Safety in the Lab

Lab coats for courses run by the School of Biological Sciences

A Howie lab coat must be worn in the Biological Sciences practical laboratories.  

• The wearing of a lab coat is a legal requirement and no exception can be made. 
• The regulations governing lab coats state that only certain types are suitable.  

The Biology Teaching organisation (BTO) will provide these lab coats for you to use during practicals in Biological Sciences labs.  

Lab coats for courses run by the School of Chemistry

If you are taking a course run by the School of Chemistry, for example Biological Chemistry 1A or 1B, then you must buy a lab coat for use in the Chemistry labs.  

Information on where to buy them can be provided by the School of Chemistry. 

• Ashworth Building: Lockers for use by students can be found in the toilet facilities.  A £1 coin is needed to lock the lockers. The coin is retrieved when the locker is opened again.
• JCMB: There are lockers in the corridor outside the lab.

We take your safety very seriously and will expect you to follow instructions given in course guides and on campus. 

Every building where you will be attending classes, whether lectures or lab-based practicals, will have formal procedures for evacuation and also will have a member of staff trained in First Aid procedures.  

For field work we also provide detailed safety notes. 

Any accidents, incidents, near misses, etc. must be reported by a member of staff.  

Health and safety

All accidents or near-misses must be reported to the technical staff immediately. 

If the fire alarm is activated, you must follow the instructions of the fire stewards. 

Health and Safety Act 

The Health and Safety at Work Act has been in operation since 1974.  

The Act places an obligation on workers to undertake their work in a safe and responsible manner with due regard to themselves, their colleagues, the general population and the environment: a duty of care.  

The Biology Teaching Organisation (BTO) ensures that all practical laboratory work complies with this Act and with safe working practice.  

It is the duty of all the workers in a laboratory to try to avoid injury to themselves or to others, and responsibility therefore rests with you to conduct laboratory work in a safe and sensible manner.  

A “Risk Assessment Form” and a “COSHH Form” have been completed for each course, giving details of the risks and hazardous chemicals that are in use.  

The Course Organiser and class technician have copies, which you have the right to consult. 

If you are in any doubt about any safety aspect of practical work you should consult your demonstrator before proceeding with the experiment. 

When you arrive:

• Where available, lockers must be used for personal items (e.g. coats/bags). 
• All mobile phones must be switched off when entering a laboratory. 
• Laboratory coats must be worn and fastened in teaching laboratories. 
• Long hair should be tied back. 
• Smoking, eating and drinking and chewing gum are forbidden in laboratories. 

Using lab equipment:

• All pipetting by mouth is forbidden. 
• Items of Personal Protective Equipment provided for procedures must be used when indicated by the experimental protocol or by the demonstrator. 
• Label all solutions carefully. 
• Take care using pipettes and glassware. The most common laboratory accident is cut hands from damaged glassware. 
• Extreme care should be taken when using sharps such as syringes and scalpels. Dispose of used items in the sharps bins provided. 
• Glass sharps including coverslips must be disposed of carefully to ensure that they do not enter bagged waste streams. Glass coverslips can be very difficult to see if broken or placed on the lab bench. 

When you leave: 

• Wash hands before leaving the laboratory. 

If you are in any doubt about any safety aspect of practical work you should consult your demonstrator before proceeding with the experiment. 

All handling of toxic or corrosive chemicals (such as cyanide, caustic soda, strong mineral acids, and similar solutions) should be conducted with great care.  

• When handling toxic or corrosive chemicals wear safety spectacles.  
• Pipetting toxic or corrosive chemicals by mouth is forbidden. Such solutions should be quantitatively dispensed using the specifically designed automatic dispensers available in the laboratory. 
• Report a spill immediately to a demonstrator or member of staff.  
• Some substances (e.g. cyanides and acids) must not be allowed to mix as they generate toxic, noxious or flammable gases. Only mix chemical substances if instructions indicate it is safe to do so. 

The risk of fire in a laboratory must be considered at all times.  

When using flammable solvents, such as alcohol, ether, acetone, and other organic flammable liquids, great care must be taken. 

• When handling such solvents, safety spectacles must be used. 
• In particular electrical apparatus, such as centrifuges (which may spark), must be removed from the bench and switched off prior to using any flammable solvents. 

When using bench centrifuges, care must be taken to ensure that the centrifuge tubes are properly balanced.  

