How to Ensure Safety Compliance through Lab Design?

How To Ensure Safety Compliance Through Lab Design

Laboratory compliance is often talked about but not always paid attention to. It’s a critical part of any laboratory and to ensure that laboratory personnel always remain compliant, we’ve drawn up a list of pointers you can keep in mind for your next evaluation.

Besides this, we recommend working with Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) personnel and have a designated individual for this purpose in each laboratory so that no regulations are flouted.

Key Pointers	Aspects to consider
Location of desks	Staff desks must be location outside the laboratory It prevents any unnecessary items such as food & drinks from being stored with the laboratory premises Instead, portable desks must be installed and only in spaces where experimentation is not carried out Designated sitting areas can also be provided
Location of staff offices	Staff offices must be between break room and laboratories The door on one side should lead to the break room and the other side should lead to the laboratory This prevents personnel from eating/ drinking with the laboratory & saving their time
Identify electrical needs	Calculate the number of electrical outlets before the construction process This prevents the need for extension cords and power strips which could cause accidents Also leave enough space for the creation of more electrical outlets if needed in the future
Location of mount holders	To prevent the avoidance of personal protective equipment (PPE), mount holders must be attached within the laboratory These holders can hang PPE across different locations Doing so, increases compliance over time
Use effective signage	Signage within the laboratory must be clear and effective Wordiness must be avoided at all costs Colourful infographics must be pasted and must use a legible font and font size Infographics must use common compliance signs to ensure universality across different laboratories Chemicals/ equipment must be labelled properly for ease of use and segregation later

Source: Improving Safety Compliance through Lab Design (Clinical Lab Manager)

Kewaunee International Group

Kewaunee, the global leader in total laboratory solutions, empowers organisations to achieve competitive advantage through safe, efficient, and contemporary laboratories. In existence since 1906, Kewaunee powers the laboratories for over 5,000 customers in more than 100 countries.