Safetywise, Vol. 6, No. 4

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You can now see Safetywise on line at http://www.ust.hk/~websepo/sftywise.htm Recently, there have been several cases of human influenza

which were apparently caused by an H5N1 (Hemagglutinin-5, Neuraminidase-1) influenza virus. This is a Type A influenza vi-rus and is more commonly associated with poultry and other species of birds. Avian influenza virus can infect a wide range of birds, but during the investigation so far the H5N1 virus has only been isolated from domestic chickens. From an occupational health point of view, the fact that the HKUST Animal Care Facility houses a number of chickens raises some questions relating to safe handling procedures. Professor T.W. Wong, our Occupa-tional Medicine Consultant from the Department of Community and Family Medicine CUHK, provided the following information:

Background

Influenza and its Treatment

Influenza Virus

Virions are Usually roughly spherical and about 200nm in diameter. The envelope contains rigid "spikes" of haemagglutinin and neuraminidase which from a characteristic halo of projections around negatively stained virus particles.

Vaccination

H5N1

Influenza

H5N1

Influenza

Latest on H5N1 (at the time

of publication)

Influenza, commonly called "flu” is a highly contagious respiraory disease. The typical clinical features of influenza include fever, chills, headache, dry cough, running or stuffy nose, sore throat and muscle aches. Consult your doctor if you have any signs of the "flu” and breathing or heart problems. The most effective drugs to treat type A influenza are Amantadine and Rimantadine. They can reduce the severity and shorten the duration of the illness among healthy adults when administered within 48 hours of illness onset. Both of these drugs are only available by pre-scription.

Vaccination is recommended for groups of people at high risk of having medical complications from influenza. These include

the aged group, children and teenagers, people with chronic disorders of the lungs or heart and women who will be 6 or more months pregnant or who will have just delivered during the influ-enza season.

No clinical cases of disease associated with H5N1 infection have been reported in workers contacting birds regularly, such as market workers or poultry farmers. In most of the cases of H5N1 infection there is no evidence of direct contact with poultry or other birds. At present, it is not known how the human cases became infected with the virus, and therefore the following guide-lines are based on normal hygiene practices and the predicted behaviour of the virus:

1. Where possible, minimise direct contact with birds. 2. If contact with birds is unavoidable, wash hands

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Part I: Benefits and Risks

This two-part article is excerpted from a recent report "Genetic Modification: Risks and Safeguards”, prepared by the Advisory Committee on Genetic Modification (ACGM), the main advisory body on genetic modification issues under the Health and Safety Commission of the United Kingdom. Part one discusses the ben-efits and the risks of genetic modification, while the second part will present the control measures in specific areas including re-search, industry, and release into the environment.

Some of the harmful consequences of genetic modification that have been thought possible are that:

- more infectious or drug-resistant micro-organisms might be pro-duced;

- harmful genetic material, for example material associated with cancer, might be transferred via a genetically modified organism (GMO) to a human being;

Safety

Control of

Genetic

Modification

Safety

Control of

Genetic

Modification

The Benefits

The Risks

them. Disposable plastic or rubber gloves may be worn when handling bids or cleaning and handling cages. After the gloves are removed wash hands thoroughly with soap and water. (The Animal Care Facility has already implemented this protocol.) 3. When visiting poultry farms wear additional protective

clothing (such as overalls or gowns) which should be removed on leaving the farm.

4. Staff handling bird carcasses or collecting samples directly from birds are advised to wear paper face masks and appropriate protective clothing.

5. Avoid working for prolonged periods in confined spaces with birds, especially if ventilation is poor.

6. If a fever or respiratory disease develops contact a doctor immediately for appropriate treatment and investigation. Inform your doctor of the history of exposure to birds.

