Safety is the top priority when working in a laboratory. Accidents happen quickly and the health consequences can be serious. To ensure that employees can work safely in the laboratory, we will show you which rules you need to follow.
The most important facts in brief
Laboratory workers are exposed to hazards such as chemical burns, cuts and burns from chemicals, glass and heat; therefore, wearing appropriate protective clothing and equipment is essential.
✓ Occupational safety in the laboratory requires precise knowledge of and compliance with the safety rules for handling chemicals, including correct storage and disposal.
✓ Effective emergency preparedness with appropriate health and safety measures ensures rapid assistance in an emergency and safeguards the health and safety of laboratory workers.
What dangers lurk when working in the laboratory?
Some of the most common risks of injury in the laboratory are chemical burns, cuts and burns. Many of these accidents are caused by carelessness or negligence. To ensure safe working in the laboratory, you should observe the following:
Chemical burns: When handling chemicals, special care must be taken to ensure that they do not come into contact with the skin. Employees must therefore always wear protective gloves and a lab coat with close-fitting sleeves. If biological substances are involved, from protection level 3 onwards, a so-called back-closing lab coat must be worn instead of the typical lab coat. Washing hands is particularly important after working with chemicals. If the skin has come into contact with a chemical during use, the employee should immediately wash the affected area with plenty of water and then consult a doctor directly.
Cuts: Employees need to be particularly careful when working with glassware. To avoid cuts, you should ask your employees to always wear gloves when working with glassware. Also instruct your employees to always put glassware down carefully and to reach for it instead of throwing or knocking it. It is also important to ensure that there is no broken glass lying around on the floor. If an employee does cut themselves, the wound must be washed thoroughly with water immediately and a doctor must be consulted straight away.
Burns: Burns are typical injuries when working in the laboratory and occur through contact with steam, hot liquids or surfaces. Special care must therefore be taken when working with heat sources. Ask your employees to always wear suitable gloves and a lab coat. To avoid fires, instruct your employees to ventilate regularly, not to carry out experiments with explosive mixtures and to avoid open sources of ignition.
What role does occupational safety play in the laboratory?
Occupational health and safety plays a crucial role when working in a laboratory. It serves to minimize the dangers that can arise when working with chemicals and other hazardous substances. Important elements of occupational health and safety include, for example, the correct handling of chemicals, wearing suitable protective clothing and complying with safety-related rules and regulations.
Responsibility for occupational safety in the laboratory lies with employers and employees. Employers are responsible for ensuring that working conditions comply with legal requirements and that employees are informed of the hazards. They, in turn, are responsible for complying with the safety regulations. In order to avoid accidents and damage to health, it is therefore important that all persons involved in laboratory work recognize their responsibility and take it seriously.
You can find more information on the parties responsible for occupational health and safety in our article "Who is responsible for occupational health and safety?".
What protective measures are there for employees?
Laboratories are not ordinary workplaces. They often use hazardous chemicals and equipment that pose an increased risk of accidents and health problems. It is therefore important that you raise awareness among your employees:
Inform your employees about the risks: Explain the dangers posed by the relevant chemicals and equipment. Inform all employees about the correct handling and storage of chemicals and ensure that they follow all instructions. Before carrying out experiments, lab workers should read and understand all safety precautions contained in the operating instructions. You can find more information on this in our article "What is an operating instruction and why is it so important?".
Ask your employees to keep the workplace clean: In order to work safely in the lab, it is important that lab workers tidy up and keep their work area clean. Tidy work areas reduce the risk of accidents and help to make work more efficient. If employees work with hazardous chemicals, they should always take care to store and dispose of them properly so that other people do not accidentally come into contact with them.
Ask your employees to wear protective clothing: Another important aspect of work safety in the laboratory is the right clothing and protective equipment. Encourage lab workers to always wear safety goggles and/or respirators and gloves when working to protect their eyes, nose and hands from hazardous chemicals. Also advise your employees to refrain from wearing street clothes, as these cannot provide sufficient protection. Instead, laboratory workers should always wear a lab coat with tight-fitting sleeves that covers the knees and forearms. This work clothing must be provided by the employer in accordance with § 2 ArbSchG.
Ensure that emergencies do not go unnoticed: In the event of critical hazards, employees should never work alone and therefore out of call and sight of other people, as they will otherwise be completely on their own in an emergency. Ideally, there should always be two people on site. If lone working is permitted according to the risk assessment and cannot be avoided due to the situation, it makes sense to equip your employees with an emergency solution such as CALIMA. As an app on the smartphone, CALIMA even automatically recognizes emergencies and alerts stored emergency contacts. You can find more information about CALIMA here.
What happens if something does happen?
Even if the most important safety precautions are observed, accidents can still happen. If an accident occurs, it is important to act quickly and correctly. If a laboratory worker suffers an accident in the workplace, the following steps should be taken:
1. keep calm
2. depending on the severity of the accident: provide first aid or alert the emergency services. By using CALIMA, help can be requested quickly in an emergency.
3. secure the accident site to prevent further accidents.
4. collect all relevant information about the incident and document it in the first aid book (e.g. date, time, place, type of accident).
5. analysis of the accident to prevent further accidents.
Conclusion
Working in the laboratory requires special care and attention. By following simple safety rules, a large part of the risk can be minimized. The most important safety precautions include wearing protective clothing, observing the correct work procedures and handling chemicals with care. As always in occupational health and safety, cooperation between those responsible and employees is crucial: after all, hazards and accidents can only be avoided if everyone pulls together.
