Improving workplace health & safety through collaboration
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Strengthening today's laboratory safety culture through better management
Because the Safety Guys write about this stuff all the time, you know that laboratory workers are exposed to numerous hazards spanning biological, chemical, physical, and radioactive risks. Repetitive tasks of production labs and high-volume analytical labs as well as the challenges of handling research animals can also lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The diverse and serious potential hazards faced daily by laboratory workers begs two questions: Are our labs safe enough? Are we doing our best to protect our laboratory workers? Sadly, given some examples below, the answer is definitely not.
Research laboratories conduct work on the forefront of technology and innovation. This often entails working with dangerous materials and unknown reactions. Progress demands that this research continue and thrive. However, it must be done with effective safety management in place and within a strong safety culture at the institution. This is not always the case, particularly in academic settings. A rash of recent serious accidents sheds light on the fact that we could and should be doing better. Granted, these are taken primarily from academic labs, but that is only because that is where we Safety Guys practice in our day jobs. We are sure that if we looked long and hard enough, we could find similar incidents in nonacademic settings.
Making the case for stronger safety culture and management programs
During the past few years there have been a number of very serious laboratory accidents that have resulted in severe injuries, extensive facility damage, and even fatalities. Given the facts, the labs may have been lucky that damages and injuries were not worse. We present a brief summary of a few recent events and findings by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to make our case for needing a stronger safety culture and better management programs.
Moving toward a better safety culture
“The most difficult thing to do is change a culture.” That quote is from Bill Tolman, the chair of the chemistry department at the University of Minnesota.4 Looking at the examples presented above, the need for a better safety culture, especially in academia but also in general industry, cannot be denied. How do we do this? What steps are necessary to move us closer to safe and healthy research laboratories and workplaces? Below are our answer, opinion, and plan.
Prevention = Training
As Safety Guys, we believe prevention is the best medicine and that it starts with training. However, we would venture to say that most of us consider training just another item to check off, a small headache that we have to deal with and perform in order to comply with regulations. Granted, many regulations do address training, and a few go as far as to make it mandatory. The Safety Guys have covered (and will continue to write about) these mainstays of safety: the OSHA Lab Standard and Hazard Communication Standard and specific chemical standards that are common to research laboratories. Add OSHA respiratory protection and hearing conservation standards plus EPA hazardous wastes regulations and you have a very full complement of routine or annual training requirements.
If we truly want to move training away from the mundane and advance toward real prevention, we need to make good training a priority and put most of our effort into ensuring that it is done well and that employees take it to heart. To do this, incorporate a wide variety of training methods and use everything at your disposal. Online, computer-based training can reach large numbers of employees with computer access. Videos are very helpful, especially if well done, but should be updated or replaced every so often or they will become stale. In-person training is still probably the most effective, but don’t let those PowerPoint presentations go too long without updating and tailoring them to your specific audience or topic. Try inserting short video clips (YouTube videos) to make important points and maintain interest. We Safety Guys are also big fans of short tests administered immediately following the training session to demonstrate understanding and comprehension. Consider the use of even briefer pop quizzes given unannounced to see whether employees are retaining the most critical information. And finally, retrain whenever the need arises, such as when a breach in protocol, a near miss or close call, or, heaven forbid, an accident or injury occurs.
Prevention = Observing
What do we mean by this, you ask? Think about it. How busy are you in your day-to-day activities? Dealing with all the little things that come up while trying to finish your must-do list, maybe you feel overwhelmed. When did you last take the time to observe your employees performing their work?
By observing we mean conducting regular inspections of the lab, chemical storage room, and other areas under your supervision. And performing occasional audits. Checking the chemical inventory, safety data sheets, training records, and standard operation procedures, sure. But mostly we would ask that you simply watch. Are the proper procedures being followed? Does it look and feel right? Is there anything that could be done differently or changed to flow better, be more efficient, or, most important, performed more safely? In addition to watching, ask employees for feedback. Perhaps they have ideas on improving certain procedures or operations. They perform the tasks daily; what better source is there for positive change? Finally, we want to stress documentation. Record your observations, employee input, training needs, and anything else that you feel needs attention. Set definite dates for follow-up and completion of corrective actions.
