Occupational risk prevention in laboratories: safety by design
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 6:03 am
PRL laboratoryIván Dorado Moreno . Professor of the Academic Area of Occupational Risk Prevention and Safety at Bureau Veritas Training. Doctor of Chemical Sciences.
Laboratories are workplaces that undoubtedly present a series of peculiarities that must be taken into account for the correct control and management of occupational risks. We can highlight the following:
A wide variety of hazards are often present in laboratories . It is not unusual to find in these work environments inventories of chemical products with hundreds of entries, unique work equipment whose use entails risks due to high pressures, high temperatures, radiation or biological agents, among others.
Exposures to contaminants in laboratories are occasional, for short periods of time, but can be very intense.
Laboratory workers have a high level of technical instagram data training ; however, in our country this is not usually accompanied by adequate knowledge of preventive matters.
Laboratories are highly changing work environments. In relatively short periods of time, it is common for work procedures, facilities, equipment or products used to change. These changes are more common in research laboratories due to the very nature of the work.
Designing a laboratory: elements to consider
Our Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks, in its explanatory statement, mentions that prevention planning must be carried out “from the very moment of the project design”. This is specified in the principles of preventive action included in article 15, which establishes that adequate risk control must be implemented from the outset. Therefore, from the beginning of the design of a laboratory, the main aspects that guarantee adequate control of safety and health in these workplaces must be analysed.
Each laboratory has specific preventive needs established by the activities that will be carried out: for example, the needs of a laboratory dedicated to organic chemistry will be very different from those of a laboratory dedicated to microbiology. Thus, it is essential that, from the beginning of the project, there is fluid and effective communication between the designer and the future users, since the experience of the former will be of great importance for a correct design.
The proper initial design of the laboratory's air conditioning and ventilation system will be crucial for proper control of contaminants, thermal, acoustic and olfactory comfort, as well as for the proper energy efficiency of these spaces. In this regard, the designer must consider the following aspects:
Presence of localized extraction equipment and its location (fume cabinets, extraction hoods, extraction arms, etc.).
Work equipment that may influence thermohygrometric conditions, such as stoves, muffles, heating baths, incubators, ultra-freezers, reactors, autoclaves, etc.
Possible dispersion of contaminants between the different rooms of the laboratory and its surroundings.
In addition, special attention must be paid to the storage needs of this type of facility. Spaces must be planned for flammable liquids, corrosives, pressurized gases, highly toxic agents or hazardous waste. The design must take into account the safe transfer, also from an ergonomic point of view, of all these elements from reception to removal.
Laboratories are workplaces that undoubtedly present a series of peculiarities that must be taken into account for the correct control and management of occupational risks. We can highlight the following:
A wide variety of hazards are often present in laboratories . It is not unusual to find in these work environments inventories of chemical products with hundreds of entries, unique work equipment whose use entails risks due to high pressures, high temperatures, radiation or biological agents, among others.
Exposures to contaminants in laboratories are occasional, for short periods of time, but can be very intense.
Laboratory workers have a high level of technical instagram data training ; however, in our country this is not usually accompanied by adequate knowledge of preventive matters.
Laboratories are highly changing work environments. In relatively short periods of time, it is common for work procedures, facilities, equipment or products used to change. These changes are more common in research laboratories due to the very nature of the work.
Designing a laboratory: elements to consider
Our Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks, in its explanatory statement, mentions that prevention planning must be carried out “from the very moment of the project design”. This is specified in the principles of preventive action included in article 15, which establishes that adequate risk control must be implemented from the outset. Therefore, from the beginning of the design of a laboratory, the main aspects that guarantee adequate control of safety and health in these workplaces must be analysed.
Each laboratory has specific preventive needs established by the activities that will be carried out: for example, the needs of a laboratory dedicated to organic chemistry will be very different from those of a laboratory dedicated to microbiology. Thus, it is essential that, from the beginning of the project, there is fluid and effective communication between the designer and the future users, since the experience of the former will be of great importance for a correct design.
The proper initial design of the laboratory's air conditioning and ventilation system will be crucial for proper control of contaminants, thermal, acoustic and olfactory comfort, as well as for the proper energy efficiency of these spaces. In this regard, the designer must consider the following aspects:
Presence of localized extraction equipment and its location (fume cabinets, extraction hoods, extraction arms, etc.).
Work equipment that may influence thermohygrometric conditions, such as stoves, muffles, heating baths, incubators, ultra-freezers, reactors, autoclaves, etc.
Possible dispersion of contaminants between the different rooms of the laboratory and its surroundings.
In addition, special attention must be paid to the storage needs of this type of facility. Spaces must be planned for flammable liquids, corrosives, pressurized gases, highly toxic agents or hazardous waste. The design must take into account the safe transfer, also from an ergonomic point of view, of all these elements from reception to removal.