Reported data on incidents in academic chemistry laboratories indicates that the accident rate is 10 to 50 times higher than in industrial laboratories.  These data suggest that risk reduction efforts in academic laboratories are managed differently with less successful outcomes.  When an accident occurs in an academic laboratory, the subsequent investigation findings often point to the absence of a risk analysis, prior to starting the synthesis, as a root cause factor.  This paper describes a straightforward technique that identifies and assesses the hazards of conducting a chemical synthesis in the research environment.  Thirty three parameters, indicative of one or more hazard properties of molecules, or techniques, characterize the hazard potential of the synthesis.  Unlike the OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450), which focuses only on the health hazards of chemicals, Lab-HIRA uses the physical, chemical, toxicological, and exposure characteristics to assess the risks of using each chemical.

Hazard identification and risk analysis for chemical research laboratories: Adapting the chemical industry's approach to the needs of academia

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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