All students who are to work in laboratories or workshops must familiarise themselves with health, safety, and environment (HSE) regulations, room information cards, safety cards, escape routes, and the location and use of alarms, fire extinguishing equipment, and first aid kits.
General rules
- A risk assessment of tasks, laboratories, workshops, and equipment must be carried out.
- Training must be provided before work begins.
- Mandatory protective equipment and safety devices must be used.
- Always respond to alarms.
- Leave the building in the event of a fire alarm. Follow announcements over the public address system where applicable.
- Eating and drinking in laboratories and workshops are strictly prohibited.
Work in laboratories
Working in the laboratories at the University of Agder (UiA) must be safe for you, your fellow students, and staff.
To ensure safety, it is important to follow these rules:
- Adhere to the routines and standard operating procedures for each specific laboratory.
- Respect all mandatory signs and warning labels.
- You are obligated to make others aware of your work and safety measures in the laboratory.
- Waste must be handled in accordance with the rules specified for each laboratory.
- Work in the laboratory must always be notified to at least one other person if there is any risk to life or health.
- If there is a risk to life or health (for you or others), the work must be risk-assessed and documented.
- Every task must end with tidying up.
Violation of these rules may result in temporary or permanent exclusion from laboratory activities, regardless of whether you are a student or a staff member.
Use of the chemical inventory system for students
The University of Agder stores and uses various types of chemicals. To manage these, UiA maintains an electronic chemical inventory system available online, Workplace Safety (WPS). This inventory contains safety data sheets for all chemical substances and mixtures used at UiA.
Digital chemical inventory - Workplace Safety
Risk assessment for work in laboratories and workshops
Risk assessment is a key tool for systematically identifying challenges related to work in laboratories and workshops.
Risk assessments must be conducted before starting a specific task or process, and whenever activities change, to ensure measures are implemented to eliminate or control risks before work begins. Risk assessments must be documented.
When conducting a risk assessment, consider the following:
- What could go wrong?
- How likely is it to happen?
- What consequences could occur if it does happen?
- What measures can we implement to reduce the likelihood or mitigate the consequences to minimise risk?