All your laboratory classes in Years 1, 2 and the GEM Year will be supervised and delivered by a team of academic staff. The classes will take place in the teaching laboratories in the Stopford Building, Oxford Road.

The teaching laboratories are run and supported by a small team of technicians/lab assistants, overseen by a Technical Operations Manager who has responsibility for ensuring health and safety. The technical team and academic staff responsible for the classes have full powers to exclude students from practical classes if they do not fully follow health and safety instructions.

Please help technical staff by clearing up equipment, according to the instructions given by the academic leading the class, and by leaving your work area tidy.

Both first and second floor teaching laboratories are under the care of the Technical Operations Manager, Mr Anthony Steel. The Senior Technical Operations Manager is Mrs Hayley Monk.

It is an expectation that students will follow Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) at all times. This includes:

• Lab coats, (provided by the Programme at the start of your studies), must be worn, plus other PPE: Safety glasses, goggles, gloves, etc. as directed by the risk assessments as appropriate.
• Wearing suitable footwear of the type that totally encloses the foot and has a good grip.
• Tie back long hair.
• Tuck head scarves into lab coats.
• Gloves must not be worn outside laboratories.
• Always remove lab coats and wash your hands thoroughly before leaving the lab.
• Do not wear PPE in “dry areas” such as receptions, offices and corridors.
• Returning all equipment to the required place.
• Disposing of all waste items such as used alcohol wipes, tissues into the bins provided.
• Sharp items (i.e. lancets and needles) must be disposed of in the sharps bins provided.
• In general, personal belongings should be stored out of the way, in the places provided, where they do not cause an obstruction.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

• PPE is the safety measure of last resort and must always be used in conjunction with other control measures.
• It only protects you and not people in the vicinity – if it fails, you may be injured.
• It must be fit for purpose, well maintained, comfortable and stored correctly, so items are not damaged.
• If the risk assessment indicates that PPE is needed, you must wear it.

It is of vital importance that you adhere to GLP, thus ensuring personal safety and that of other laboratory users.

Stopford Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory 1 (First Floor Laboratory)

The equipment and resources are mainly for the study of human physiology and pharmacology. Check the notices on the laboratory doors to find out which bays/sections you should go to.

Stopford Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory 2 (Second Floor Laboratories)

The resources in this very large laboratory range from microscopes, for histological work, to biochemical equipment and facilities for microbiological and molecular investigation.

In both first and second floor teaching labs, there are a number of different areas of the laboratories (bays on the first floor and sections in the second floor). Check the notices on the laboratory doors to find out which bays/sections you should go to.

Informed Consent

All practicals that involve human volunteers (i.e. students) have been approved by the University Committee on the Ethics of Research on Human Beings. You will be given full information in the form of a Participant Information Sheet in the session manual; you must read this before your session, and if you wish to volunteer for practicals involving human volunteers you will be required to sign a Consent Form before participating.

Anatomical Laboratories

These comprise the dissecting room and several adjoining laboratories, all under the care of the Mortuary Manager, Mr Stephen Lindsay-Smith.

Dissecting Room

This is where timetabled anatomy practical classes take place.

The dissecting rooms are regulated by the Human Tissue Act 2006. Under this act we are licensed to carry out anatomical dissection. As a user of the dissecting room you must ensure that your behaviour complies with the regulations set down by law. Failure to do so could result in the license being revoked. Therefore, all students are required to read a code of conduct and sign their agreement to abide by the code at all times. Students failing to adhere to the code will be asked to leave the dissecting room and disciplinary action may be taken.

Lab coats and gloves ( i.e. appropriate PPE)  must be worn during dissecting room practicals. Accidents, including minor injuries and incidents that damage anatomical equipment, must be reported to a member of the dissecting room staff immediately.

Laboratory Property

It is a serious offence to take any photographs of the anatomical  specimens, or to remove any equipment or resource material from the laboratories. In order to meet the HTA requirements, all mobile phones must be left in bags during the sessions. Any student who is seen handling a mobile phone will be removed immediately from the dissection room and disciplinary action may be taken.

Any incidents of this kind will be reported to the Official Designated Individual of the HTA for the Anatomy license of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at the University of Manchester.

Please note that anatomical specimens/models and items of laboratory equipment are NOT available for loan and must not be removed from the labs, dissecting room or resource areas.