Genetic modification makes it possible to tailor organisms to be safer, more specific and more productive in what they do than

their unmodified counterparts. They can be given the ability to produce valuable substances that would otherwise be in short supply. Modified organisms can sometimes substitute cleanly and safely for traditional, biological and chemical-based proc-esses that are dangerous or polluting. For example,

- a vaccine against the hepatitis B virus is now safely produced by genetically modifying a harmless organism (such as a yeast) to produce proteins from the virus which are then purified and made into a vaccine;

- medicinal products such as insulin, blood factor VIII and hu-man growth hormone, were formerly produced from huhu-mans or animals and some carried a slight risk of transmitting dis-ease, pure and safe equivalents are now produced using ge-netically modified organisms;

- some crop plants are made to be immune to diseases or tolerant to herbicides;

- tomatoes are modified to not to produce the enzyme which makes them squashy, allowing them to be picked later and to develop a better flavour;

- bacteria were specifically modified to degrade toxic environ-mental pollutants such as PCBs and dioxins;

- scientific research into major diseases such as cancers and AIDS is made faster and more effective by applying genetic modification as a tool.

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Risk Assessment and Control

Before the right controls can be chosen for a risk it must be as-sessed. That means coming to a judgement about three things: what might happen; how likely it is that it will happen; and if it did, how serious that would be.

These judgements are becoming easier in genetic modification, but were quite difficult in the beginning. It was hard to be confident that all of the possible harmful effects had been thought of, and for those that had been, their likelihood was often not well under-stood. And sometimes there is still disagreement about how much a particular alteration of the natural or human-made environment would matter, and even about whether it should count as harmful or beneficial. In other words, one of the leading features of risk assessment in genetic modification was, and to a degree still is, uncertainty.

Health and safety law, or law aimed at protecting the environment, is often introduced after something has gone wrong. The law can then be targeted at a know risk and the effects of it can be meas-ured. The law relating to genetic modification has for the most part not been like that. Because of the uncertainty it has faced, it has had to be precautionary, that is, an attempt to make sure that possible and even unforeseen dangers (if any) do not cause ac-tual harm before they can be fully understood. Gradually, as knowl-edge increases, precautionary safeguards can be replaced by better targeted, preventive ones based on scientific understand-ing of real possibilities.

The process over the last twenty years has been one of refining controls in parallel with the growth of knowledge about the true - a genetically modified plant might be aggressive and colonise its environment, eliminating plants already living there;

- genetic material from a modified plant might be transferred to a related plant that is considered a weed, making it more competi-tive, for example by giving it herbicide resistance;

- modified micro-organisms might interfere with the natural recy-cling of nutrients in the environment.

risks. Greater understanding has meant that while not all of the early fears have entirely gone away they are now seen as less likely to be realised in a disastrously uncontrolled way, especially as far as human health risks are concerned.

There are two main reasons for this. One is that it is increasingly clear that the combinations of events that would be necessary to produce a harmful organism accidentally is very improbable. The other is a growing confidence in the controllability of the technol-ogy - the degree to which organisms can be designed to be safe. As a result, the regulation and control of genetic modification have become more and more like those of other potentially hazardous activities. They are increasingly concerned with the foreseeable consequences of intentional acts, as the areas of the unforeseen and unpredictable grows smaller.

is published by the Safety and Environmental Protection Office and printed by the Educational Technology Centre.

The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Comments from staff and students are welcome. Please send e-mail to SAFETY.

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- Unattended cooking is one of the major causes of fires in homes. Overheated food can burn; superheated cooking oil will vaporize and catch fire easily.

- Boiling liquid can spill over and extinguish the flame of the stove and hence result in gas leaking into the atmosphere.

- “Flambeed cooking” (using wine) may cause a flame to be formed on the frying pan and create a high fire risk; hence it should be avoided or be carried out with extreme care.

- Grease can catch fire easily. Remove grease from surfaces of walls, cupboards, range hood etc. by frequent cleaning. Range hood filters/grease traps should be cleaned or replaced frequently.

- Cloths (and other combustible materials) placed too close to the stove or on top of cooking utensils can catch fire easily, and should be removed to safe locations.

