Health and Safety

As part of the Media unit in the Level 3 award we must research, understand and implement the Health and Safety (H&S) regulations as outlined by the government. I researched these five aspects to ensure that the process is as low risk as possible from start to finish...

Working in a Darkroom
When doing research into safety in a darkroom, I found most of it to be common sense and stuff I'd already heard in school in chemistry classes but these are the main points I picked up...

• Use gloves (to protect skin from chemicals), goggles (to protect eyes from chemicals) and an apron (to protect clothes from chemicals.
• Use tongs to avoid touching prints with chemicals on.
• Ventilate the room (windows and fans or air conditioner)
• No food or water in the darkroom (to avoid accidental ingestion of chemicals)
• Ensure all chemicals are labelled and efficiently organised.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH)

Again, a lot of these I recognised from chemistry because it is essential the chemicals are labelled correctly because it gives the user and idea on what the dangers of using them is, how to handle them and what to do if a problem should occur e.g. not keep something flammable near flames and keep a fire extinguisher close by in case it does catch fire.

Here are the symbols...

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)

These guidelines were put into place to ensure any machinery or equipment used by employees (or in this case students) is safe. This is done by training employees/students to work safely. When on the course before we used any equipment we were shown how to use correctly and were also made aware the risks of the appliance and how to avoid the risk. This was particularly relevant for the studio where we were using a vast amount of electrical appliances and it was crucial for us to know how to safely use the modelling lights power packs. Also, to ensure all electrical appliances were safe, they would all be inspected and a green label placed on so we would know it was safe...

Display Screen Equipment

Finally, I considered the risks associated with using a display screen when using a laptop/computer. I read the "Working with display screen equipment (DSE)" booklet I found on the Health and Safety Executive website. As I went through it I realised I do a lot of the things mentioned already without meaning to such as keeping wrists straight when typing and taking regular breaks and stretch to prevent aches. However there are still some guidelines I should follow such as ensuring I am always sitting up straight when using a display screen. Sometimes the I use a table that is too low and I end up bending my back to type which is REALLY bad for you(...old habits die hard I guess but I will change that now).

Using all of this information about H&S, I have chosen three scenarios where I have used the information for my benefit...

1. When we did the cyanotypes as part of this media unit, my knowledge of COSSH (and my previous experiences in chemistry in school!) helped my identify the risks of using the Ammonium Ferric Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide both of which are irritant, Also our tutor advised us on what to do if we got any on our skin (rinse it very quickly and "DO NOT touch your  eyes")
2. As I mentioned before, our tutors instructed us very thoroughly before we used any equipment in the studio. It was from very basic, common sense instructions such as 'no food or drink' to 'this is how you use a power pack...". This ensured that when we used the studio for our studio unit we knew how to use the equipment and we appreciated how dangerous (and not to mention expensive!) some of the equipment is.
3. When I did the exterior location brief, I went out to this abandoned derelict cotton mill in Cheadle so i obviously didn't go alone (that would have be too death wish-y)...I dragged my dad along. I also had to make sure i didn't fall over, the ground was very uneven and slippery. Also, to the side of the mill was  stream...with a very steep drop to I had to take care not to plunge to my death!