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 | Likelihood |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlikely (1) | Possible (2) | Likely (3) | ||
| Low (1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Medium (2) | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| High (3) | 3 | 6 | 9 | |
Severity levels are defined as:
| Level | Impact to Physical Being |
|---|---|
| (1) Low | No injury, injury or ill-health requiring first aid treatment only - includes minor cuts and brises, irritation, ill-health with temporary discomfort. |
| (2) Medium | Injury requiring medical treatment or ill-health leading to disability, includes lacerations, burns, sprains, minor fractures, dermatitis, deafness, work-related upper limb disorders. |
| (3) High | Fatal, serious injury or life-threatening, occupational disease, includes amputations, major fractures, multiple injuries, occupational cancer, acute and fatal diseases. |
Likelihood levels are defined as:
| Level | Event Frequency |
|---|---|
| (1) Unlikely | Not likely to occur. The event has no occurred in the PI's lab or similar lab setup. The event has not been documented in literature or safety bulletins. |
| (2) Possible | Possible or known to occur. The event has occurred in the PI's lab or similar lab setup. The event has been documented in literature or safety bulletins. |
| (3) Likely | Common or repeating occurrence. The event has occurred repetitively in the PI's lab or similar lab setup. The event has been documented in literature or safety bulletins. |
Risk Level and Acceptability Criteria:
| Risk Score | Risk Level | Acceptability of Risk | Recommended Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | Low Risk | Acceptable | No additional risk control measures required. Continue to monitor to ensure the risk does not escalate to a higher level. |
| 3-4 | Medium Risk | Moderately Acceptable | Acceptable to carry out the work activity; however, tasks need to be reviewed to bring risk level to as low as reasonably achievable. Control measures must be implemented to reduce the risk. Supervisory oversight is required. |
| >4 | High Risk | Not Acceptable | Experiment cannot be performed until the risk level is reduced to the medium risk level. Control measures must be implemented to reduce the risk. Control measures must focus on elimination, substitution and engineering controls. Personal protective equipment cannot be the sole risk control strategy. Immediate management intervention is required to ensure the risk is reduced to at least medium level prior to initiating the experiment. |
- 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 EHRS if you have any questions.