- It is most important to stay calm. If the fire is confined in the frying pan, it can be easily put out by covering it with a lid, or a fire blanket (see photos below). Small fire on other surfaces can also be extinguished by beating it with a fire blanket or other appropriate materials such as a thick piece of cloth.

- NEVER splash water onto “oil fire”. This will cause the fire to spread further because oil is lighter than water and hence will float and spread.

Preventing

Fire in Your

Kitchen

Preventing

Fire in Your

Kitchen

Beware of Fire Hazards when

Cooking

When there is fire ...

A small fire broke out in a unit at the Research Staff Quarters in October. It was fortunate that the fire was extinguished quickly by the Security staff.

The fire occurred in the kitchen when the family was cooking. Some oil in a frying pan (wok) caught on fire and it quickly spreaded to the range hood over the stove. Attempting to put out the fire, the residents splashed water onto the pan. However, the water was not effective in extinguishing the fire. Instead, it caused the fire to spread even further. Failing to extinguish the fire, the residents evacuated the apartment to the outside and alerted the Security Guard on site about the fire. The Security Control Center was then notified and an internal Fire Fighting Team was dispatched in response to the situation. Fortunately, the fire had not spreaded too far and our Fire Fightig Team was able to extinguish it. When the Fire Services Deapartment arrived, ev-erything was already under control.

Cooking is a major cause for fires in domestic dwellings. It is important that we all know the precautions and take approprate actions to minimize the risk of cooking fire.

The range hood and the surrounding cabinets were quite seriously damaged in the fire.

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- Evacuate to a safe place outside the building with the doors of the kitchen and the apartment closed behind you. By closing those doors, the spread of the fire and smoke can be delayed significantly.

- Activate the fire alarm by pressing the nearby breakglass panel as you leave the building. This is very important, as by activating the system, the alarm bells throughout the entire building will go off and all residents inside the building will be alerted for evacuation. The fire alarm signal will at the same time alert the Fire Services Department and the Security Control for emergency responses.

If the fire is out of control ...

Proper use of Fire Blanket

Breakglass panel for activating fire alarm

1. Pull out fire blanket 2. Hold the fire blanket with the hands protected 3. Approach cautiously towards the fire

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What's Wrong in These Pictures?

Blocking of Access to Safety Eyewash by Chemical Waste Drum

Blocking of Electrical Switch Box

Obstructed Fire Escape Route

Chemical Waste without secondary containment

Frayed Electrical Extension Cord

Over-Storage of Flammable Substances outside of DG stores

Food items left uncovered and placed on the floor in cafeteria kitchen

Improper Disposal of "Sharps" in Regular Trash

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Safety and Security are two distinct functions in an organization. At HKUST, members are often confused about the difference in the charter of these two units. And yet, there are common areas of work shared by these two functions.

The function of "Safety" is to anticipate, identify, evaluate and control occupational and environmental hazards; and to provide consulation for individual departments to implement measures in avoiding, eliminating and controlling the hazards. On the other hand, the function of "Security" is mainly to protect an organiza-tion from thefts, intrusion, and offering assistance in happenstances that may cause disruption of the normal activi-ties of the organization, such as in emergency situations like fire,civil disturbances, personal injuries etc.

As far as safety is concerned, there are common missions shared between SEPO and the Security Unit. At HKUST, you probably have seen staff from SEPO and the Security Office working to-gether in many circumstances, especially in the events of emer-gencies. Because of this, some people may be confused and cannot clearly discern the different roles of SEPO and the Secu-rity. Sometimes, emergencies are reported to SEPO directly with-out notifying Security. While SEPO will offer the necessary assis-tance to address the situation, unnecessary delays may be caused for situations where assistance is needed from Security and other departments.

At HKUST, the Security Control Centre is established as a reli-able resource round the clock to safeguard university properties and to offer assistance to members of our campus community. As far as emergency is concerned, the Security Control acts as

Safety or

Security

Safety or

Security

the first line responders. All emergency calls should be directed to the Security Controller who then coordinates the necessary resources by summoning help from the appropriate emergency teams in various departments and offices. SEPO has been work-ing with Security to build a system in handlwork-ing various kinds of anticipated emergency situations. For safety related emergen-cies (in fact for most of the emergency situations), the emer-gency team from SEPO will respond promptly to offer assis-tance.

