Safety at work 2 | Pathology

Safety at Work

For this unit you will need to be able to demonstrate that you can work safely (using the appropriate PPE) for your role and understand your responsibilities in regards the Health and Safety.

You will also need to know what the following COSHH chemical hazard symbols mean:

If you are working with chemicals that are hazardous to health, you should be aware of these symbols (that are included on the packaging) and what they mean. These symbols give you a good indication of the main hazards associated with the substance.

There are other more general hazard signs seen within pathology that also play an essential role in the management of safety for both staff and visitors. Hazard signs are displayed to advise and forewarn of any potential dangers and have a yellow triangle with a black outline:

Most hazard signs also use supplementary text and have headings with the words:

Danger
Warning
Caution

These 3 categories are dependent upon the severity of risk e.g. signs with the word “Danger” are used were the risk is deemed to be higher than those signs using the word caution.

Evidence 1: Identify 5 areas within your scope of practice where you can take responsibility to ensure your working environment is safe.

Examples in the laboratory setting could include:

Safe disposal of clinical and chemical waste
Cleaning and disinfecting work areas
Correct Storage of chemicals / flammables
Correct use and disposal of sharps
Handling chemical and biological material (e.g. appropriate PPE, correct disposal of chemicals etc.)
Preventing hazards (e.g. trip, spillages etc.)
Storage of consumables (e.g. to reduce manual handling injury or fire hazards)
Carrying out necessary equipment maintenance
Using equipment correctly for its function (e.g. use of guards and covers etc.).

Can you think of more?

Complete the following table:

1: H&S areas that you take responsibly for to ensure a safe working environment:

Remember you do not need to use the examples provided above, you can choose your own

Evidence 2: Describe a H&S incident that occurred in your workplace and the actions you took.

2: Describe a H&S incident:

Provide a brief description of the incident:

What were your immediate actions?

What were your follow up actions and did you report the issue?

Would you do anything different to prevent reoccurrence of this type of incident?

Evidence 3: For this piece of evidence you will need to give an example of where you could contribute to the evaluation of safe working practices.

Conduct a simple H&S audit using the template below:

simple H&S audit.pdf

Notes for completing your audit:

Limit the scope of your audit to one process (e.g. aliquoting urines into containers) or one area (e.g. shelving in a particular used to store SOPs, stores etc.)

Produce 5 questions that need to be answered as part of the audit, for example the questions should start with:

Is there ….
Does the …
Is the ….
Are there …

Once you have created your questions you will then need to go and speak to your line manager to get their permission to agree to the H&S audit.

Once agreed by your line manager you may carry out your audit by answering the questions.

When you have answered your questions and highlighted any areas that need improvement (findings) then discuss the findings with your line manager.

Once you have completed your H&S improvement (s) (as the final part of the audit) you may include the completed audit template as an evidence for this piece.

Evidence 4: Complete the following table on COSHH and how it applies to your scope of practice:

4: COSHH:

Sign off: After you have collected each piece of evidence, hand them into your trainer / mentor who will then countersign them. Please note that they may ask for additional evidence or ask you follow up questions. Also ensure that:

You have date and signed your work
You only submit evidence for checking once it is completed (you may take individual evidence pieces out of your portfolio)
Ensure any countersigned checked work is returned back (in order) to your portfolio

Try not to hand in multiple pieces of evidence for marking at once - this will create too much work for your trainer / mentor, instead spread submissions out throughout your training.

Trainer notes: Ensure the candidates line manager completes the 'Line Manager's Comments' section as each module in the portfolio is completed - continuous assessment of the candidates work is required throughout the training period.