Laboratory Safety

Course details

While the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare (General Applications) Regulations 2007 (as amended) impose a duty of care on employers to ensure the safety of all their employees, laboratories are often overlooked when formal hazard identification and risk assessments are carried out.

Laboratories are seen to have significant hazards but it is assumed that the laboratory staff know about them and how to control the associated risks. It is generally left to the laboratory staff itself to control their own risks.

But have the staff really got the expertise and the knowledge to identify the hazards and do they know the best way to control the risks? Or, if they do, has the everyday pressure to get the job done put attention on safety into the background?

This course will provide a background to the importance of laboratory safety and give reasons why it should always be at the forefront of both staff and management’s mind even when highly trained and experienced staff is in control.

The various potential hazards will be identified and the risks associated with them assessed. Guidelines and suggestions on the control of hazards will be provided.

Information on the requirements of the 2005 Act will be provided.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this training course, delegates should be able to:

• Have increased awareness of the hazards of the laboratory.
• Know what the hazards are and how to assess the risk.
• Know how to approach minimising the risks to ensure a safer workplace.
• Know where to find further information on potential hazards.
• Know what is required of him/her under the law.

Course Programme

• Why bother with safety in the laboratory?
• The hazards of laboratories;
• Miscellaneous other laboratory related hazards
• Physical hazards.
• Chemical hazards
• Biohazards
• Hazards of ionising and non-ionising radiation
• Fire and explosion hazards.
• The control of the associated risks.
• Cultivating safety awareness.
• The importance of personal protective equipment.
• Where to get safety information.
• Environmental considerations including the minimisation and disposal of hazardous waste.