Prevention = What if … ?
Statistics on the differences between academic and industrial safety are sparse, to say the least. But nobody seems to dispute that safety culture at universities is widely divergent from safety culture in private, industrial, and production facilities. The reasons for this are far-ranging and complex and beyond the scope of this article yet perhaps the topic of a future one. However, one reason may be a program referred to as Process Safety Management.
Process Safety Management, or PSM, is an OSHA regulation that applies only to certain facilities that handle specific chemicals classed as highly hazardous and in large quantities above the standard’s published thresholds.5 The emphasis of this OSHA standard is management of the hazards associated with these very dangerous chemicals to prevent unexpected releases that create the real possibility of disaster if not properly controlled. The relatively substantial threshold quantities mean that the standard generally applies only to large production facilities. However, we feel that PSM and especially the major components have much wider applicability and should be considered for all laboratories handling hazardous materials.
The purpose of PSM is succinctly summarized as preventing or minimizing the consequences of catastrophic releases that may result in toxic, fire, or explosion hazards. Given that catastrophic is defined as “a major uncontrolled release that presents serious danger to employees in the workplace,” we can all agree this is easily applied to most research labs handling hazardous materials.
The main component is the process hazard analysis (PHA); all hazards involved in the process are identified, evaluated,and (hopefully) controlled. In industry the PHA is performed using a number of different methodologies such as hazard and operability studies, failure mode and effects analysis, fault tree analysis, or simple checklist/what-if scenarios as appropriate to the complexity of the process. We think the latter what-if method is a perfect one to use in most laboratory situations. In developing your standard operating procedures, take the time to ask “What if ?” for each step of the operation. As you work through each “deviation”—considering the worst-case scenario and its causes, consequences, possible safeguards, and recommendations—you very likely will uncover appropriate controls, both engineering and administrative, that will greatly improve safety. We challenge you to play “What if ?” and see whether your safety culture is stronger for it.
Because the Safety Guys write about this stuff all the time, you know that laboratory workers are exposed to numerous hazards spanning biological, chemical, physical, and radioactive risks. Repetitive tasks of production labs and high-volume analytical labs as well as the challenges of handling research animals can also lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The diverse and serious potential hazards faced daily by laboratory workers begs two questions: Are our labs safe enough? Are we doing our best to protect our laboratory workers? Sadly, given some examples below, the answer is definitely not.
Research laboratories conduct work on the forefront of technology and innovation. This often entails working with dangerous materials and unknown reactions. Progress demands that this research continue and thrive. However, it must be done with effective safety management in place and within a strong safety culture at the institution. This is not always the case, particularly in academic settings. A rash of recent serious accidents sheds light on the fact that we could and should be doing better. Granted, these are taken primarily from academic labs, but that is only because that is where we Safety Guys practice in our day jobs. We are sure that if we looked long and hard enough, we could find similar incidents in nonacademic settings.
Making the case for stronger safety culture and management programs
During the past few years there have been a number of very serious laboratory accidents that have resulted in severe injuries, extensive facility damage, and even fatalities. Given the facts, the labs may have been lucky that damages and injuries were not worse. We present a brief summary of a few recent events and findings by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to make our case for needing a stronger safety culture and better management programs.
Moving toward a better safety culture
“The most difficult thing to do is change a culture.” That quote is from Bill Tolman, the chair of the chemistry department at the University of Minnesota.4 Looking at the examples presented above, the need for a better safety culture, especially in academia but also in general industry, cannot be denied. How do we do this? What steps are necessary to move us closer to safe and healthy research laboratories and workplaces? Below are our answer, opinion, and plan.
