HSL is to run a 5 day course on Biosafety – concepts and working practices at Containment Level 3.

Please email your expression of interest

This is a four day course (run over five days) on working in and with a Microbiological Containment Level 3 facility. It will comprise a number of modules presented by a combination of interactive theory, practical and workshop training.

You will achieve a greater understanding of the work carried out within a Containment Level 3 facility, the equipment used and the concepts and philosophy of working with biological agents at that level of containment.  It will also cover the design, management and legislative requirements associated with operating a Containment Level 3 laboratory facility. It will also provide the skills and confidence to deal with accidents and incidents and to enforce their duty and the duty of others in maintaining and working in a safe environment.

Anyone working at or intending to start work at Containment Level 3 also Safety Advisors, Biological Safety Officers who support Containment Level 3 facilities.

Previous experience working at Containment Level 2 is essential.

The course will be presented as a collaboration between HSL and Sharon Webster of Webster’s Biosafety.Sharon has over 20 years in the microbiological industry having worked as a scientist and Biological Safety Officer at HPA Porton Down as Head of Health and Safety at Institute for Animal Health and for HSE as a specialist microbiology inspector. She is currently Corporate Biosafety Manager for the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and is a Biosafety Consultant and trainer. She is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH) and a registered Biosafety Professional with the Institute of Safety in Technology and Research (ISTR BSP) and is on the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register. (OSHCR).

HSL staff presenting the course will include Brian Crook, Microbiology Team Leader with 25 years’ experience as a research microbiologist in occupational health and safety including working with Hazard Group 3 pathogens.  Other HSL staff will include specialists in human factors and the design and use of personal protective equipment and ventilation systems.  Practical sessions in HSL’s Containment Level 3 laboratory facilities will provide hands-on opportunity to understand the design and operation of such facilities

The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport. This course can be run at your site or local area by arrangement.

The cost of this course is £1950 per person (includes course notes, guidance book, lunch/refreshments and a course dinner on the second night).

Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers.  If you are selecting the invoice option for payment, it will be mandatory to input a purchase order/reference number as we are unable to process booking forms without this.

For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit
at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806.

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HSE are seeking the views of those with an interest in adventure activities, including schools which use or would like to use activity providers. You can take part in the consultation by using this link to an online survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AALAsurvey .

Responses are required by 5pm on 15 February 2017.

You can find out more about AALA which was created in April 1996 in response to the Lyme Bay Tragedy at http://www.hse.gov.uk/aala/ .

A combination of machine instability and various human factors elements are important precipitating factors in telescopic handler overturn incidents. Industry guidance makes a number of assumptions about the impact of operator “knowledge gaps”, however the link between operator knowledge gaps and overturn risk is, at present, hypothetical and remains empirically untested.

This study was done to identify:

• the full range of human factors issues that might potentially contribute to telescopic handler overturn incidents;
• the human factors issues that appear to be most important in terms of overturn risk and
• key operator knowledge gaps that could increase the probability of an operator overturning a machine.

The research indicates that a machine is more likely to overturn when its boom is raised and /or extended. Overturn incidents are also strongly related to lateral (in contrast to longitudinal) instability. As some operators were not aware of the overturn risk related to lateral instability, this implies the possibility of a knowledge gap among operators. Weaknesses in training and site management/supervision are also likely to increase overturn risk. The installation of lateral instability warning technology could reduce overturn risks by warning operators of dangerous situations before a critical threshold is reached.

Assistance in the use of Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our FAQs page.

Counterbalance forklift trucks (FLTs) are widely used in a variety of industry sectors for material handling. Incidents involving FLTs are typically vehicle/pedestrian, vehicle/vehicle, or vehicle/structure collisions. Of these, vehicle/pedestrian incidents have the most potential for reportable injury and around 500 incidents a year involving moving FLTs are reported to HSE.

Measures to improve or augment the operator’s field of vision can include: mirrors and CCTV systems (which rely on the operator’s observations) and sensor systems (including ultrasonic, radar, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)), similar to those commonly fitted to passenger vehicles; or simply improving the driver’s operating position.

This report describes work undertaken to assess the active sensor systems (ultrasonic and radar) commonly used to reduce the risk of collisions. The systems tested appeared to provide a useful function in mitigating the risk of collision by stopping the truck when an obstruction was detected. However, certain configurations produced blind spots in the detection zones that could allow a pedestrian to approach the truck without being detected. The sensors also needed to be mounted to give an appropriate detection zone without producing a large number of false detections.

Companies should establish the conditions under which they will be operating an FLT and select a system that best fits their particular operating environment. Consideration should be given in the first instance to the practicability of removing pedestrians from the working area, although it is acknowledged that this is not always possible.

Assistance in the use of Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our FAQs page.