Occupational Health and Safety in the Chemical and Biological Laboratory Handbook

Occupational health and safety refers to the whole series of prevention measures and protection, technical measures, organisational solutions, and procedures that must be adopted by the employer to avoid dangerous situations for their employees. While it is true that total security exists in the absence of dangers, and this is a difficult concept to translate into real life, in the absolute sense, it is also true that the application of safety rules makes the occurrence of adverse events and incidents more difficult, and it always results in a better quality of life. Each analytical laboratory should provide its own "Good Laboratory Practices" and procedures must be the result of the experience and must be known, correctly interpreted, shared, and respected by all the staff of laboratory. The idea of creating a manual on occupational health risks in a chemical and biological analysis laboratory derives from the need to provide technical support for the various figures involved in activities requiring the safe use of chemical and biological agents in lab analysis. The purpose of this work is to provide workers with more detailed information on the main possible causes of risk in an analysis laboratory, as well as on the most appropriate means of individual and collective protection to be used at work. The manual also gives an overview of main laboratory safety standards pertaining to clothing and equipment as well as procedures and lab design. This manual can be a valuable approach to knowledge of laboratory risks in order to eliminate or at least minimise them. Finally, the handbook can also be a support to the drafting of internal safety standards, both for general and specific procedures.