Prevention = Training
As Safety Guys, we believe prevention is the best medicine and that it starts with training. However, we would venture to say that most of us consider training just another item to check off, a small headache that we have to deal with and perform in order to comply with regulations. Granted, many regulations do address training, and a few go as far as to make it mandatory. The Safety Guys have covered (and will continue to write about) these mainstays of safety: the OSHA Lab Standard and Hazard Communication Standard and specific chemical standards that are common to research laboratories. Add OSHA respiratory protection and hearing conservation standards plus EPA hazardous wastes regulations and you have a very full complement of routine or annual training requirements.
If we truly want to move training away from the mundane and advance toward real prevention, we need to make good training a priority and put most of our effort into ensuring that it is done well and that employees take it to heart. To do this, incorporate a wide variety of training methods and use everything at your disposal. Online, computer-based training can reach large numbers of employees with computer access. Videos are very helpful, especially if well done, but should be updated or replaced every so often or they will become stale. In-person training is still probably the most effective, but don’t let those PowerPoint presentations go too long without updating and tailoring them to your specific audience or topic. Try inserting short video clips (YouTube videos) to make important points and maintain interest. We Safety Guys are also big fans of short tests administered immediately following the training session to demonstrate understanding and comprehension. Consider the use of even briefer pop quizzes given unannounced to see whether employees are retaining the most critical information. And finally, retrain whenever the need arises, such as when a breach in protocol, a near miss or close call, or, heaven forbid, an accident or injury occurs.
Prevention = Observing
What do we mean by this, you ask? Think about it. How busy are you in your day-to-day activities? Dealing with all the little things that come up while trying to finish your must-do list, maybe you feel overwhelmed. When did you last take the time to observe your employees performing their work?
By observing we mean conducting regular inspections of the lab, chemical storage room, and other areas under your supervision. And performing occasional audits. Checking the chemical inventory, safety data sheets, training records, and standard operation procedures, sure. But mostly we would ask that you simply watch. Are the proper procedures being followed? Does it look and feel right? Is there anything that could be done differently or changed to flow better, be more efficient, or, most important, performed more safely? In addition to watching, ask employees for feedback. Perhaps they have ideas on improving certain procedures or operations. They perform the tasks daily; what better source is there for positive change? Finally, we want to stress documentation. Record your observations, employee input, training needs, and anything else that you feel needs attention. Set definite dates for follow-up and completion of corrective actions.
Prevention = What if … ?
Statistics on the differences between academic and industrial safety are sparse, to say the least. But nobody seems to dispute that safety culture at universities is widely divergent from safety culture in private, industrial, and production facilities. The reasons for this are far-ranging and complex and beyond the scope of this article yet perhaps the topic of a future one. However, one reason may be a program referred to as Process Safety Management.
Process Safety Management, or PSM, is an OSHA regulation that applies only to certain facilities that handle specific chemicals classed as highly hazardous and in large quantities above the standard’s published thresholds.5 The emphasis of this OSHA standard is management of the hazards associated with these very dangerous chemicals to prevent unexpected releases that create the real possibility of disaster if not properly controlled. The relatively substantial threshold quantities mean that the standard generally applies only to large production facilities. However, we feel that PSM and especially the major components have much wider applicability and should be considered for all laboratories handling hazardous materials.
The purpose of PSM is succinctly summarized as preventing or minimizing the consequences of catastrophic releases that may result in toxic, fire, or explosion hazards. Given that catastrophic is defined as “a major uncontrolled release that presents serious danger to employees in the workplace,” we can all agree this is easily applied to most research labs handling hazardous materials.
The main component is the process hazard analysis (PHA); all hazards involved in the process are identified, evaluated,and (hopefully) controlled. In industry the PHA is performed using a number of different methodologies such as hazard and operability studies, failure mode and effects analysis, fault tree analysis, or simple checklist/what-if scenarios as appropriate to the complexity of the process. We think the latter what-if method is a perfect one to use in most laboratory situations. In developing your standard operating procedures, take the time to ask “What if ?” for each step of the operation. As you work through each “deviation”—considering the worst-case scenario and its causes, consequences, possible safeguards, and recommendations—you very likely will uncover appropriate controls, both engineering and administrative, that will greatly improve safety. We challenge you to play “What if ?” and see whether your safety culture is stronger for it.
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References
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