Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Laboratory Safety Awareness

Laboratory Rules/Practices

If you have ever worked or studied in a laboratory, you would have been exposed to Laboratory rules or practices . Write down 6 of these that you remember.

If you have never worked in a lab before write down 6 things you think might be important to working safely in the laboratory environment

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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Laboratory Rules/ Essential Laboratory Practices

• Press here to download the MCRI Essential Laboratory Practices

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How did you go?• Did the rules that you wrote down appear on the sheet of MCRI

Essential Laboratory Practices?

• These safety practices are not unique to MCRI but similar versions appear in all laboratories in the corporate and academic world.

• They are designed to keep you safe , to keep your workmates safe and to ensure your results of your hard work are not compromised.

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Lets look at the Laboratory practices in more detail

• Laboratory areas are to be kept free of food and drink..• Laboratory gowns, gloves and fully enclosed footwear are to be

worn whilst conducting laboratory work. Tie long hair back. • On completion of work in the lab, remove gown, gloves and wash

hands.• Take care to minimise the production of chemical vapours by

carrying out tasks within a fume hood and minimise biological aerosols by working within a biological safety cabinet.

• A fume hood is to be used, where practical, whilst working with hazardous substances, dangerous goods, toxic, corrosive & flammable substances; and any substances emitting a strong odour.

• Safety eyewear is to be worn in the laboratory whilst handling hazardous material such as chemical, biological &infectious agents , media , reagents etc.

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The major routes of entry into your system of

chemicals and biological agents is through

inhalation, ingestion and absorption through the skin. This is why these

practices are so important.

• Understand the relevant Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Job Safety Risk Assessments (JSRAs) prior to commencing new tasks. Adhere to them at all times.

• Know the emergency response for all hazardous substances and dangerous goods before commencing work with them.

• Clean up spills IMMEDIATELY and decontaminate area.• Report all spills of dangerous goods and hazardous substances

to the supervisor responsible for the work area.• Ensure chemicals are stored and handled as per the MSDS.• Flammable, corrosive and toxic chemicals are to be stored in

dedicated dangerous goods / hazardous substances cabinets.

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A large number of chemicals used in MCRI on a daily basis

have a dangerous goods rating of extreme or high.

HAVE YOU WORKED WITH ANY TODAY !

• Samples, chemicals and reagents being transported between laboratories MUST be contained in a manner that contains any spill. e.g. A container within a container.

• Clearly label chemical aliquots of hazardous substances and dangerous goods using the Chemwatch label database (where labels are available).

• Ensure work areas are kept clean and free of clutter.• Adhere to the MCRI waste disposal guidelines.• No surfaces outside laboratory areas are to be touched with a

gloved hand.• Laboratory gowns and gloves are NOT to be worn in the print

rooms, offices, toilets or break out areas. Transit lanes excluded

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Now that you are safe you need to ensure your

environment and colleagues are safe

MCRI/ VCGS General Laboratory Safety

• Always use a Biosafety cabinet for hazardous bacterial/viral work

• Always use the fume hood when working with toxic, volatile, corrosive or odour causing substances

• Wash skin areas that come into contact with substances regardless of their concentration

• Clearly label all cultures and chemicals and store in dedicated storage areas

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Scientific and BioservicesScientific Services team provides general lab support services,

expertise and training. • Disease Model Unit maintains strains of genetically modified

mice for disease research• Flow Cytometry and Confocal Microscopy – cell analysis

and visualisation of tissues using 3D imagery• Genome Resources Facility – access to human and mouse

BAC and PAC libraries• Tissue Culture Lab – cell cultures and media, skin fibroblast

or lymphoblast cultures from patients for diagnostic and Q/A.• Sequenom Platform facility – mass spectrophotometry and

robotics to analyse DNA and RNA

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Scientific and Bioservices cont.Laboratory Support – Responsible for :•management of biological and radioactive waste•preparation and sterilisation of solutions and glassware•supply of common reagents •maintenance of equipment

You can find the full list of services and contact details on their intranet page Scientific Services .

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What hazards could you face in a MCRI Laboratory ?

The hazards encountered in the laboratory are many and varied and may cause short or long term health effects to people who may be exposed to them. Laboratory hazards fall generally into one of the following categories:•Biological – pathogenic microorganisms, biological tissues, blood and other body fluids (human & animal), animals•Chemical – corrosives, flammables, toxics•Physical – noise, radiation, manual handling•Electrical/Mechanical – high voltage apparatus, machinery with moving parts

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How are you kept safe ?

• Theme Directors and Group Leaders are responsible for ensuring the

risks that you face have been eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable

level if elimination is not possible.

• This risk management processes can be found in:

- Lab Safety Protocols

- Job Safety risk assessments ( JSRA)

- Chemical Risk Assessments

- Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

• Ensure you understand the instructions relevant to your area before

commencing work12

Incident Reporting and Investigation• Learning from what goes wrong is a key part of improving as an

organisation. In the safety context this is done through incident reports and incident investigations.

