Health and Safety

ITQB NOVA provides Healthcare to all the community as General Practice and Occupational Medicine.

General Practice (accessible to everyone at the Institute) functions twice a month – online booking.

Occupational Medicine (accessible to workers and researchers with a contract) functions twice a month – appointments booked by the physician and in accordance with the legislation in force.

Researchers, staff members, and PhD students at ITQB NOVA also have access to Mental Health services through Team 24, an online platform.

Team members

Helena Pereira Matias

Cermax-NMR

Nelson Saibo

Investigador Principal

Nuno Monteiro

Head of Maintenance

Fernando Jorge Tavares

Accounting

Tiago Cordeiro

Dynamic Structural Biology - Tiago Cordeiro

Abel González Oliva

Investigador Auxiliar

Ligia Oliveira Martins

Microbial & Enzyme Technology - L. O. Martins

Catarina Pimentel

Investigadora Auxiliar

Beatriz Royo

Investigador Principal with “Agregação”

Rita Ventura

Investigador Auxiliar

Antonio Cunha

Pilot Plant

Cecília Arraiano

Investigador Coordenador

Monica Paula F. Serrano

Microbial Development - A. Henriques

Paula Chicau

Research Facilities

Joao Nuno Carita

Research Facilities

Isabel Ribeiro

iBET - Fin/Admin.Dep

The Safety Committee’s main objectives are to promote safe and healthy working conditions throughout ITQB NOVA, provide counselling and/or training on demanded subjects, and assure that all research activities are compliant with legal obligations concerning health and safety at work, environmental protection and emergency awareness.

The Safety Office will answer any questions related with safety and emergency procedures, residues separation and recycling, ITQB NOVA licenses (e.g.: radioactive compounds, OGM/MGM), the ITQB NOVA Chem-storage programme (chemicals surplus) or any other subjects concerning lab or office safety.

Any researcher can propose subjects for debate by sending an e-mail to the Coordinator.

Manuals

• Health and Safety Manual (v.  Jul. 2023)
• Manual de Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho (v. Jul. 2023)
• Safety and Occupational Health Manual – Administrative staff, maintenance and visitors (v. Jul. 2025)
• Manual de Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho – Pessoal administrativo, manutenção e visitantes  (v. Jul. 2025)
• GMO Safety Manual (v. 2012)
• Emergency and Evacuation Plan for ITQB NOVA (EN/PT) (v. Nov. 2025)
• Compressed Gases, Cryogenic Liquids and Dry Ice Safety Manual (EN/PT) (v. Sept. 2024)
• Safety Recommendations – Ionizing Radiations and Radionuclides (EN/PT) (2017) (v. Sept. 2017)

Licenses and Notifications

• Biological Safety Level and GMM (EN/PT)
• Organisms notified to Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA)
• Radionuclides and authorized Labs

Rules

• Rules in force at ITQB NOVA
• Laboratory taps color code
• Safety rules for research work with lasers of classes 3B and 4 (EN/PT)
• ITQB NOVA Evacuation Procedures (EN) (PT)

• Municipal Solid Waste @ ITQB NOVA campus (EN) – SCAN Seminar
• EcoDeal Presentation (PT) – Resíduos de laboratório, químicos e solventes
• EcoDeal Presentation Notes (EN) – Regular lab waste, chemicals & solvents
• Ambiwaste Presentation (EN) (PT) – Biohazardous lab waste
• How to sort lab waste into hazardous groups I, II, III and IV
• Hazard Waste Compatibility Chart

Safety Data

• Biological Agents
• Chemical Agents
• Ionizing Radiation
• Plastics, polymers and glass labware
• Occupational Hazards – Effects in Health

Safety Questionnaires

To obtain certification fill the questionnaire, save and send by e-mail to: itqb.safety@itqb.unl.pt 

• GM Plants Safety Certification
• ITQB Safety and Health at Work

Safety Committee

• Chair of the committee: Helena Matias
• Minutes of the Meetings
• For more information please contact: itqb.safety@itqb.unl.pt

First Aid / Primeiros Socorros

For suggestions, questions and stock replenishment of First Aid boxes send an e-mail to: socorristas@itqb.unl.pt 

• Advanced First Aid and AED Team
• How to act when facing a medical emergency – First aid team presentation (March 2023)
• Como atuar numa emergência médica – Apresentação pela equipa de Socorristas (Março 2023)

Work accidents

To notify labor accidents/incidents fill the form, save and send by e-mail to: itqb.safety@itqb.unl.pt 

• Notificação de acidentes e incidentes de trabalho
• Labor accidents/incidents notification form
• How to activate the Personal Accident Insurance included in FCT grant contracts (EN/PT)

Videos

Videos can be seen directly from intranet page (tested with Firefox browser and VLC media player). All videos can also be borrowed from Safety Committee and Floor Coordination (itqb.safety@itqb.unl.pt).

1. Controlling your risk HIV in the research laboratory (28 min)
2. Practicing safe science (29 min)
3. Emergency response (12 min)
4. Radionuclide hazards (12 min)
5. Chemical hazards (10 min)
6. Chemical storage hazards (11 min)
7. Centrifugation hazards (9 min)
8. Glass washing hazards (10 min)
9. X-ray diffraction hazards (9 min)
10. Mammalian cell culture hazards (8 min)
11. Assessing risks (11 min)