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Safety And Health Directive regarding NUS Students Working In Non NUS Organizations
Multi-institutional collaboration is the key to generating impactful research. Arising from these multi-institutional research collaborations, students would be performing research activities in non NUS organizations such as research institutes, other Universities, multi-national corporations, hospitals, etc. It is therefore important that the University, via a University Directive, define the roles and responsibilities of the principal investigators/supervisors who may send their students to perform research activities in these external organizations.
The Directive with regards to safety & health of students can be
viewed
here
The intent, implications and guidance on implementing the above Directive are given below:
Requirements of the Directive
Clause 1: PIs are required to inform Head of Department of student activities in external institutes so that NUS can maintain a database of where these students are.
It is important that Heads of Departments are kept informed of the student’s movement. This information would be useful for the purposes of contact tracing during disease outbreak or in cases of emergencies such as any serious accidents, explosion or fire that had occurred in the workplace where the student was doing his or her work. The notification can be via an email or through existing approval mechanisms such as risk assessments.
Clause 2: PIs must ensure that there is adequate supervision and training in terms of safety of their students in the collaborating organisation.
PIs should ensure that their students are subjected to some form of orientation/induction training from collaborating institution. It is PIs responsibility to supervise theses students to ensure he or she is competent to perform the work. PIs should also ensure that necessary training for the operation of equipments, conducting experiments or use of materials in that organization have been provided.
Clause 3: PIs are required to ensure that any research activity conducted by their student(s) in the collaborating institution is subjected to a risk assessment review and this is approved by the relevant approving authority in that institution. PIs may use the risk assessment forms from the collaborating institution.
Under the Ministry of Manpower’s Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations, all laboratory based activities are to be subjected to a risk assessment. It is therefore prudent that the PI must ensure their student’s work has been subjected to a risk assessment and obtained the necessary approvals from that institute. Through the risk assessment process, the necessary safety and health controls would have been identified.
Clause 4: PIs shall instruct their students to report to them and OSHE in any accident and incident as a result of their research activities, within 24 hours time.
It is now mandatory under the Ministry of Manpower’s Workplace Safety and Health Incident reporting regulations that accidents/incidents at workplace are to be reported to the regulator. It is therefore important that if a student is injured in the workplace he or she is working in, they should make a report to OSHE so that the necessary investigation and follow up reporting is done. Reporting to OSHE can be done via its online reporting system at http://nus.edu.sg/osh/services/airs.htm.
Clause 5: PIs shall communicate regularly with the collaborating partner to check the safety performance of NUS students.
It is important the chain of communication between the two collaborators extends beyond just the research progress of the student, but rather it should also include safety performance of the students.
The University is also taking other measures to address the safety of our students working in external institutes, for example:
1. Research agreements between NUS and the collaborating organizations now have clauses detailing the safety and health expectations and responsibilities of both parties.
2. A pamphlet educating NUS students on how to do work safely in external institutions
For future enquiries, please contact respective Faculty Safety & Health Officers. The contact details can be found at http://www.nus.edu.sg/osh/aboutus/staff.htm.
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