• You should be completely comfortable that reporting incidents will not get you into trouble. Incident investigations are conducted in a no blame environment as we are not interested in who has made a mistake that lead to the incident.

• We are only interested in the root causes of the incident. We need to investigate the incident until we find the things that if we change we will be able to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

• We need you to tell us about every incident every time. Frequency data tell us a lot about how large and widespread the risk is.

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Biological Safety• The World Health Organisation has developed classifications for

microorganisms based on the pathogenicity , mode of transmission etc. The classifications are from Risk Group 1 through to risk group 4.

• At MCRI we have risk group 1 which is a low individual and community risk – a micro organism is unlikely to cause human, plant or animal disease. We work with these in PC1 laboratories ( Physical Containment 1) which is the standard laboratory at MCRI. Work can be conducted at the bench using safe laboratory practices. If there is a risk of producing aerosols biological cabinets must be used.

• We also have risk group 2 which is moderate individual risk, limited community risk- a pathogen that can cause human, plant or animal disease, but is unlikely to be a serious hazard to laboratory workers, community and environment. Exposure may cause infection but effective treatment and preventative measures are available. We work on these in PC2 laboratories.

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Biological Safety Cont.• We also have a subset of PC2 laboratories which are Office of the

Gene Technology Regulator certified PC2 laboratories. These labs have additional requirements.

• Staff are required to undergo online “Working with GMO’s Training”

• Green gowns must be worn and must be removed before leaving the facility.

• All procedures that may produce aerosols must be completed in a biological safety cabinet.

• Review all JSRA’s and Lab protocols before commencing any new work.

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Infection Control• To determine what immunisations you require visit the Victorian

government HALO website

• RCH provide infection control and emergency treatment to MCRI

staff/student/visitors. Booking must be made in advance refer to

immunisation procedure for detail.

• MCRI Immunisation Policy on I-Know click here to follow the link

• Immunisation services are provided for employees of MCRI. Students

and visitors must use their general practitioner or university health

service.

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What am I?FumeHood

Biosafety Cabinet

Fume Hoods and Biosafety Cabinets

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It is important to know the difference between fume cupboards and biosafety cabinets, how they operate and when to use them.

Fume Hoods extract chemical fumes away from the work area and vent it outside. You need to work in a fume hood when using flammable , toxic or smelly chemicals

Biosafety Cabinets There is no protection against chemical fumes as exhaust air is vented back into the laboratory. Class 2 Biosafety cabinets protect you from viruses and germs and protect your work from you, Class 1 Biosafety cabinets simply protect your work, but provide no protection for you.

Chemical Safety• Consider all substances as hazardous unless there is definite

information to the contrary

• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) must be obtained and read before using any chemical

• MCRI subscribes to the Chemwatch system which is a database of MSDS. Access is via the MCRI Intranet under quick links

• If you do not have clear instructions, awareness of how to protect yourself and the capacity to protect yourself from a Hazardous Substance do not use it.

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Chemical Safety Cont.

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Working with Chemicals safely requires:

• Laboratories must maintain the minimum quantity of hazardous substances in the laboratory area that is practicable.

• Persons working with chemicals should be wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) including safety glasses. Special care must be taken to wear glasses if wearing contact lens.

• Each group has a nominated chemical contacts who can answer any questions you may have.

Chemical Safety Cont.

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• All chemical aliquots that are not used immediately, must be labelled: Chemical name, hazard information, date, group name and your name. Labels should be printed from the online Chemwatch system

What is wrong with this situation?

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Eye wash and safety showers should never be

obstructed

IMPORTANT : As part of your

Local EHS Induction your

Manager should have shown you the location of eyewash and

safety showers and explained how to

operate them.You should not

work in the lab until you have this information.

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Dangerous Goods are classified on the basis of immediate physical or

chemical effects e.g.. fire, explosion, corrosion.

Hazardous Substances are classified only on the basis of health effects-

acute or chronic.

Managers and supervisors must ensure that these substances:

Are listed on the departmental chemical register

Are appropriately labelled

Have a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)available

Dangerous Goods and Hazardous Substances

How can you tell a Dangerous good or Hazardous substance?

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Dangerous Good Class 8 -‘Corrosive’ symbol

Hazardous Substance are labelled with ‘Toxic’ symbolDangerous Goods All

dangerous goods are labelled with Class diamond symbols

Chemical Safety- Poisons• Scheduled Poisons are classified as required under the Drugs, Poisons

and Controlled Substances Act and Regulations• Poisons are defined into Schedules as per the Poisons Code or

Commonwealth Standard (Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons)

• Schedules include : S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8 and S9 Poisons• MCRI has a Permit to Purchase certain Poisons Schedules which is

administered under EHS • S8 and S9 poisons are contained within a locked Poisons cabinet

under strict control including inventory management. • S4 Poisons should be within locked storage areas in the laboratories.• Some toxic substances are also S6 and S7 Poisons. • Certain S7 Poisons have special controls ie Benzene, Arsenic. • Poisons must be disposed of as Pharmaceutical waste.

