The Research Safety Section

The Research Safety Section (RSS) is a service unit managing the use of chemical, biological, radiological, and general laboratory safety hazards in conformity with occupational health safety and prevention. It is mission is to implement a comprehensive laboratory safety program to assist various departments and laboratories to safely handle hazardous materials in accordance with established policies and procedures and in compliance with national and international regulations.

The RSS provides education and training to employees, performs inspections, ensure proper documentation, risk management, hazard anticipation and identification, storage, disposal of various hazardous wastes and responds to safety incidents. The goals are to support scientists, technicians, students, trainees and administrative staff to work safely, in a safe workplace to eliminate work related injuries and illnesses. The aims are to protect health and reduce the risk of harm to staff, property and the environment.

The key operational outputs consist of the numbers of safety training sessions held, total number of employees trained in research laboratory and radiation safety, radiation licenses delivered, safety incidents reported and handled, radiation and research safety surveys, fire drill, enforcement of safety policy compliance and research safety clearance issued.

The RSS staff are composed of dedicated chemical, biological and radiation safety officers holding specific certificate of training their field of specialty in addition to assigned safety representatives in each department and programs.


List of Focus Areas
•Enforce institutional, national and international safety policies, procedures and compliance.
•Ensure proper storage, documentation, and usage of chemicals, biological and radiation-emitting materials.
•Ensure proper handling, documentation, storage and disposal of various hazardous wastes.
•Contribute to the development of institutional contingency, biocontainment, radiation emergency and evacuation plans.
•Create safety response teams to handle biological, chemical and radiation incidents and emergencies.
•Disseminate culture of safety through educational materials such as pamphlets, newsletters and dedicated website.
•Perform pre-operational inspections of new research laboratories and radiation facilities.
•Reconcile laboratory Biological Safety Level (BSL) with the intended use of biohazard according to the recommended biosafety containment, practices and procedures.
•Monitor emerging regulations and maintain a liaison with local, national, and international regulatory agencies.

List of Sections
The Research Safety Section (RSS) is composed of:

•Laboratory Safety (LSO)
•Radiation Safety (RSO)

It is also supported by:

•Safety and Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (S-rDNA-AC)
•Radiation Safety Committee (RSC)

Together, the RSS oversees safety regulations of biological, chemical, and radiation hazards, and assesses safety prerequisites for equipment, space, storage and waste disposal. It reviews requirements for biological safety level and cabinets in research involving hazardous chemicals, infectious agents, recombinant DNA, synthetic nucleic acid and genetic biotechnologies, and advises on safe and secure laboratory design for biochemical hazards containment. It promulgates safety standards that satisfies local, national, international laws, and regulations, and evaluates the implementation of safety procedures in laboratories to foster best practices that prevent harm to scientists, technicians, trainees, students, and administrative staff and protect public health and the environment.

List of Services Provided
•Safety training in research laboratory
•Radiation safety training
•Radiation use licenses
•Inspect laboratory for compliance with safety regulations
•Inspect facilities for compliance with radiation protection regulations
•Inspect warehouse for compliance with safety regulations and risk prevention
•Safety clearance of hazardous chemical use in research laboratory
•Issue recombinant and synthetic DNA license
•Respond to safety incidents
•Radiation and research safety surveys
•Coordinate fire drill with safety and security
•Enforcement of safety policy and compliance

Career Opportunities
•Occupational Safety and Health
•Occupational Safety and Fire Protection
•Degree in safety related to chemical, biosafety, industrial hygiene, laboratory safety, or other related discipline.
•Radiation Safety Officer
•Health Physics
•Radiation protection
•Degree in Medical physics or related discipline of Radiological Sciences
•Risk and quality management