Hazard Reviews/Risk Assessment

Hazard reviews/Risk Assessment are used to determine if there are potential hazards and risks involved with a procedure. These evaluations are:

required by federal law
standard practice in industry
protect laboratory workers and facilities

When Should I Conduct a Hazard Review?
The PI/Laboratory Supervisor should review and give approval to proceed with a laboratory task whenever:
1.    There is a new procedure, process or test, even if it is similar to older practices.
2.    There is a change, substitution, or deletion of any of the ingredient chemicals in a procedure.
3.    There is a substantial change (25% or more) in the quantity of chemicals used.
4.    There is a failure of any of the equipment used in the process, especially such safeguards as fume hoods or clamp apparatus.
5.    There are unexpected test results, in which case a review of how the new result impacts safety practices must be made.
6.    When members of the laboratory staff become ill, suspect exposure, detect a chemical's odor, or otherwise suspect a failure of any safeguards.

How Do I Conduct a Hazard Review/Risk Assessment?
Step 1: Before you begin the hazard/risk assessment, you will need to know:

Possible physical and health hazards of all chemicals and hazardous materials used in the procedure.
Hazards related to the lab equipment used in the procedure.
Required engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment.
Waste disposal requirements.
Emergency requirements.

Step 2: You will also need to know what the exposure potential to these materials are, including:

Amount of material used
Dispersion Potential (Volatility, Dustiness)
Operating Temperature
Frequency of Use
Safety controls available

This information will not always be available for all the hazardous materials and processes in the procedure. It is possible to group these during a risk assessment based on prior knowledge

Assign categories of risk to some or all chemicals (carcinogens, reproductive toxics, acutely toxics, explosives, unstable processes, pyrophoric materials), apparatus and equipment.
Apparatus under high vacuum, heated oil baths, ultra-centrifuges, NMR equipment and high temperature ovens are classified as presenting a greater risk compared with other apparatus and equipment.
Vacuum distillations, Class III and IV lasers, radioactive materials, unstable or explosive chemicals, highly toxic, reproductive hazards and carcinogens are high risk.

Step 3: Evaluate the risk: Hazard + Exposure = Risk

The level of risk can be assessed using "What if ?"

There is a potential failure or misoperation of the procedure.
There is equipment failure, human error or external events including utility interruptions.

That if the assessment shows that the risk is too great?

Consider ways to lower the hazards, exposures or risks by:
Substitute hazardous chemical for a less hazardous alternative.
Reduce the quantity to lessen the intensity of any hazardous condition. Work with a few grams or a fraction of a gram.
Purchase and use dilute solutions instead of concentrated solutions.
Replace equipment requiring 120 volts AC with equipment that will run on 24 volts AC.
Reduce buildup of static charge by grounding the containers or apparatus involved.
Use lower temperatures instead of higher temperatures.

Use these forms to help in conducting a hazard assessment for your procedures:

Hazard Review/Risk Assessment forms the basis for developing aStandard Operating Procedure.