Why safety in laboratory operations?
A pharmaceutical laboratory is an integral part of a pharma organization to check and assure quality in the production life cycle. It provides facilities to test raw materials, products at various production stages, and final finished products for distribution to the market.
The test process in a pharma laboratory uses various chemicals, instruments, and tools for conducting tests on various samples. The test process, various tools, and their associated components can become hazardous if improper and safely handled. It can damage buildings and tools and can even cause human casualties.
Safety is critical for safe routine laboratory operations. Safety in the laboratory ensures that
All the processes are carried out according to acceptable procedures.
Personnel performing laboratory operations are trained and are capable of managing any hazardous situation.
The laboratory has adequate resources, systems, and procedures to deal with accidents.
What are the common hazards in pharmaceutical laboratory?
Depending on the production process in a pharma organization, there can be many hazards in a pharma laboratory. Classification and determination of hazards in the laboratory are necessary for developing an effective safety system. Otherwise, it could lead to unnecessary and ineffective safety systems.
Hazards are classified according to Hazardous Substance Ordinance, which classifies hazards in pharmaceutical laboratories into
Physical Hazards
Health Hazards
Environmental Hazards
Let’s briefly discuss each of these
Physical Hazards
Physical hazards are activities and items that pose a danger to a person's physical safety. This hazard is common in every industry, including pharma laboratory operations, and in some cases, it is unavoidable.
A hazard is classified as physical if it contains the following properties.
Explosive substances
Flammable
Oxidising agents
Inflammable
Highly Inflammable
Highly toxic
Toxic
Health Hazards
Hazards that harm our long-term and short-term health are classified as Health Hazards. They affect the human body when touched, inhaled, or ingested. If these hazards are not treated promptly and appropriately, they can seriously affect the human body, resulting in adverse consequences and even becoming fatal.
Health hazards include one or all of the following properties.
Harmful to health
Corrosive
Irritant
Sensitizing
Carcinogenic
Toxic to reproduction
Mutagenic
Environmental Hazards
Environmental hazards are activities or events that affect the environmental characteristics badly, which in turn have bad consequences on human health and other living beings. These hazards drifts appropriate environmental parameters out of standard value.
For example, a hazards can increase or decrease the concentration of certain chemicals or substance from standard values, which in turn can become hazardous for personnel and pharma process being carried out.
How to implement safety in pharma lab
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