Terry Howe is secretary of the Mid-Scotland local section.
He is a member of the Sub-Committee on Health & Safety at RSC Events.

As professional chemists I am sure that in our day to day work we have all been fully indoctrinated by our modern safety-conscious, risk-averse and litigacious society. COSHH sheets are an integral part of our laboratory procedures, we habitually seek safe practices in experimentation and we are all too well aware of the dangers lurking within otherwise innocuous bottles of chemicals.

Sometimes, however, we fail to apply the same zeal when we step outside the comfort zone of our laboratory into the more public arena of meetings, demonstrations or school competitions.
If we injure ourselves at work by careless technique or by tripping over a loose cable, then the outcome can be serious enough. But if a third party is injured at an RSC event, then the consequences can be more far-reaching.

Risk assessment has to be an integral part of the planning process for any RSC meeting. It is:

• Not optional - we have a legal obligation to carry it out.
• Not rocket science - a PhD is not obligatory!
• Not onerous - the sheets designed by the RSC are straightforward and easily understandable.
• Not exclusive - if you have your own documentation that fulfils the same purpose as the RSC sheets, then use that.
• Not expensive - however the consequences of not doing it could well be!

We have prepared documents to help you with the make risk assessment as straightforward as possible. For more information, see the link below.