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Storage of Chemcials

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• Never carry containers of mutually reactive substances at the same time, eg acetic acid and sulphuric acid.

• Store flammable liquids in an appropriate flammable liquid cabinet. Corrosive materials should be stored separately

Flammable liquid cabinet Corrosive liquid cabinet

Chemicals

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• Acquire the necessary safety equipment - (gloves, safety glasses) and assess the need for extra safety precautions eg, use in a fume hood.

• Understand how to use, store and handle all chemicals safely and any mixtures produced

• Know how to safely dispose of all waste generated.

• Ensure gas cylinders are secured and stored upright

What is wrong with this?

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Think about how a fume hood

worksWhat

happens if the pathway for air flow is compromised

That’s right.Fume hoods should only contain the items you need to be

working with. Overcrowding of the fume hood leads to

eddies and changes the air flow making them

ineffective.

Chemical Spills

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• Spill kits are provided in each laboratory. Look at the spill kit contents they contain instructions; vermiculite; absorbent padding; PPE etc

• If there is a spill in your area assess the hazard, if anyone is at risk, the room must be evacuated immediately and supervisor notified.

• The MSDS will help determine the correct clean-up procedure.

• Clean up the spill only if the risk has been assessed and no-one is at risk from exposure.

• If you can’t safely manage the spill yourself, call emergency switchboard (x777) and call Code Yellow (Internal Emergency) and give details.

Emergency Stop Button

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Each laboratory has an Emergency shutdown button which turns off the electrical outlets.

It is not part of the monitored alarm system, if it has been pressed because of an emergency then you need to call 777.

If it has been pressed accidently it can be reset by pulling out and twisting. If this is not successful call 777 and someone will come and help.

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Waste Disposal• Work cleanly and dispose of waste appropriately.• It is your responsibility to prepare waste correctly for disposal.• Disposal of waste is managed by Scientific Services – Laboratory

Support. • Incorrect disposal increases the likelihood of staff sustaining puncture

wounds from broken glass, bacterial contamination etc.

Overfull ‘Sharps’ containerGlass pipettes contaminating autoclave bag

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Waste: Safety and Environmental Aspects• All hazardous waste must be disposed of in a safe and

environmentally responsible manner

• Chemical waste must not be disposed of down the sink

• Follow the MCRI waste disposal procedures

Liquid Waste CHECK WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR

• Liquid chemical waste is collected in labelled glass or suitable plastic bottles and taken to the chemical bunker for collection.

• Liquid biological waste eg bacterial/tissue culture is:o disinfected in chlorine disinfectant (Detsol)o decontaminated for 20 minuteso discarded in sink, flushed with water

Requires updating

do not add

Waste Disposal Flowchart

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Click here to be taken to solid waste disposal flowchart

Requires updating

do not add

Specialized MCRI RoomsMCRI have a number of laboratories that have either restricted access

and/or additional training. These are:

• Liquid Nitrogen facility – access restricted until additional training is completed . This involves an online (accessed via i-learn) and practical component.

• Radioactive Room – access is restricted until additional training has been completed and a radiation badge issued. Training involves an online assessment, JSRA, room orientation.

• Disease Model Unit – access is restricted until in-house training is completed.

• PC1 & PC2 biohazard laboratories have additional PPE requirements before entry

• OTGR Certified facilities have mandatory “ Working with GMO’s “ training which is conducted online.

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Physical Safety

• Ergonomics should be a key consideration when setting up your workstation and office. Process design should be considered to limit time completing repetitive tasks and remember to take stretch breaks.

• click on the link to see some Laboratory Ergonomic Tips

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Mechanical SafetyFollow these tips on mechanical safety;

• Ensure all the equipment you are using is tagged and tested.

• Have your supervisor show you how to use any equipment that is new to you.

• Do not bring in electrical devices from home without engineering testing them

• If a piece of equipment is faulty you should put an ‘Out of Service Tag’ on the equipment so no one else uses it until it has been assessed. Then contact Engineering.

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What is wrong with this picture? There are 3 areas of concern

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Lab gowns must be worn

when working in laboratories. Over

glasses or prescription safety glasses are

required if working with hazardous substances

When working in a fume hood

gloves and safety glasses must be worn if handling

hazardous chemicals

Using mobile phones, eating

and drinking are not

permitted in laboratories.

No researchers were harmed in the making of this staged photo for training purposes

Thank you for taking safety seriouslySome closing reminders:

• If it is not safe don’t do it!• Read all relevant documentation on the procedure you are about to start• Ensure that you know what chemicals you will be using and the risks

associated with those chemicals• Ensure you know the correct disposal method for the chemicals and

biological samples that you are using• Ensure you are trained to use all equipment safely • Ensure you know the location of and how to use eye wash and showers• Ensure you know where the nearest extinguisher is• Ensure you know where the emergency exits are• Enjoy working at MCRI and remember to work safe.

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