The on-campus emergency number (Security) is 8999 if calling from an internal extension. If an outside telephone line is used, you need to dial 2358-8999. If community assistance such as an ambulance is needed, call 9-999 from an internal extention; dial 999 if calling from an outside line. If emergency occurs on campus and community assistance is needed call Security af-ter calling 999 or 9-999 , so that they can promptly direct the response team to the exact location upon arrival on campus.

HOW TO CONTACT SEPO

Ext. E-mail SEPO general enquiry 6513 SAFETY

Fire Safety, Electrical

Safety, Construction Safety Engineer

Safety, Ergonomics, Mr. T.S.Li Accident Reporting 6511 EOTSLI

Environmental Issues,

Chemical Safety, Environmental Engineer

Hazardous Waste Dr. Pete Swearengen Management, Recycling 6510 EOPETE

Ionizing Radiation Safety,

Non-ionizing Radiation Health Physicist

Safety, Medical Survillance, Dr. Paul Chan Safety Training 6535 EOMWCHAN

Biosafety, Food Hygiene, Engineer (Project) Laser Safety, Regulatory Dr. Samuel Yu Affairs, Safety Publications 6547 EOSAMUEL

SEPO homepage: http://www.ust.hk/~websepo/sepo.htm

Please feel free to call any of us or send us an e-mail if you have specific safety or environmental related ques-tions.

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The UK's University Safety Association Digest reported the follow-ing incident:

Sick and tired of reporting the condition of the stairs and nothing being done a chap decided that direct action was what was re-quired. He left the office one Friday night, bidding everyone fare-well. The door onto the stairwell closed behind him. The people in the office then heard a scream and a bang and found him lying in apparent pain at the foot of the stairs. After a while he recovered sufficiently to drive himself home but was off sick the following week. The stairs were quickly repaired following the internal acci-dent report. In fact the person had not fallen but merely shouted out, thrown his briefcase down noisily and lain down at the foot of the stairs.

While this appears to be a humorous incident, SEPO does not endorse this way of obtaining attention on safety matters. On the other hand, SEPO can identify with the frustration one might expe-rience in getting proper attention to correct safety deficiencies, especially when the items involved are considered by some as "trivia". "Trivial" items, such as poor house keeping, overcrowd-ing, excessive storage, wedging open fire doors, are frequently identified in safety inspections. Often times, little attention is paid to correct the situation; in other cases corrections are short lived and the situations quickly revert back to the previous condition of violation. Perhaps it is the lack of response or the lack of proper long term solution which prompted the drastic action mentioned here.

Getting

Attention

on Safety

Matters

Getting

Attention

on Safety

Matters

The case cited above raised a couple of interesting points. Some organizations have the bad habit of taking action only after acci-dents have occurred instead of utilizing resources to establish a proactive accident prevention programme. Another common ob-servation is that many organizations simply accept various "minor” safety deficiencies and are not diligent in correcting them. How-ever, the reality is that these "trivial” or "minor” safety deficiencies can lead to disastrous results if they are not promptly corrected. Issues such as the blocking of escape routes, the wedging open of fire doors, poor house keeping and excessive accumulation of combustible materials have contributed to the severe property damage and major loss of lives in recent disastrous fire incidents in the region.

At HKUST, one can report safety concerns to either the direct supervisor or to SEPO. During the after hours, the Security Unit should be contacted for urgent situations. Imminently dangerous operations will be promptly addressed by stopping operations. Cases requiring facility improvements will be processed with safety priorities, depending on results of risk assessment. While waiting for long term solutions, the implementation of interim safety meas-ures may be required. At HKUST, we have a commitment to pro-vide and maintain a safe and environmentally friendly work and study environment. Let’s continue to realize this commitment by diligently implementing a proactive accident prevention pro-gramme.