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Posted By ChristineB
Hi,
Hoping someone can help with this...
I am a H&S Advisor for a Local Authority and am looking for some advice regarding chemicals in our High School labs.
Historically we have used a system called CLEAPPS who provide Hazard cards for all the chamicals we use. We have used these instead of completing COSHH assessments for each individual chemical and it's application. CLEAPPS have recently informed us that we should be using their guidance as base data only and should indeed be completing COSHH for all substances.
This would be a massive task and not one which I'm sure is necessary.
Any other School H&S advisors out there who can help?
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Posted By Adam Worth
I agree with their advice, You need to consider all hazards including mixtures, compounds and bi products.
Not sure how the system works but are these not standard reactions? I assume someone has deemed them acceptable for use in a school?
Therefor does the reaction in the curriculum not effectively come with a COSHH assessment it might be worth asking some questions before doing all the work again?
I don't work in a school environment tho, i can ask my teacher friends if you like (they are biology teachers tho and biology isn't real science :)
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Posted By Adam Worth
That doesn't read quite as I meant...
I meant there may already be COSHH assessments that can be modified / reviewed. :) sorry I was rushing.
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Posted By Stuff4blokes
Christine, this is an issue I have pondered in the past. Some time ago I was advising a group of colleges and I was concerned that they were solely relying on the CLEAPPS service as their COSHH compliance. My attempts to convince then that this was only data and not assessment was met by an insistence that this was the way everybody did it. I was not able to get them to accept my advice and the real reason, I suspect, was the sheer volume of work that would be needed. I was also met with the argument that the substances now available for GCSE/A Levels are not sufficiently high hazard to be of major concern.
I remain unconvinced but the nature of the work was such that I could not push any harder than I had done.
I would be delighted to learn whether anyone has reached a reasonable solution.
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Posted By Flic
I agree too that a proper assessment needs to be done.
Adam is probably right, since the outcome of a COSHH/risk assessment would be:
What are the key hazards of this chemical + reaction route + end products etc?
What would happen if people were exposed to any of these, and how might that happen?
As a result, how is this operation to be carried out? For example, is it done on the bench, in a fume cupboard, behind a perspex screen?
Do people need to wear gloves?
What are the contingency arrangements - first aid, spillages?
What are the disposal arrangements?
I cannot imagine a classroom lesson plan that had not covered most of these, so it probably just needs tweaking and integrating with the source of the data that has been used.
Flic
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
Christine
Since a COSHH assessment is a risk assessment, a hazard card is insufficient (I am assuming that the card is a simplified MSDS which only tells you the hazards of the substances); the COSHH assessment must also take into account how the substances are used, any control measures used (pipette bulbs, LEV, PPE), etc. Don't forget to assess emergencies, such as spillages and splashes.
Paul
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Posted By Ron Hunter
I beleive Flic has the jist of it. The lesson plan could (should?) also form the Risk Assessment, satisfying COSHH/MHSAWR. That way, you can be sure that H&S management process keeps pace with the curriculum.
There is another potential dimension to COSHH in schools however, where technicians or teaching staff are involved in intial preparation - e.g. dilution from conc. or greater molar concentrations to make up the material for the kits to be used by the youngsters.
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Posted By Chris Pope
I have not been able to see where Cleapss made this statement, can you post a link Christine ?
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Posted By Phil Bunyan
Dear Christine (and other colleagues).
You are correct in saying that schools make extensive use of the CLEAPSS Hazcards as part of their risk assessment procedures for science lessons. Individual Hazcards cover one chemical or a few related ones. Each card contains hazard data from the Safety Data Sheet, and other information on the front , and on the back model risk assessments for common school science practical activities using the particular chemical. We believe that the information is sufficient for a science teacher or technician to use as a model, and where practice, for some reason, differs from the model then a brief note should be made. We do not favour school science departments completing other risk assessment forms because they are time-consuming, and not needed. This approach has been endorsed by the HSE.
I have not been able to identify where we might have written anything which differs from the above so perhaps you would like to get in touch (01895251496) and we can do our best to clear up any misunderstanding.
Phil Bunyan, Director CLEAPSS
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