Process Risk Assessment
Research personnel must perform a process risk assessment for all processes that utilize hazardous materials. The assessment is utilized to determine the level of risk associated with a specific process. The assessment evaluates the hazards associated with each task and corresponding safety controls to assist in determining whether or not the risk is acceptable. The process risk assessment can be utilized as a standard operating procedure.
The risk assessment compares the severity of the hazard to the likelihood an incident could occur. This comparison identifies the level of risk associated with the process. The evaluation is performed using the following risk assessment matrix.
Severity levels are defined as:
Likelihood levels are defined as:
Risk Level and Acceptability Criteria:
Research personnel must complete the Process Risk Assessment form using the above matrix to determine the initial risk level. Medium and high risk levels must be re-evaluated to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. The form must be approved by the PI or Supervisor of the laboratory and sent to the EH&S for final approval. The experiment cannot be initiated until final approval is provided. The assessment must be upload to BioRAFT using the Document’s tab on the PIs profile page.
In addition, EH&S created Chemical Safety Summaries (CSS) for over 250 chemicals used at the university. The summary provides the following information on the specific chemicals.
- Chemical Name
- Hazard Rating
- Hazards
- Label Requirements
- Permissible Exposure Limits
- Personal protection equipment required.
- Precautionary Statements
Research personnel should utilize the summaries to complete the required process risk assessment for every process in the laboratory.
Please contact EHS if you have any questions.