RDRL and Supervisors

Pursuant to the provisions of Ministerial Decree no. 363 of 05/08/1998, "Regulation containing rules for the identification of the particular needs of universities and university education institutes (....)" in the field of safety at work, the contents of article 5 – "obligations and attributions of the person responsible for teaching or research activities in the laboratory" are reported

1. The person in charge of teaching or research activities in the laboratory, in carrying them out and for the purposes of assessing the risk and identifying the consequent prevention and protection measures, collaborates with the prevention and protection service, with the competent doctor and with the other figures provided for by current legislation.

2. The person in charge of teaching or research activities in the laboratory, at the beginning of each academic year, before starting new activities and on the occasion of significant changes in the organisation of teaching or research, shall identify all those exposed to risk.

3. In particular, the person in charge of teaching or research activities, within the limits of his or her duties and competences, must:

1. take action in order to eliminate or minimize the risks in relation to the knowledge of technical progress, giving prior and exhaustive information to the employer;
2. take action, in the event of changes in activities significant for the health and safety of operators, to ensure that the document referred to in paragraph 2, article 4, of Legislative Decree no. 626 of 19 September 1994, is updated on the basis of the risk assessment;
3. adopt prevention and protection measures, before risky activities are carried out;
4. take action to supervise the correct application of risk prevention and protection measures;
5. attend training and refresher courses organized by the employer with reference to their activity and the specific tasks performed. 

Within the University, the figure of the Head of Teaching or Research Activities in the Laboratory (RDRL) will therefore be included in the hierarchical structure of the subjects active in the security organization chart, among the figures of:

- Manager (or Head of Structure): person who, pursuant to art. 2 paragraph 1 letter d) of Legislative Decree 81/2008, implements the employer's directives by organizing the work activity and supervising it;

And
- Laboratory supervisor (or related space): person who, pursuant to art. 2 paragraph 1 letter e) of Legislative Decree 81/2008, supervises the work activity and guarantees the implementation of the directives received, checking their correct execution by the workers and exercising a functional power of initiative.

It should be noted that, if no identification is carried out, the responsibilities attributed to the RDRL will be the responsibility of the Head of the Structure/Director of the Department (see organization chart page 12 SGSS Manual).

Once identified, the RDRL is included in the dedicated training and updating syllabus, provided by the University, according to the regulatory requirements in force.

Pursuant to the provisions of Legislative Decree 81/08 "Consolidated Law on health and safety at work", the contents of art. 19. "Obligations of the person in charge" 

1. With reference to the activities referred to in Article 3, the persons in charge, in accordance with their powers and competences, must:

a) supervise  and  supervise   compliance by   individual  workers   with their  legal obligations  ,  as well as   with company provisions on health and safety at work and the use of  collective  means of  protection  and   personal protective equipment  made available  to them and,   In  the event  of  detection of  behaviour  that does not comply with the provisions and instructions given by the employer and managers for the purposes of collective and individual protection, intervene to change the non-compliant behaviour by providing the necessary safety instructions. In the event of non-implementation of the instructions given or persistence of non-compliance, interrupt the worker's activity and inform the direct superiors;

b) verify that only workers who have received adequate instructions enter the areas that expose them to a serious and specific risk;

c) require compliance with the measures for the control of risk situations in the event of an emergency and give instructions so that workers, in the event of serious, immediate and unavoidable danger, leave the workplace or the danger zone;

d) inform workers exposed to the risk of serious and immediate danger as soon as possible about the risk itself and the measures taken or to be taken regarding protection;

e) refrain from requiring workers to resume their activity in a work situation in which a serious and immediate danger persists, except in duly justified exceptions;

f) promptly report to the employer or manager both the deficiencies of the means and equipment of work and personal protective equipment, and any other dangerous condition that occurs during work, of which he becomes aware on the basis of the training received;

f-bis) in the event of deficiencies in the means and equipment of work and any dangerous condition detected during supervision, if necessary, temporarily interrupt the activity and, in any case, promptly report the non-conformities detected to the employer and the manager;

g) attend appropriate training courses in accordance with the provisions of Article 37. 

Once identified, the Supervisor is included in the dedicated training and updating syllabus, provided by the University, according to the regulatory requirements in force.

Training is defined as "the set of activities aimed at making workers learn the correct use of equipment, machines, systems, substances, devices, including personal protective equipment, and work procedures".

Art. 37 point 5, Legislative Decree 81/08 provides that "Training is carried out by an expert and in the workplace. The training consists of a practical test, for the correct and safe use of equipment, machines, systems, substances, devices, including personal protective equipment; The training also consists of the applied exercise for safe work procedures. The training interventions carried out must be tracked [...]."