Getting Started ....
Welcome to the Cavendish Laboratory! It has a long and distinguished history, and we hope you will find your time here fruitful and enjoyable. So that you can contribute to our world-class physics research and teaching without being injured or made ill by your work, we work hard to provide a working environment that is safe and healthy for all. For clarity, The Cavendish Laboratory is the name of the Department of Physics - it includes all the Physics buildings at West Cambridge and Madingley Rise locations, as well as at Lord's Bridge.
To keep you safe we have procedures and a wealth of information, which can be reached from the Department of Physics health and safety homepage here.
Additional information on safety topics can be found on the University of Cambridge Safety Office pages here. Relevant links are included in Physics H&S webpages.
On this page you can find the Department basic safety rules.
If you have queries, comments or feedback about safety or health, contact:
- Saba Alai, Health and Safety Manager (HSM), Tel: (01223 3)37397, Room 250 Bragg Building, or email: safety@phy.cam.ac.uk (private messages to sa792@cam.ac.uk)
Advice on specific risks
To find information on hazard topics, please see the Department's Risk Management pages. If there is not enough information to answer your questions, contact the Departmental Specialists.
What to do when you start
When do you need this? |
What do you need? |
| On your first day | A copy of the handout 'Cavendish Laboratory Safety Notes'. You will have been given a printed copy by the HR team (if you are staff) or the Graduate Office (if a student) on or before your first day. Click here for a copy, if you have lost it. |
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Find out from your supervisor/ administrator/ manager how to get first aid help, and where the fire exits and assembly points are. Read the EMERGENCIES red/green/white notice that should be in every office and lab. Make yourself familiar with the department emergency arrangements - . Click here to look at them |
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| Within the first week |
Staff: Your manager must go through an induction checklist, which includes health and safety. Everyone: Your Hub Administration or other local administration team can show you where to book on to the induction and other training you need. |
| Within two weeks of joining | You must complete the online Fire Safety Training as well as the Health and Safety Induction Briefing: Part 1 is for everyone and Part 2 is for people who will be doing practical work or supervising others. See details on the Department Safety Training page. |
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Before you start any experimental or practical work |
You must have the appropriate safety training and knowledge to do this work (see training page above). If you are already experienced, evidence of previous training on some subjects will be acceptable. You must also carry out a risk assessment of your work, to be signed off by your supervisor/manager; the forms vary depending on the type of risk. Details are provided in the second (risk assessment) part of induction. We have departmental pages to help with specific hazard topics (e.g. lasers, chemicals). See the Risk Management topic guides. Don't forget that there are also a number of specialists to help you. A list of names is found here. |
Some Department rules
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Reporting Accidents |
Anything that caused an injury or could have done, must be reported to the HSM. Please follow the advice here: https://www.safety.admin.cam.ac.uk/subjects/accidents-incidents . |
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Mandatory Training |
Before you are given access to some areas, you will need to provide evidence of having completed suitable training. See Physics Health and Safety Training for more details. |
| Working at the department, especially out of normal hours |
The lab's working hours and access arrangements are explained here. You must follow this procedure if you wish to retain access to Physics buildings. Everyone must sign in and and out of every building using the Buildings Occupancy Register consoles at the entrance/exit. Undergraduates would usually only be permitted to work in "closed" hours in the presence of their supervisor and under exceptional circumstances. |
| Working with chemicals and dealing with hazardous wastes |
You must attend the mandatory University Chemical Safety Talk before doing chemistry work at the University of Cambridge - this applies even if you have a degree in the subject. Please see the Physics Health and Safety Training page for more details. Our Departmental Chemical Safety Officer, Anya Howe (also DST), can advise on the risks of purchasing, storing, using and disposing of hazardous substances and help with assessments. You must have permission from Anya Howe or Saba Alai before buying any substances that could kill people, even if used in small amounts. You also need to find out about disposal of the different types of waste from your lab - see the Hazardous Waste Disposal page. Failure to follow these procedures could contaminate the environment and result in the Cavendish being the subject of legal action. |
| Electrical work | Only a "competent person" (as defined in legal guidance) may make equipment that is connected to mains electricity. Your research group should be able to put you in touch with such a person in the group, or you can contact the Electronics Workshop. |
| Work with radioactive substances or X-ray generators |
Before using radioactive sources or radiation generators you will need to attend a short briefing provided by our Radiation Protection Supervisors (see the Training page). After this briefing, you will be shown how to use the equipment in the labs and will need to register as an "Authorized Radiation User". Your responsibilities are listed on the Ionizing Radiation page. |
| Laser use | For all lasers of Class 3R, 3B and Class 4, new users must attend the relevant training (see the Training page) and then Register with the Department Laser Safety Officer, Richard Gymer (rwg11@cam.ac.uk, tel (3)37264). If a new laser is brought on site Richard must be informed and risk assessments MUST be carried out. The Department laser safety page is here. |
| Biological work or work with biological substances | If you wish to work with any biological materials please contact the Department Biological Safety Officer, Tim Fitzmaurice (tjf11@cam.ac.uk), as soon as possible, to ensure that we have the necessary capabilities and do not violate our legal licences. Tim can also advise on risk assessments and the route for getting these approved. More information, including details of materials covered by this descriptor, can be found on the Department's Biological Work page |
| Asbestos |
The older buildings at the department (Mott, Bragg, Link, Rutherford) contain asbestos in the fabric of the building. The University and Department take great care to ensure no one is exposed to this asbestos, which may cause serious illness through prolonged or massive inhalation of inhalable sizes of asbestos fibres. To protect yourself and others, you are not allowed for any reason to drill or make a hole in, or do anything else that can damage any wall or ceiling. You are not permitted to raise ceiling tiles to access the voids above them. If you do need walls, ceilings, etc to be drilled or disturbed, contact facilities@phy.cam.ac.uk in good time so that a specialist asbestos contractor can do the work. Please allow at least 2 weeks. |