Safety

In an emergency, to contact Security please use the

• SafeZone App or
• call 4444 from an internal phone,
• or 020 7589 1000 from a mobile.

If you are visiting another campus, please check the security contact before travelling as this varies by campus.

In the event of a fire evacuation,

• Activate the fire alarm
• Evacuate the building via the nearest exit
• Proceed to the nearest assembly point;

Dyson building Point E: Observatory Road

ACE Workshop Point B: Roderic Hill Car Park

A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEP) is required by an individual; member of staff, student, contractor or visitor, who may require assistance evacuating a building. This includes individuals with,

• Mobility impairment, including temporary illness or injury
• Visual or hearing impairment (whether temporary or permanent)
• A dexterity or strength debilitating illness
• Neurodivergence
• Any other health condition or circumstances that may affect a person’s ability to safely evacuate a building.

Please contact the Department Disability Officer and Chemical Hazards and Fire Officer for assistance completing a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan.

Non-emergency enquiries
If you need to speak to the Security team about anything non-urgent, then you can do so by emailing security.control@imperial.ac.uk 

For Department First Aid or Mental Health First Aid contacts please visit the Wellbeing and Support section for further information.

Creating a safe working environment is everyone's responsibility. If an accident, near miss, unsafe condition or safety concern occurs, it should be reported as soon as possible using CoreStream, Imperial's Safety Management System.

Reporting incidents helps us:

• Prevent similar incidents occurring again
• Improve our working environments
• Identify trends and areas for improvement
• Support a positive safety culture

All reports are reviewed and investigated to understand what happened and identify any lessons learned. If you are uncomfortable raising a concern directly, you may also:

• Contact the Department Safety Officer
• Contact the Faculty Safety Adviser
• Use Imperial's Report and Support Tool, which also allows anonymous reporting for safety, wellbeing and conduct concerns.

We encourage all staff and students to raise concerns; no issue is too small if it could affect someone's safety.

Working safely is an important part of who we are as an Institution. For example, undertaking a risk assessment is a critical part of maintaining a safe working environment. Risk assessment is part of our everyday lives and is important to identify potential hazards, this helps prevent accidents, ensures the safety of yourself and others, and supports responsible use of workshop and laboratory equipment.

Please remember to assess the risks involved with your work. Take a moment to think about what could go wrong and how to prevent it, this is a vital part of good practice in any workshop or laboratory activity.

This section provides key information you need to work safely within the department.

• Design Engineering SharePoint
• Training Needs Analysis
• Design Engineering Spaces
• ACE Workshop Wiki
• Research Spaces Wiki
• Department Safety Handbook
• Workshop Safety Handbook
• Imperial Safety Training
• CoreStream – Safety Management System
• Workshop and laboratory access *

* Many Design Engineering facilities are classified as Limited Access Areas and require completion of a local induction before access can be granted.

Starting a Project

Before beginning project work,

• Discuss your plans with your Module Lead or Supervisor.
• Identify whether an approved risk assessment already exists or a new assessment is required.
• Complete any required training (Workshop or laboratory inductions, e-Learning courses). *
• Ensure you understand any workshop or laboratory procedures.

* Please review the Training and Information section and ensure all required training has been completed.

For taught activities, risk assessments will normally be prepared by the Module Lead. For individual or group projects, your Supervisor will support you if a risk assessment is required and any additional requirements for work to be undertaken.

Please note work which requires a risk assessment on campus, must also have an approved risk assessment if off-site working is to be conducted. This applies to all members and programmes associated with the School, all risk assessments must be approved prior to work commencing. 

Risk assessment

Please refer to the Research and Teaching Activities section for more information.

All equipment and materials must be covered by a risk assessment and COSHH assessment, where required. Please check with Module Lead, Supervisor, Laboratory or Technical Services and Safety Manager what activities are covered by an existing risk assessment. If an existing assessment is not available, a new assessment must be undertaken and submitted on CoreStream.

Workshop and laboratory access

Many departmental spaces are classed as Limited Access Areas. Access is only granted once the required induction has been completed. For areas such as the ACE workshop, the induction is mandatory and will be arranged on behalf of the cohort.

Please see the Training and Information section for more information on how to access the workshop and laboratories.

Study spaces

Please do not use Imperial Study Spaces for project work. These study spaces are not an appropriate or safe location for activities that should be carried out within the workshop or laboratories and are not insured for this type of work.

Study Spaces available to students:

GoStudy Spaces – Level 4 and 5 Chemistry Building

Student Space – Level 4 Sherfield Building

Abdus Salam Library – Levels 1-5

Student events

Students planning an event within Design Engineering spaces must obtain departmental approval before making any bookings or arrangements.

Please refer to the Research and Teaching Activities section for the event approval process, risk assessment requirements and guidance.

Please contact the Department Safety Officer before planning an event.

Please see Working Safely: Training and Inductions for information on safety training and workshop or laboratory procedures for inductions.

Risk Assessment

All equipment and materials must be covered by a risk assessment and COSHH assessment, where required. Please check with Module Lead, Supervisor, Laboratory or Workshop Manager what activities are covered by an existing risk assessment. If an existing assessment is not available, a new assessment must be undertaken and submitted on CoreStream.

Safety have provided guidance on CoreStream, the Safety Management System for incident reporting and risk assessments. This information can be found on the Design Engineering SharePoint Page. CoreStream covers the following assessments,

• General
• Biological
• Plant/Plant pathogens and soil
• Invertebrates
• Lone Working/Out of Hours *
• Chemicals and gases
• Cryogens
• Laser
• Ionising Radiation

If the template required is not currently on CoreStream please visit the Safety’s forms page. Activities which require a risk assessment must be completed and approved prior to work commencing.

