&M ONLY

GENERAL

General Information on Safety and Chemical Handling

CODE OF PRACTICE FOR CRI AND UNIVERSITY EXEMPT LABORATORIES

10 STEPS TO CHEMICAL SAFETY
CLASSIFICATION AND SAFE HANDLING OF CHEMICALS

FURTHER INFORMATION AND MORE SPECIFIC SMOUS CAN BE FOUND ON THE UNIVERSITY HEALTH AND SAFETY WEBSITE AT:

http://web.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/staff/admin_services/hr/healthandsafety/chemical_safety.cfm

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING SAFETY COMMITTEE

Chair: Professor Neil Broom - Head of Department

Secretary: Cecilia Lourdes - Departmental Manager

Staff Committee Members:

Allan Clendinning - Chief Technician
Dr Robert Kirkpatrick - Distinguished Designer in Residence
Dr Brent Young - Senior Lecturer
Dr Mark Jones - Lecturer
Dr Darrell Patterson - Lecturer

Postdoctoral, Postgraduate and Undergraduate Committee Members:

David Cotton - Light Metals Research Centre
Irina Boiarkine - Postgraduate
Dane Mitchell - Undergraduate