How to Simplify Complex Lab Safety Processes

Learn to navigate the complex world of lab safety and reduce key pain points in lab safety management.

Building a safety compliant and efficient laboratory workplace can be incredibly difficult in part because of the multilayered complexities involved. A modern laboratory presents a myriad of challenges including but not limited to: 

• chemical inventory management
• maintenance of critical safety systems
• safety education for lab technicians
• ergonomic workstation setup and maintenance

In addition to addressing all of these requirements on the ground, safety officers and employers must also contend with regulations and documentation requirements from a wide variety of government institutions. In fact, laboratories must comply with no less than 5 organizations:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – mainly concerned with issues of public health and accuracy of lab data in regards to public health decision making. 
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – focused on public health and protecting the environment – often through regulations around the proper disposal of chemicals.
• The National Institute of Health (NIH) – boasts being the largest biomedical research agency in the world in addition to its position in general health oversight.
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) – a branch of the CDC focused exclusively on empowering employers and workers to create safe and healthy workplaces.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – a branch of the US Dept. of Labor dedicated to ensuring safe and healthful working conditions.

With all of these verticals to contend with, employers are often forced to seek software solutions piecemeal: perhaps using one system for chemical inventory management, another one for incident management and perhaps even hiring outside consultants to handle ergonomic evaluations—not to mention linking Safety Data Sheets! 

Ultimately though, this results in a fragmented safety system where valuable information is spread across so many platforms that safety solutions are obfuscated and siloed. In contrast to the above, we recommend anyone focused on laboratory safety search for software that can tackle as many challenges as possible.

That’s why we developed a comprehensive Lab Safety platform that provides the ability for Safety Officers and EHS teams to collaborate and engage with Lab P.I.’s, researchers, and other team members using mobile devices, tablets and computers to manage critical safety processes.

The SBN platform is not just a digital “checklist” app, or any other one thing. Rather we present a holistic solution to addressing your lab safety needs such as: 

• Equipment Inspections, e.g. eye wash stations, fume hoods, fire extinguishers, etc.
• Safety Observations, Ergonomic Evaluations, PPE use
• Chemical Inventory Management and Compliance Reporting, e.g. CERS

With the SBN solution you can house all of your safety requirements under one roof while increasing the collaboration and accountability of all team members. The SBN system is proudly used by universities, R&D firms, biotech and pharmaceutical firms, as well as industrial chemical manufacturing and processing plants. 

Feel free to schedule a free trial to learn more about increasing inter-team collaboration and see what a company-wide, same day launch could look like.