How a successful hazardous chemicals management strategy looks like
February 25, 2023 | Lab Furniture
In the lab, most of the significant hurdles can be flagged right away. But there are stealthy hurdles that tend to escape our attention unless they’ve already caused major problems. And the CRB group identified one such challenge - managing your lab’s hazardous chemicals.
A difference exists between a good strategy and a great strategy. A good strategy is more of a core responsibility, protecting your building’s occupants and the general public from harm. Meanwhile, a great strategy goes beyond and aids in designing a facility that’s not only amenable but also flexible over time, including the handling of chemicals.
Maximum Allowable Quantities (MAQs) determines how much a certain lab chemical can store, handle or dispense as a function in part of the decisions that were made during the building’s design programming stage. These include the incorporation of control areas, safety features, and hazardous chemical management strategy, all of which become an integral business tool and correspondingly, the health of the lab team.
As provided by CRB group, there are three key features to a great hazardous chemical management strategy.
Goes beyond what the code requires.
If not always, the lab team is often on the brink of a breakthrough as they develop new techniques and experiment with novel molecules. Thus, going as far as the code requires does them great disservice. And when baseline safety standards no longer work, it is vital to use the approach called Alternate Means and Methods (AM&M) or Performance-Based Design Alternatives (PBDA). This increases the level of safety in the facility.
Taking into mind these key features to your hazardous chemical management strategy will be advantageous for you.