Laboratories contain lots of hazards that put your staff at risk of physical injuries and health problems. Keeping your lab clean, tidy, and sterile is essential to minimize these dangers, as well as maximize productivity and ensure results are accurate.
ICE Cleaning Sevices is a specialist cleaning company that offers laboratory cleaning services. Its technicians are strictly trained in how to clean and sterilize lab equipment and surfaces and can provide the highest quality clean with the lowest possible risk.
Keep reading to find out what the main hazards in a laboratory are.
1. Fires and explosions
Flammable chemicals like acetone, gasoline, and hexane must be treated with caution as they can quickly start a fire. Vapors may also travel far and could ignite in the presence of a flame or spark.
Flame-resistant personal protective equipment (PPE) and keeping a fire extinguisher on hand are essential to keep people safe in the event of a fire. Open flames should be closely monitored, too, particularly if flammable solvents are present.
2. Chemical and thermal burns
Corrosive chemicals that spill or splash onto your employees can cause serious physical injuries and damage your laboratory equipment and surfaces.
Your employees must wear appropriate PPE when handling and using these harmful substances. Rapid response chemical spill cleanup by trained professionals is also required following a spill to make the lab safe again.
Heating devices, like Bunsen burners, could put staff at risk of burns, too. Staff must keep a safe distance away from open flames and heating devices, and should not leave them unattended during or after use.
3. Toxic gases
Many dangerous chemicals produce harmful vapors, which can be hazardous when inhaled, such as irritating the eyes, nose, and lungs, as well as more serious health effects.
To keep your team safe, they must keep a distance when pouring chemicals, and there should be sufficient ventilation in the laboratory. Quick, thorough clean-up is essential after a chemical spill to minimize people’s exposure to its vapors, too.
4. Infectious diseases
Should you handle diseases and viruses, you must follow strict health and safety protocols. Lab cleaning specialists, like ICE Cleaning’ technicians, can sterilize your entire laboratory, including equipment and surfaces, to remove any harmful pathogens.
5. Broken glassware
Dropped equipment, messy and disorganized work surfaces, and incorrectly handling glassware can cause it to break and puts people at risk of getting cut.
Professional lab cleaners can clean and tidy your laboratory, reducing the chances of things being knocked off surfaces.
6. Slips, trips, and falls
Spilled chemicals and equipment left on the floor can be very dangerous. Lab workers could trip, slip, and fall and get injured. Keeping your lab tidy and having spills cleaned up as soon as possible can protect them from harm.
These are the six dangers that potentially exist in the laboratory. As long as we do a good job of popularization and prevention in advance, then the probability of danger will be reduced to a minimum. We always believe that the laboratory is the place to promote the progress of biological science.
