Joint applicability test of software for laboratory assessment and risk analysis

Abstract

Most of the available risk management methods are not directly applicable to academic research laboratories. One solution to systematically perform risk analyses in this environment is the Laboratory Assessment and Risk Analysis (LARA) method. This method was developed to allow untrained personnel to identify of possible risks and rank them according to their importance. The purpose of this study was to find out, if this method can be used as a holistic risk management technique in different environments, and which are the differences when comparing the results to other, well established risk analysis techniques. The risk analyses were performed at two European universities and for various procedures. The results show, that the LARA procedure is more easily performable than the other methods and gives comparably adequate results. Being applicable by non-experts, this holistic risk analysis method for research laboratories can help to reduce the accident rate in the academic environment.

Laboratory Safety Awareness, Practice, Attitude, and Perception of Tertiary Laboratory Workers in Hong Kong: A Pilot Study

“…There are various analysis methods of which laboratory assessment and risk analysis (LARA) is a potential tool for research that not only incorporates the probability of an accident, risk description, and hazard importance but also takes the detectability of a hazard and the environmental worsening factors that exist in a research laboratory into account. 31,32 Safety training is one of the most important elements to prevent accidents by sharing basic safety rules, best practices, and most importantly the lessons learned from past laboratory accidents to all workers. A majority of the participants said that training is provided before being allowed to carry out experiments in this survey (71.4%) and the 2012 International Survey (67.6%).…”

“…A simple and convenient method that facilitates the nonexpert user to assess universal conditions is needed. There are various analysis methods of which laboratory assessment and risk analysis (LARA) is a potential tool for research that not only incorporates the probability of an accident, risk description, and hazard importance but also takes the detectability of a hazard and the environmental worsening factors that exist in a research laboratory into account. , …”

Inherent Hazards Assessment and Classification Method for University Chemical Laboratories in China

“…The Laboratory Assessment and Risk Analysis (LARA) was proposed based on the Lab Criticism Index (LCI) . Pluess et al further compared LARA with Hazard and Operability studies (HAZOP), Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), and Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PreHA), confirming that LARA can effectively identify hazards and assess risks, and is easier to implement because it does not require experienced analysts . Li et al proposed a semiquantitative risk assessment method using Combination Ordered Weighted Averaging (C-OWA) operator and Matter-Element Extension Theory (MEET) to evaluate the integrated risk of university chemical laboratories mainly from human, equipment, material, environmental, and management factors .…”

“…20 Pluess et al further compared LARA with Hazard and Operability studies (HAZOP), Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), and Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PreHA), confirming that LARA can effectively identify hazards and assess risks, and is easier to implement because it does not require experienced analysts. 21 Li et al proposed a semiquantitative risk assessment method using Combination Ordered Weighted Averaging (C-OWA) operator and Matter-Element Extension Theory (MEET) to evaluate the integrated risk of university chemical laboratories mainly from human, equipment, material, environmental, and management factors. 2 However, existing research lacks an effective quantitative evaluation method for the inherent hazards of university chemical laboratories, and the research on risk classification management strategies for university chemical laboratories is insufficient.…”

A Methodology for Dynamic Assessment of Laboratory Safety by SEM-SD

“…However, hazards in the lab have different inherent characteristics compared with industry, e.g., high turnover of collaborators, students not being trained well for lab work, freedom of research, equipment often in the development stage and the difficulty of obtain accident statistics, etc. Hence, the risk analysis techniques commonly used as aforementioned in industry cannot directly migrate to the laboratories of colleges and universities [ 21 , 22 ]. Moreover, none of these approaches enable a dynamic and holistic analysis, thus failing to describe the variations in laboratory safety, which is a natural characteristic of laboratory safety management [ 23 ].…”