Unit 4 - Laboratory Techniques and their Application (SIXTHFORM)
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Unit 4: Laboratory Techniques and their Application
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Unit 4 - Laboratory Techniques and their Application (SIXTHFORM)
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PEARSON (PEARSON)
this assignment is about lab techniques and their application, it covers:
A lab plan with the lay out of the lab highlighting the main features which are specific to health and safety. Health and Safety Legislation. Health and safety in a scientific organization and British Plastic Industry, Descr...
Unit 4 - Laboratory Techniques and their Application (SIXTHFORM)
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Unit 4A
Unit 4: Laboratory Techniques and their Application
A hazard is something that causes harm, and a risk is a chance, high or low, that will cause someone
harm, a risk is how high or low the possibility of a hazard is occurring, and to keep someone safe, health
and safety regulations need to be set in place. The main legislation covering schools is the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulations made under that Act, in particular the Management of
Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The act would cover frequent risk assessments, regular
checks, health and safety policy clearly written for the school, ways to go about doing things in
classrooms, first aid, accident reporting etc. Misuse of the legislation results in consequences. These
measures are vital to follow for the safety of employers and employees. They input a safe environment
ensuring it’s a safe and comfortable place of work with reduced risks and hazards. if these measures
were not in place, it would be less likely for people to want to work there as they wouldn’t feel secure
and safe. Training is a good procedure to notify employees of any hazards which they can then attempt
to minimize.
A lab plan with the lay out of the lab highlighting the main features which are specific to health and
safety.
The image above shows a pharmaceutical facility, complete with several precautions in place to avoid
potential hazards.
Pharmaceutical laboratories have a system in place to control health and safety in the workplace. One
way they achieve this is by placing gas control switches in the lab. This is very necessary and
advantageous because it means that the gas is switched off, preventing gas from reaching the
workstations. Furthermore, electronic devices have a high risk of causing damage and they can become
,a threat, however pharmaceutical labs ensure that control measures and precautions are put into place
in order to prevent any sort of danger moreover, to avoid a burn, sockets are positioned in the center of
the workstation, away from water. Another method the pharmaceutical lab guarantees electrical
protection is by attempting to use lower voltage wherever possible this decreases the chances of a
dangerous accident occurring. The pharmaceutical lab also conducts risk assessments to detect electrical
dangers in advance. This is ideal because it prevents threats from emerging and encourages control
mechanisms to be implemented to prevent the danger from happening, ensuring protection. In addition
to this, electrical equipment is often tested this is because it guarantees that the equipment is safe for
use, such as ensuring that all live conductors are insulated to deter injuries. Furthermore, furniture in
pharmaceutical laboratories can pose a danger, for example, individual belongings can pose a hazard, so
coat racks are used in pharmaceutical labs to store coats and belongings. Additionally, furniture such as
chairs are all tucked in, which helps to reduce trips and falls while also ensuring protection. Finally, in
the laboratories, buttons are used to switch off both gas and electrical systems. This ensures that fuel
and gas are turned off automatically in the event of an emergency, preventing fires and explosions.
(https://www.hse.gov.uk/,2021)
Interview notes with the laboratory technician
How chemicals are stored for safety in a lab:
B weaver works in a pharmaceutical company and was interviewed on how chemicals are stored in a
laboratory to ensure safety. He expressed that “chemicals that are not in the current use are stored in a
cupboard” this infers that the legislation is followed as it reduces the risk of the chemicals being out in
the open that can cause following problems. “When chemicals are not being used, they're placed in fire
deterrent cupboards and sometimes kept in fridges.” this means that chemicals are to be stored at cool
temperatures when not in use, this ensures safety as the chemical vapors are not released into air and
can catch on fire. In the fridge it kept away from outside and Theres low chances of the chemicals
catching fire and making a situation worse. He also stated that “when chemicals are being used there
kept in the fume cupboard” fumes of the chemicals are ventilated so that they're not irritating someone,
and the workers are protected.(B Weaver 2021)
Health and Safety Legislation
Health and Safety at work (1974)
Control of Major Accident Hazards (2015)
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulation COSHH (2002)
PPE Personal Protective Equipements (1992)
The health and safety at work Act (1974) mentions that the employers at work have a responsibility to
protect the health and safety welfare at work of all employees as well as protecting others such as
workers, self-employees, visitors and public health, this legislation is put into practice in order to ensure
, the safety. In addition, employees also have a responsibility to comply with this legislation in order to
maintain the safety. Employers carry out this act by doing risk assessments which helps the employers to
identify the hazards and the risk which helps to ensure safety. (https://www.hse.gov.uk/,2021)
Control of major accidents (COMMAH) regulations were introduced on 1 st June 2015. The legislation
aims to prevent major hazards to people and the environment caused by dangerous substances by
handing out safety rules that certain places must follow.( https://www.hseni.gov.uk,2021)
Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) regulations came into effect in 1988. The legislation
aims to manage risks caused by hazardous substances. This is dealt with by assessing the hazards, ways
to prevent the risks, placing control measures for everyone to follow, ensuring people are following the
rules, providing information about them beforehand for example when employee training is occurring.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) states that all employees must have their own protective
equipment like protective clothing such as eye protection, safety helmets. Following this standard
legislation ensures the safety of employees protecting themselves.
Health and safety in a scientific organization Boots and British Plastic Industry
Explain how the use of management of health and safety complies with legislation.
Boots complies with this legislation in many ways. Management of health and safety make sures that all
companies take out a risk assessment thus is carried out by the employers of the company which allows
them to identify the potential hazards which may arise which can be extremely dangerous as it can
affect the individual's health. Boots put this legislation into practice as by carry out risk assessment as
identifying the hazards and then putting controls in place in order to minimize the risk and to protect all
the employees. This is very important and useful in the company because it helps to decrease the risk of
the accidents to occur. The risk assessment that Boots carries out is that it helps to bring about
awareness of the hazards and how to come around it this is very important as it helps to prevent illness
and injuries. These risk assessments are very important as it helps to minimize the risk and also helps to
manage danger. Risk assessments and different control measures allow Boots to see how to be prepared
of a danger for example it allows the company to makes sure all evacuation points are clear in case of an
emergency and fire. Another way Boots complies with this legislation is by providing training for
employees and they do this by providing regular check to see whether employees know that they are
doing which helps to put management of health and safety into practice. As well as this another way
boots complies with lies with legislation is by managing the different chemicals taht boots stores this is
because Boots contains a range of different chemicals therefore boots make sures that these chemicals
are put away safely and inform any missing chemicals immediately. Overall boots pharmaceutical
Labatory complies with legislation by carrying out management of health and safety.
In addition to this the British plastic industry also practices this legislation and ensures that it is put into
use as it very important for the company because it helps to minimize all the risk as well as making sure
that the hazards do not harm any of the workers. The British plastic industry contain may health and
safety risk and the employers and managers have a key role to ensure and get rid of those risks and
reduce the chance of the risk and accident occurring therefor in order for them to ensure this they
comply to the management of health and safety legislation 1992. Risk assessment is one of the major
health and safety procedures that most company carry out this is because risk assessments are very
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