Health and Safety

The How, When, and What for a Meaningful Lab Safety Audit

Our last several safety articles for ALN have dealt with laboratory safety. We covered chemical inventories, material safety data sheets (MSDS), the NFPA hazard diamond, storage and shelving, and managing lab waste. This month we are going to shift gears and take a step back. It is time to reflect on all the work we have been doing getting our labs in order and take a look at where we are. Yes, we are talking about the dreaded safety audit or inspection.

We all know why we should conduct periodic laboratory safety audits or inspections. But, do we give much thought to how they should be done? Or, when is the best time? Or, what we should be looking for? This Safety Guys’ column will answer all these questions and step you through a meaningful laboratory safety survey.Our intent is to stimulate you to set up and implement a successful program.

The typical animal research facility contains a variety of hazards. Most facilities will have a mix of research laboratories, vivariums, chemical storage areas, waste handling areas, and busy receiving/ loading docks. One excellent resource and starting point for conducting safety inspections is Lawrence Cahill’s Environmental Health and Safety Audits.¹ Another resource for any facility using hazardous chemicals is the OSHA Laboratory Standard.² Appendix A of the OSHA standard recommends performing inspections at least semiannually and quarterly for labs with high personnel turnover. The focus of this column will be on conducting safety audits and how the process can be applied to all of the different areas of the facility.

How should the lab safety audit be conducted?
This apparently innocent question may cause you the most agonizing. A quick Google search will produce scores of audit instructions and checklists. But, should you go with self-audits and let the lab manager complete the checklist or something different? Personally, we feel there is no substitute for face-to-face interviews and a physical walk through of each laboratory and audited space. The crucial thing here is that the auditor or surveyor must be trained and knowledgeable about the type of research or work being performed in the area undergoing the safety audit. Checklists can help guide the process but you need to know what you are looking for and what questions to ask if something does not appear right.

Your safety auditors are basically “in-house inspectors” and must able to look for and spot the same health and safety issues that the regulating agencies would if they visited the facility. Depending on the mission of your company or research focus of the lab the different agencies potentially involved could include OSHA, EPA, USDA, CDC, DEA, and NIH to name a few. Therefore, a complex site may require more than one visit and/or auditor as it is rare that one person could be well-versed in all these different topics.

When should the audit be done?
This question boils down to should the safety audit be scheduled with the area manager or should the auditors show up unannounced? We prefer the latter, as this can provide insights into true daily operations. However, there are drawbacks to this approach. If the lab is very busy you might not be able to gain the principle investigator’s or manager’s full attention and all areas might not be accessible due to ongoing experiments or other work processes. You need to be flexible and perhaps a mix of scheduled audits and unannounced surveys is the best option.

What do we look for?
Now we get to the heart of this column and the question everyone wants answered—what are we looking for during a safety audit? The simple answer of course is everything! The reality is that we are performing a walk-through inspection and trying to spot obvious safety hazards.We also are gaining insight into the day to day operations by interviewing the PI or manager and observing overall conditions in the area. A final goal of the audit is to ensure that regulatory requirements are being met and we are in compliance with all applicable rules. So, let’s get started on our virtual safety audit.