Research Laboratories and Health Care

The carefully planned design of hazardous chemicals storage within laboratory space and in associated chemical and samples stores is critical to laboratory safety, efficiency and compliance. In addition to the safe storage of dangerous goods, it is particularly important that a risk-based approach to hazardous area classification in relation to potentially explosive atmosphere associated with flammable liquids, flammable gases and flammable solids storage is applied. The prescriptive hazardous area zoning approach typically leads to significant exclusion zones within the laboratory making large areas unusable, so the risk based approach is recommended.

Current work, health and safety legislative design requirements prescribe the incorporation of a ‘Safety in Design’ assessment, which not only deals with the identification of design risks associated with operability, but considers buildability and maintainability hazards. The RAMBO (Reliability-Availability-Maintainability-Buildability-Operability) process is frequently applied by RiskEng to assess these factors.

Our team of accredited dangerous goods consultants are also able to assist laboratory designers and operators with all aspects of dangerous goods and hazardous chemical design and safety management.