Process family
Laboratory safety: risk assessment, PPE, waste, spills, emergencies, incidents
Six laboratory safety flowcharts: the preventive chain of risk assessment, PPE management and waste management, and the reactive routes for spill response, emergency response and safety incident reporting.
Laboratory safety splits into what is decided before the work and what happens when it goes wrong. The preventive chain is the risk assessment for an activity, the PPE that assessment requires and the handling of the waste it produces; the reactive routes are spill response, emergency response and the reporting and investigation of a safety incident. There is no single umbrella safety-programme template; the six cover it between them.
The laboratory risk assessment starts the preventive chain: clarify the scope, identify hazards and existing controls, assign further controls, document the rationale and escalate an assessment that is not accepted. PPE management takes the task and hazard context from it and keeps suitability, fit, condition and unresolved gaps connected to a responsible review. Laboratory waste management applies local segregation and labelling, holds an uncertain stream or container for classification guidance rather than forcing it down a routine route, and documents traceability to disposition.
The reactive routes share one rule: match the response to the known material, area and site procedure, and escalate an unknown condition. Spill response matches the material and area to the applicable site procedure and manages local response or escalation; emergency response activates the local arrangements and coordinates support. The laboratory safety incident template covers reporting, immediate response, evidence preservation, corrective actions and closure. The usual failures are a risk assessment never revisited after the method changed, and a near miss cleaned up and never reported.
A safety incident with a wider investigation joins the site's safety incidents family, and a spill or exposure with sample or data impact is also a quality event for laboratory investigations. Work on energised or hazardous equipment inside the laboratory falls under permit to work, and the risk assessment is the laboratory instance of the risk management family.
The sequence
Step 1: Laboratory risk assessment process flowchart
A laboratory risk assessment workflow for clarifying activity scope, identifying hazards and existing controls, assigning further controls or approval, documenting rationale and escalating unaccepted assessments.
Step 2: Laboratory PPE management process flowchart
A laboratory PPE management workflow for understanding task and hazard context, reviewing availability, fit and condition, resolving gaps, documenting suitability decisions and escalating unaccepted dispositions.
Step 3: Laboratory waste management process flowchart
A laboratory waste management workflow for identifying waste streams and container status, applying local segregation and labelling procedures, resolving handling issues, documenting traceability and escalating disposition decisions.
Also part of this family
- Laboratory spill response process flowchart — A laboratory spill response workflow for clarifying the material and area status, selecting the applicable site procedure, managing local response or emergency escalation, reviewing follow-up and closing the record.
- Laboratory emergency response process flowchart — A laboratory emergency response workflow for clarifying the situation and local role, activating applicable site arrangements, coordinating support, documenting recovery actions and escalating an unaccepted post-event review.
- Laboratory safety incident process flowchart — A laboratory safety incident workflow for reporting observed hazards, addressing immediate concerns, preserving evidence, deciding investigation needs, documenting corrective actions and escalating unaccepted closure.
Used in these industries
Related guides
- How to create a risk assessment process — How to design a risk assessment process: agree the criteria and appetite before scoring, describe risks as cause, event and consequence, score inherent and residual separately, and approve acceptance.