Health and Safety in Science Organizations

The report evaluates the health and safety measures of a pharmaceutical company in Chiswick, London, where workers are primarily exposed to the detrimental hazard of cytotoxic drug development and research. The safety standards of the company include risk assessment strategies and PPE usage which are in accordance to the legalized COSHH regulations, hence, indicating high quality workplace safety.

Running head: HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS
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1HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
Executive Summary
In addition to performing the basic organizational activities of outlining deliverance of
high quality goods and services, an organization must also ensure the protection of their workers
through the implementation of appropriate workplace health and safety standards. The following
report discusses and evaluated the health and safety measures undertaken by a pharmaceutical
company located in Chiswick, London, where workers are primarily exposed to the detrimental
hazard of cytotoxic drug development and research. The safety standards of the company include
risk assessment strategies and PPE usage which are in accordance to the legalized COSHH
regulations, hence, indicating high quality workplace safety. However, along with organizational
benefits, the company must also consider the presence of constraints while implementing further
amendments to their existing safety standards.

2HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Discussion............................................................................................................................3
Main Organizational Activities........................................................................................3
Departmental Hazards and Health/Safety Measures.......................................................3
Reasons for Organizational Health and Safety Management System.............................4
Legislation Comparison...................................................................................................5
Evaluation of Measures...................................................................................................5
Benefits and Constraints..................................................................................................6
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................6
References............................................................................................................................7

3HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
Introduction
In addition to its primary activities of production and service provision, an organization
must arrange for health and safety standards, along with a risk management and hazard
mitigation policies for the purpose of ensuring the adequate functioning of workers (Nielson et
al. 2016).
The following report aims to discuss about the health and safety policy standards of a c a
pharmaceutical company in Chiswick, London. The report discusses the departmental activities,
the prevalent hazards and an evaluation of safety measures.
Discussion
Main Organizational Activities
Pharmaceuticals are entrusted with the licensed activities of researching, developing,
marketing and distribution of medications and drugs. The department for research and
development in the chosen pharmaceutical company in London, deals with conducting research
on drug composition and discovery, gene therapy, precision medicine, biosimilars and medicinal
sciences. The production department deals with manufacturing and packaging of drugs
associated with oncology, inflammation, biosimilars, immunology and internal medicine, after
successful clinical trials and research (Yi and Kim 2016).
Departmental Hazards and Health/Safety Measures
The most prevalent hazard is associated with the exposure of cytotoxic drugs, which
comprise of chemical compounds which induce cell damage and disruption in cell division, and

4HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
are commonly used in healthcare industries for the treatment of cancer. Workers in the chosen
industry conducting research and development as well as production of such drugs are exposed
to this hazard during activities such as drug administration during research and drug
manufacturing during production, which can lead to harmful effects such as altered erythrocyte
count, cell mutations, hair loss, abdominal pain, nausea and possible fetal damage for pregnant
female workers (Kim, Shin and Byeon 2015). The chosen pharmaceutical company performs
assessment measures in accordance to the legislative guidelines of Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH 2002), which involves identification of workers
handling cytotoxic drugs and their potential health implications, identification of workers who
are at immediate risk such as pregnant females or research and development workers, evaluation
of risk and efficiency of measures for control, recording of the assessment results and lastly its
evaluation for possible future amendments, along with implementation of a wellness and health
culture among workers for the purpose of a successful “Incident and Injury Free Culture”.
Additional safety measures which are undertaken in accordance to the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) guidelines is the usage of personal protective improvement in the form of
gloves, protective eye wear, safety clothing and footwear (Farhad et al. 2014).
Reasons for Organizational Health and Safety Management System
The usage of personal protective equipment by the chosen pharmaceutical company,
improves their health by preventing exposure to cytotoxic drugs during production, research and
development through inhalation, skin contact and skin absorption of harmful toxins. The
conductance of risk assessment strategies in accordance to the COSHH guidelines improves the
workers health through evaluation of steps and workers experiencing highest rates of cytotoxic
drug exposure during production, research and development, resulting in adequate response

5HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
strategies aimed at reducing cytotoxic exposure, risk associated with cytotoxic drugs and
improvement of existing occupational safety policies undertaken by the chosen pharmaceutical
company (Noyce 2016).
Legislation Comparison
The workers involved in the research and development as well as the production
department of the chosen pharmaceutical guideline ensure staff safety, through compulsory
usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is in accordance to Regulation 6 of the
Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP: Number 50) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health Regulations, outlining risk assessment strategies aimed at reducing exposure to cytotoxic
drugs (Hse.gov.uk, 2018). The quality analysis and control department of the chosen
pharmaceutical company also contains risk assessment strategies in the production as well as
research and development departments to assess the possible presence of cytotoxic drug
exposures and workers at risk, which include five steps of hazard identification, identification of
populations at risk, risk evaluation, result recording and assessment reviewing. This is in
accordance to the Regulation 6 (2)(a)-(I) guideline under the 56th ACOP and 6th COSHH
Regulation outlining risk assessment of cytotoxic drug exposure. Hence, upon comparison, it can
be stated that both departments of the chosen pharmaceutical company comply to the standard
legislative procedures of the HSE (HSE 2017).
Evaluation of Measures
Upon evaluation it can be observed that the organizational safety standards adhere to the
6th Regulation of the COSHH 2002, which necessitates performance of risk assessment strategies
and usage of PPE to ensure worker safety (Hse.gov.uk, 2018). Such regulations have been
legalized by the Health and Safety Executive - the governmental body authorized to inspect and

6HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
ensure workplace standard and safety. Hence, it can be stated that the production and research
and development department of the chosen pharmaceutical company, followed high quality
standards of workplace health and safety (Vaughan and Rajan-Sithamparanadarajah 2017).
Benefits and Constraints
The presence and execution of such high quality, legalized workplace health and safety
standards, result in major benefits such prevention of injuries and illness among the workers
leading to positive health outcomes, improved occupational functioning, enhance fulfillment of
organizational objectives and improved customer feedback. However, the implementation of
such high quality safety standards including appropriate assessment and PPE usage may be time
consuming and costly, and hence may result in time and financial constraints as major limitations
to the chosen company (Gao et al. 2014).
Conclusion
In this report, a pharmaceutical company located at Chiswick, London was evaluated for
the usage of its health and safety standards. Considering the workers exposure to cytotoxic drugs,
the company engages in extensive risk assessments and PPE usage which are in accordance to
the COSHH 2002 Regulations. Hence, it can be concluded that the chosen company executes
high quality work health and safety standards, but must consider time and financial constraints
for future improvements and amendments.

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References
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toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (btex) in paint plants of two automotive industries in iran by
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exposed to disinfectants by introducing an Endoscopy Quality Assurance Program. Alexandria
Journal of Medicine, 50(1), pp.7-12.
HSE, U., 2017. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH). Retrieved from Health
and Safety Executive: http://www. hse. gov. uk/coshh/industry/offshore. htm.
Hse.gov.uk. (2018). HSE: Information about health and safety at work. [online] Available at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].
Kim, M.U., Shin, S. and Byeon, S.H., 2015. Comparison of chemical risk assessment methods in
South Korea and the United Kingdom. Journal of occupational health, 57(4), pp.339-345.
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Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), pp.142-155.
Noyce, S., 2016. Undertaking COSHH assessments–a five-point plan. In Practice, 38(2), pp.91-
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Vaughan, N.P. and Rajan-Sithamparanadarajah, R., 2017. An Assessment of the Robustness of
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8HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCIENCE ORGANZIATIONS
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