Health and Safety Handbook
The LCN Health and Safety Handbook is the main source of safety information in the department and everyone who uses the department should read it. To support the Handbook, Guidance Notes and Health and Safety Forms have been created, which can be found in a link further below.
Safety Committee
The LCN Health and Safety Management Committee is the focal point for health, safety, and fire safety compliance. It aims are to support LCN staff to ensure that there is a co-ordinated approach for health and safety management within the LCN Building. It meets approximately three times per year, receives reports from all departmental safety officers, reviews any safety incident reports, and discusses any significant policy changes. Minutes of the meetings can be found here.
Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference for the committee can be found here.
Membership
| Role | Representative |
|---|---|
| LCN Director (Chair) | Steve Bramwell |
| Departmental Safety Officer (Vice Chair) | Ralph Hick |
| Deputy Departmental Safety Officer | Li Chen |
| Laser Safety Officer | Sabrina Simoncelli |
| GM Safety Officer | vacant |
| Information Systems Manager | Fabrice Ducluzeau |
| Departmental Manager | Lucy Keepking |
| Academic Representative | Steven Schofield |
| Postdoctoral Researcher Representative | Lucia Baldauf |
| Postgraduate Representative | Diego Barlettani |
| Union Representative | Taylor Stock |
| Wellbeing Champion | Lopa Murgai |
| Secretary to Committee | vacant |
| Estates Safety Advisor | Russell Ham |
LCN Safety Objectives
The Departmental Objectives for 2024-25 are:
- Health and Safety Forms: All Guidance Notes and Health and Safety Forms to be reviewed according to new LCN policy by January 2026. Owner: Safety Manager.
- Signage: All signage in Department to be updated according to results from Lab Inspections by January 2026. Owner: Safety Committee.
- Lab Storage: All Labs in the department to have a tidy-up by January 2026. Owner: Lab Managers and Facility Manager.
- Safety Risk Management Training: All Managers to complete the Safety Risk Management Programme training by January 2026. Owner: Head of Department.
- Safety Training: Department to increase Safety Training & Completion to 95% (as required by UCL). Owner: Head of Department.
UCL Safety Objectives
The UCL Safety Objectives are published on the UCL webpage each year.
LCN Health and Safety Forms
Please find the LCN Health and Safety Forms and Guidance Notes here.
Facilities Management and Operations
Find out information on Facilities Management and Operations in the department.
Risk Assessments
Find out how to write good risk assessments and the risk assessment approval procedures in the LCN.
Incident Reporting
Reporting Hazard Observations, Near Misses, Injuries, and Other Incidents means that issues can be investigated and new control measures put in to prevent accidents in the future. In the Swiss Cheese Model, each hole represents a flaw which could cause an incident to happen. If these flaws are reported early (e.g. by Hazard Observations or Near Misses), the holes can be patched or made smaller up by introducing new control measures. It is only when a number of flaws line up that accidents happen. To this end, please continue to report any hazards, misses, or incidents using the riskNET link below:
For any Safety or Facilities matters, please contact:
Safety and Facilities Manager
5.P1, London Centre for Nanotechnology
r.hick@ucl.ac.uk; 020 8138 7844