HSE

General HSE

We all have responsibility for systematic care for health, safety and the environment at the work place. This responsibility applies at all levels of our work. It is therefore important that all NCMM staff have made themselves familiar with NCMMs systematic HSE management.

Mandatory Courses

UiO offers several courses in lab safety. All leaders must have minimum MODUL 5 and 6 "HSE work at UiO". Below we list courses that are mandatory for all working in lab

Online courses:

• Online courses in English for safe handling of chemicals and gas safety
• Online courses in Norwegian for safe handlings of chemicals, gas safety and how to use the chemical registry Eco online

All relevant online lab safety courses must be finished before you start working in lab.

Classroom courses:

• Basic Safety in the Laboratory → For all working in the lab.
• Radiation safety → For those working with radioactivity. This course is given regularly in Norwegian (Brukerkurs i strålevern for arbeid med åpne radioaktive kilder), but can be given in English upon demand.

These courses must be completed within your first year of employment.

UiO has a register of who has attended which course. If you can prove having taken a similar course from elsewhere, you can send documentation of this to HMSB for approval and registration.

Laboratories

NCMM want to maintain a healthy and safe working environment. For this, we need the participation of all the employees.

https://www.med.uio.no/ncmm/english/about/hse/labwork/

Protective equipment → To ensure the safety of all employees, NCMM provide a range of protective equipment/gear.

Chemicals

Chemicals and chemical waste must be handled properly not to pose an unacceptable risk to health or environment. If there is a choice, always use the least dangerous substance.

• General information
• Chemical inventory- Ecoonline
  • Login information
  • Company code 29435
  • Username: NCMM
  • Password: NCMMeco
• Chemical waste contact HSE coordinator

Gases

NCMM has several types of gas and all gases have to be handled with great care. You can find information about the types of gas, ordering, transport etc here

Radiation

Information about the center's labs, types of isotopes, guidelines and contact information can be found here

GMO/GMM

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and GMMs (genetically modified micro organisms) are microorganisms, plants, animals in which the genetic composition is altered using genetic engineering techniques. This also applies to bacteria transformed to work up plasmid DNA.

• GMM in research - guidelines and instructions
• Acts and regulations
• GMO-waste
• GMO approved locations

Working with blood and blood products

Infection safety is an important consideration when working with blood, blood products, biopsies and other bodily fluids.

Other lab related items

Freezers and freezer alarms → To ensure that all valuable samples and supplies in freezers are maintained properly the ultra freezers and nitrogen tanks are connected to an alarm system.

Waste management → We have different routines for handling waste such as hazardous waste, GMO waste, EE waste, paper, metal and glass.