• Centrifuges to be loaded under the supervision of a demonstrator.  
• Check that the rubber cushions are in the tube holders. 
• If a glass tube breaks in the tube holder the rubber cushion must be replaced with a new one before using the centrifuge again. 

• Switch off Bunsen burners when they are not being used.
• Never leave a Bunsen burner unattended on a blue flame (invisible).
• Do not place Bunsen burners near electrical trunking.

All electrical equipment in the laboratories has been checked by qualified electrical technicians. 

No adjustments can be made to electrical apparatus by undergraduate students. 

• It is forbidden to disconnect plugs from apparatus, reconnect plugs, or replace fuses. 
• If any piece of electrical apparatus is defective, or appears to be defective, the apparatus must be checked by qualified electricians.
• The danger of aqueous solutions near electrical equipment is always present in laboratories. Keep the laboratory bench as dry as possible.

Electrophoresis equipment 

Particular attention should be paid to the care required in the use of high voltage electrophoresis equipment.  

The use of high voltage electrophoresis equipment is restricted to undergraduates performing experiments under the direct supervision of a member of staff. 

• When using liquid cultures use good technique to avoid splashes and aerosols when diluting and dispensing cultures.  
• Never smell a microbial culture.  
• Wash your hands with antibacterial soap when finished in the lab. 

• All animal tissues employed in laboratory experiments must be treated with care.  
• It should be noted that material of biological origin can present an immunological or infection hazard.  
• You must wear disposable gloves when handling animal material. 

• Some microscopes used in laboratory practicals are stored in cupboards under the benches.  
• Care should be taken when lifting the instruments to and from the cupboards to prevent possible injury to the lifter and damage to the instrument. 

The use of radioactive isotopes in biochemical laboratories is strictly controlled and such experiments can only be conducted under the direct supervision of a member of staff.  

Strict adherence by students to the experimental protocol in all experiments involving radioactive isotopes is essential. 

The Code of Practice for Radioactive Isotopes requires that you: 

• Always wear a lab coat and gloves when working with radioactive materials.  
• Always work in a tray or at a bench covered with “Benchkote”. 
• Only pipette radioactive solutions with a safety pipette. 
• Place all waste and contaminated apparatus in the designated vessels. 
• Report any spillage to a demonstrator. 
• Immediately wash off spills or splashes on your hands, face or clothes, preferably with soap and water, but avoid scrubbing as this can damage the skin’s protective surface. 
• Do not touch other areas or apparatus with contaminated gloves. 
• Wash your hands before leaving the laboratory. 

• Do not leave pipettes standing in open reagent bottles. 
• Replace bottle stoppers as soon as you have used the reagent. 
• Clean up immediately all spillages of liquids and chemicals, especially onto any instrument or piece of equipment. 
• Report any accidental contamination of automatic pipettes and Gilson pipettes to the technical staff to ensure the barrel is cleaned properly after use. 

• Weigh out chemicals in suitable glass or plastic containers.  
• Take the container off the balance before adding chemicals to it or removing them from it. 
• There must be no spillages onto balances, but should these occur clean up or report to staff immediately. 

• Check centrifuge rotors for leakage from tubes and clean them if necessary.   
• Only use organic solvents in plastic centrifuge tubes after you have consulted the technical staff, to confirm that these are compatible. 

• Clearly label any materials that are to be kept until a following practical class with the date, your name(s), the nature of the contents, and any other relevant information of value to the technical staff. 
• Label columns containing chromatographic materials (ion exchange, molecular sieve, etc.) with the contents and equilibrating buffer. 

• Dispose of cuvettes in containers provided. You must not leave them, full of liquid, in the spectrophotometers. 
• Place used slides and pipettes in labelled waste containers. 
• Place biological materials in the special bins. 
• Wipe bench surfaces clean and arrange bottles and equipment tidily.

If you need First Aid anywhere on the University premises you should go to the front desk of the nearest University building.

Each Biology teaching laboratory will have a Safety Notice Board giving details of local First Aiders. There is also: 

• First Aid/Rest Rooms in the Ashworth Building, JCMB and the Rutherford Building.  
• A First Aid Room on the ground floor of the Chemistry Building.

If you have a medical condition or any disability that might cause you to need access to a Rest Room, or if you are likely to require assistance from time to time, you should contact the Biology Teaching Organisation (BTO).