* Lone Working and Out of Hours working requires a risk assessment. Only staff ad PhD’s may apply for Lone Working/Out Of Hours. Out of Hours assessments require Head of Department approval. Building access is from 07:00-23:00, 7 days except for University closure days; Laboratories and the workshop are closed during these periods.

For the of the activities undertaken within the taught modules, these will be covered by an existing risk assessment. Modules Leads are responsible for ensuring risk assessments are in place, if an activity falls outside of this, onus is on Module Lead to assess whether work is safe to conduct and modify assessment.

For projects outside of taught modules e.g. MEng 4^th Year Masters Projects, Taught Postgraduate group or solo projects the supervisor is responsible for supporting. Further guidance on how to complete a risk assessment can be found under Working Safely: Training and Inductions. Recommend training: Risk Assessment Foundation Training (RAFT) e-learning

Off-site working

Is any external activity conducted by Imperial staff or students on behalf of the Institution in places or premises which are not rented or owned by the University, this includes travelling within or outside of the UK for a meeting or conference, hosted work or fieldwork.

Please follow guidance provided in Travel Flowchart when planning off-site work. Further information on Imperials policy can be found on the Off-site Working page. If a fieldwork risk assessment is required, this must be reviewed and approved six weeks prior to the trip start date.

Work which requires a risk assessment on campus, must also have an approved risk assessment if off-site working is to be conducted. This applies to all members and programmes associated with the School, all risk assessments must be approved prior to work commencing. 

Travel and accommodation must be booked through Egencia and Travel Insurance through Finance.

Procurement and purchasing

 For information on Procurement, to find out about preferred suppliers, how to order and purchasing procedures, please visit Finance Procurement page. Purchases must be in line with departmental and Imperial purchasing policies. Items such as equipment must be CE/UKCA mark and be accompanied by a Declaration of Conformity.

Purchases must be in line with departmental and Imperial purchasing policies. Equipment and any other items required as part of the project must be purchased from approved suppliers if purchasing is requested internally with the DE Purchasing Team or purchased externally.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Teaching Assistants - Managing Safety in Teaching Laboratories – This is mandatory training for any GTA who will be supporting teaching in hazardous environments and must be completed prior to undertaking GTA duties in hazardous environments in the department.

Please see Working Safely: Training and Inductions for more information on the department procedures for inductions and the Training Need Analysis. Staff should use the Training Needs Analysis to ensure students have completed the necessary training to enable them to conduct their work safely and identify any additional training needs. This matrix is not exhaustive, and further training may be required for the workshop and laboratories, to raise users’ awareness of the of the hazards of the area they will be working in.

Events risk assessments and approved activities 

All events held within Design Engineering spaces, including the Dyson Building, require prior approval and an approved risk assessment before a room can be booked.

Please contact the Department Safety Officer before planning an event.

• Risk assessments and supporting documentation must be submitted at least two weeks before the event.
• Event organisers are responsible for ensuring the event is planned safely, including appropriate supervision, set-up, take-down, cleaning, and any additional requirements such as catering or security.
• Once approved, room bookings can be arranged through the Department Senior Programme Administrator (subject to teaching activities).
• Approved risk assessments will be shared with the relevant departmental teams where required.
• Only low-risk events that are unlikely to damage departmental spaces will normally be approved. Examples include seminars, workshops, talks, movie nights and potluck meals.
• Parties are not permitted. Alcohol may only be served when authorised, appropriate staff supervision is in place, and the event complies with Imperial's Student Alcohol and Substance Misuse Policy.
• Student-led events must be supported by a member of Design Engineering staff. Design Society events follow the department's standard approval process, while other student events require a Design Engineering sponsor who will be present throughout the event.

Looking after your health and wellbeing is just as important as working safely. Imperial offers a wide range of services to support both staff and students.

Please visit the department Health and Wellbeing page for more information on Undergraduate Students, Postgraduate and Staff support.

Mental Health First Aiders

Our departmental Mental Health First Aiders will provide you with a safe space to start a confidential conversation about your mental health and signpost you to the most appropriate support.

Our Mental Health First Aiders are: Ingrid Logan-Rivers, Freddie Page , Nicholas Moult , Natalia Goehring , Talya  Porat , Monika K Delczyk , Rebecca Mitchell , Hala Khateeb , Jacklyn Ramasaran. 

If you need urgent help, please contact your GP. If you are at a risk to yourself or others, please call 999, or visit your nearest A&E.

This section provides links to Departmental and Imperial guidance to help you work safely.

Department Safety

• Departmental Safety Handbook 
• Design Engineering SharePoint
• Design Engineering Spaces
• ACE Workshop
• Laboratories

Imperial Safety

• A-Z Safety topics
• Safety Forms
• Safety Training
• CoreStream Guidance
• Safety Contacts

If you cannot find the information you need, please contact the Department Safety Officer or the Central Safety Team.

• Ingrid Logan-Rivers, Department Safety Officer
• Robert Shorten, Head of Department
• Natalia Goehring, Director of Operations
• Weston Baxter, Offsite Working and Ethics
• Chandra George, Chemical Hazards and Fire Officer
• Nan Li, Biological Safety and Manual Handling
• Ciaran Doidge, Faculty Safety Adviser
• Central Safety Team

If you need assistance with a query and require specific guidance, please visit Safety’s Who we are page for further contacts.