GD Labs shares Top 5 Lab Safety Tips

The best way to safeguard yourself from laboratory accidents is to wear protective clothing and safety accessories.

Yes! Your lab coats and protective workwear can protect you from fires, explosions, pathogens, sharp objects and hazardous chemicals. We recommend you to promote lab safety at your workplace to enable a safe working environment.

Enrich yourself with some of these simple yet effective lab safety tips.

Conduct a comprehensive safety program

A detailed safety program will help the lab workers to overcome hazards and adhere to safety rules and regulations in the long run. Acknowledge your workers about safety standards and guidelines, brief them about the equipment, procedures, environmental conditions and emergency protocols. Make your session interesting by showing them videos and make sure you document the whole program for further use.

Also, check for a company that provides hood testing services.

Vanguard fume hood testing services by GD focuses on a comprehensive assessment of your lab ventilation system. We not only perform On-Site, As Used ASHRAE 110 Testing for your fume hoods but also check the entire lab HVAC system to ensure optimal functionality.

We also provide periodic training to users on the various elements of the lab ventilation system. How about reaching us for the same?

Build a laboratory safety culture

Motivate your employees to take action or raising their voices during any issues. Communicate all safety information loud and clear and make sure that every worker knows what actions to be taken during an emergency. Safety of your employees should be made a priority; a safe culture will make your employees feel comfortable and safe (obviously!).

Never compromise on your PPE

Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), including a lab coat, safety glasses, goggles, gloves, etc. should be made mandatory. You need to be ready for all random circumstances. Don’t wear your lab coats just for the sake of wearing it. It should be flame-resistant (FR), chemical-splash protective (CP) or should have the properties of both CP and FR.

Adhere to good housekeeping regime

Strictly implement regular housekeeping routine and be consistent in cleaning your fume hoods daily or weekly. Teach your lab workers to store chemicals properly, follow good housekeeping practices while working and proper use of fume hood when in use.

Stay vigilant

You may have a strong safety program but are poor at implementing it; then everything is useless. Stay alert and look for potential safety issues and introduce new innovations that promise safety to your laboratories. Try to modify your program depending on the current situation.

The End

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Then, your search ends here!

GD takes pride in providing laboratory furniture and fume hoods to laboratories in most industries – pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, engineering segments, including the education sector across India. Our products are made keeping in mind the futuristic vision, constant innovations, research-driven endeavours, steadfast commitment to quality and customer-focused service principles. Contact us for more!

How to Improve Laboratory Ventilation System Efficiency?

Did you know?

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratory revealed that laboratories require 5-10 times more energy per square foot than a typical commercial office building.

That’s the amount of energy demand and utility costs in laboratories.

Today, fume hoods are equipped with better lab ventilation, chemically resistant, cleaner, high performing and much more. But, to continue its efficiency and performance for a longer time, you still need to maintain it regularly.

The key to improving the facility’s ventilation system is to practice better ventilation management. The question is, why do labs require so much energy to operate and what can be done to enhance the efficiency of lab ventilation system?

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)

HVAC systems make the majority of the laboratory’s energy demand. It is because a safe research lab environment to cleans up to 12 air changes per hour (ACH). It means that the entire volume of air present in the lab is replenished with fresh air 12 times each hour.

Advanced HVAC systems can adjust ventilation rates based on air quality indoors. Here, the ventilation rates increase, only when contaminants are detected in the air. This results in reducing energy consumption.

Fume Hoods

It's said that lab fume hoods can consume as much energy as 2-3 homes in the US. Basically, a fume hood is a lab ventilation device protecting lab workers from inhaling toxic air.

To conserve energy, you can use a sash when the fume hood is not in use and save energy in two ways:

• less conditioned air is pumped out of the room which gradually decreases the use of HVAC

• use Variable Air Volume (VAV) fume hoods and closing the sash will reduce the rate of exhaust airflow to maintain a minimum lab ventilation rate

Promote behaviour change

Implementing energy efficiency measures should be made a norm. Here, you need to bring a change from within and see if the following steps are followed in day-to-day life:

• installing a fume hood ventilation system
• checking the ducts and vents regularly for blockages
• closing the lab doors and windows when not in use
• purchasing certified lab equipment
• cleaning the mess in the fume hood
• switching off the lights at the end of the day
• using task lighting
• unplugging all lab equipment after use
• utilising appliance timers

With this, you will probably be able to save a substantial amount of money and improve the lifespan of the lab equipment.

GD has been successful in building the future of labs by manufacturing safer, maintenance-free and energy-efficient lab spaces for the past 40 years. We are the first laboratory furniture manufacturer globally to get SEFA certified across 3 categories – SEFA 1 for fume hoods, SEFA 8M for metal lab furniture and SEFA 10 for flexible and adjustable lab furniture. Rely on us for the best and advanced lab ventilation systems.

Lab Ventilation Systems: The Essentials You Must Know

A set of several complex systems along with various components create a highly functional lab ventilation system that ensures an energy-efficient, smell free, and safe lab.

The only people who should be allowed to work in a lab are the ones who have been properly trained and hold substantial knowledge about the activities that shall be carried out in the lab.

3 types of safety control measures address potential hazards that could be found in the lab:

• Administrative controls or the common work practices that should be followed
• Engineering controls
• Using PPE (Personnel Protection Equipment)

What these take charge of is the extent of ensuring that there is sufficient space i.e. margin is provided for the safety. By providing safety control measures that are sound and in accordance with the type of work that shall be carried out in the lab along with various factors like the location and space of the lab, lab owners can make the working environment safe and avoid potential hazards.

There are various engineering controls that are included in the designing of a lab and its lab ventilation system, which is guided by various building codes in accordance with the location of the lab and its government.

Vanguard has Exposure Control Devices (ECD) that let the users know whether the systems are working as they should or there are issues with it. All users should be provided with the required training so that in case of an odd occurrence, they are aware of how to handle the situation.

The routine operating parameters should be taken into consideration, and the users should be made aware of the same so that the ventilation system works as it is supposed to with frequent inspections, quality checks, and performance testing.

The following are included in the Vanguard testing of lab ventilation:

• AMC service for fume hood
• An entire assessment of the ventilation system which includes ECD and HVAC
• ASHRAE 110-2016 Testing for fume hoods is carried on site
• AMC services for lab ventilation systems and ECDs

No matter how great the lab ventilation system is, if the person using it is not trained, then the risk of hazards will stick around. Professionals working in the lab must also be able to notice the most subtle changes in the airflow and recognize the negative effects that it could have on the working environment. These include:

• A coworker walking by
• Improper placements of objects in the fume hood
• Incorrect sash working height

Lab employees must stop working and evacuate the room at any sign of danger as well. Lab ventilation systems are provided for the safety of personnel, and if that need is not satisfied then what’s the purpose of investing money in it?

Vanguard is an advanced product in the fume hood technology made with unmatched safety measures and energy proficiency. Vanguard, an international quality product, is a well-designed Lab Ventilation System (LVS) that delivers the expected level of safety. We prioritize your safety. Check out our services today!