Please read below for instructions of what must be provided in your risk assessment in order for you to gain entry to the CMM facilities. There are links below to examples of the detail and quality that we are expecting to see in your risk assessment.
Important Information to Note:
Your risk assessment must be authored by you in UQSafe and be approved by your own supervisor (not the CMM team or a colleague). Documents from another database will not be accepted from UQ persons. If you are external to UQ, please provide a risk assessment from your institution that meets legal requirements. All universities have a risk assessment system, as do industry companies.
The expanded pdf print version from UQSafe must be sent to CMM OHS for review. This is specific to you as an individual and must include a realistic assessment of the work you will be doing at CMM, specifically details of your sample and spill procedure, and any necessary PPE. This risk assessment is not to cover work in your own lab or the risks of equipment or transportation. It is about your sample’s chemical composition, quantity that you will work with in our labs, and how you have controlled any hazardous properties of your sample.
If you are from a research group where you have any dealings or work with GMOs or Risk Group 2 and higher organisms, you must provide us with your authorisation documentation from the UQ Biosafety IBC. Also reference this documentation in your risk assessment.
For fee for service (we do the work for you), your risk assessment must be reviewed and approved by CMM OHS before any services can be provided. Please send this document directly to Candice Goodwin for review.
Do not falsify another risk assessment or someone else’s risk assessment. This is a breach of UQ’s Code of Conduct policy. We will check all the details of your risk assessment.
If you are consulting an SDS, this must be the latest version from the supplier.
If you are unsure as to how to write a risk assessment, please speak with your own colleagues, supervisor and local HSW Manager for assistance.
Link to UQSafe risk assessment training
Link to list of HSW Managers
What You Need to Do:
Provide a risk assessment that demonstrates the following criteria:
- Authored by you and approved by your own supervisor.
- Must be written or reviewed in the past year to accurately reflect the current sample that you would like to bring to CMM labs. SDS documents must be reviewed in the past year too for in case of vendor updates.
- Save the expanded live pdf version of your risk assessment.
- Must detail what your sample is, the quantity of the sample, what it is composed of, and have a statement about how the hazardous nature of the sample is controlled. For example, vague statements such as “protein sample” are not acceptable. Provide the full details of the protein.
- Biological specimens, such as Risk Group 2 organisms, pose a greater risk, even in a small volume. You must explain how you are controlling the risk and preventing pathogens from infecting staff. For example, specify your fixation technique and the exact genera or species you are working with.
- For biological specimens, provide us with the UQ Biosafety IBC authorisation. You can add the authorisation number to the risk assessment. External clients must provide their own organisation’s IBC details.
- The risk assessment is not about the risks of working in your own lab, nor is it a transportation procedure, nor is it about the risks of using CMM equipment.
- You must also state a realistic spill procedure and PPE to handle spills (including dropping a solid sample). Writing something such as “lab has a spill procedure” is unacceptable. Fully explain what you intend to do in the case of a spill. Please state if Virkon is needed.
Examples of good risk assessments:
Agricultural samples
Biological samples and fixation
Chemical samples
Geological samples