2.A. INTRODUCTION A lot of people, including laboratory workers, are interested in how an organization handles laboratory environmental employee health and safety (EHS) management; clients, customers, and students (if any); suppliers; the neighborhood; shareholders; contractors; insurers; and government agencies.

High EHS management standards are becoming increasingly crucial to businesses, just like other essential aspects of their operations. A structured approach to identifying hazards and  Environmental Health And Safety evaluating and controlling risks related to work is required by high standards.

For laboratory EHS Management

There already exists a comprehensive legal framework. However, this framework requires organizations to manage their activities to anticipate and avoid situations that could lead to occupational injuries, poor health, or unfavorable environmental effects. By incorporating EHS management with other aspects of the organization, this chapter aims to improve organizations' EHS performance.

The management practices advocated by proponents of quality assurance and business excellence share many characteristics with efficient EHS management. EHS risks are managed systematically and proactively by establishing an EHS management system. The guidelines here are designed to integrate EHS management into an overall management system and are based on general management principles.

Some aspects of environmental

Health and safety management are already in place in many organizations, like risk assessment records and policies, but others must be developed. The EHS management system must incorporate all of the components mentioned earlier. The organization's size, the nature of its activities, the risks, and the conditions under which it operates all play a role in determining how and to what extent each element is applied. All businesses without a well-established EHS management system should conduct an initial status review. This initial status review will provide information regarding the current management system's scope, sufficiency, and implementation. The initial status review should indicate where the organization stands concerning risk management when there is no formal management system, or the organization is just starting.

The major components of an EHS management system are depicted in Figure 2.1.

A flowchart depicting the process of developing environmental health and safety (EHS) policies. In short, there is one stage. The policy's creation or review. 2. Planning. 3. Implementation. 4. Change management, audits, and performance evaluations 5. Examine Management. Stage 1 is retraced in Stage 5.

Figure 2.1: A quick look at the environmental health and safety management system.

2.A.1. Environmental Health and Safety Policy The organization's top management should establish procedures for defining, documenting, and approving a formal EHS policy. The roles and responsibilities of the organization, faculty, EHS staff and individual employees or students should be laid out in detail in the policy. It should be developed in collaboration with laboratory personnel to ensure that all significant concerns are adequately addressed.

It should be stated in the EHS policy that the intention is to prevent or reduce both human and financial losses caused by accidents, adverse workplace exposures, and environmental events;

incorporate EHS considerations into health and safety in construction all operational phases, including the discovery and development environments of the laboratories;

Abide by all Applicable laws and Regulations, and Keep Improving EHS Performance.

Top management should periodically review, validate, and, if necessary, modify the EHS policy and policy statement. It should be communicated to all employees and made readily available to all relevant interested parties.

2.A.2. Management Commitment Management commitment to EHS performance is widely acknowledged as one of the essential factors in the success of an EHS program and the establishment of a robust safety culture within an organization. As a result, the formal statement of intent in the management system document demonstrates management commitment and provides examples of how performance goals are supported. The following are a few examples of how this commitment is supported:

Find ways to use energy better, reduce waste, and avoid accidents.

Please adhere to all applicable laws, rules, and organizational guidelines for their operations.

Continuously improve EHS performance.

Validate and verify EHS performance by conducting periodic assessments.

2.A.3. Planning is a part of the management system in every way. To be effective, it needs to be designed and developed with the right processes and organizational  environmental health and safety structure to manage EHS aspects and their associated risk control systems in proportion to the organization's needs, hazards, and risks. Planning is essential when dealing with health risks that may only appear briefly. Additionally, it establishes objectives that specify the criteria for evaluating the management system's success or failure. The results of the initial status review, the results of subsequent periodic studies, or any other data that are available are used to identify objectives.

Various information sources are utilized to determine which aspects of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) are relevant and to evaluate the risk associated with each. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following information:

Hazard/exposure assessment

Risk assessment, inspections, permits, event investigations (injury and illness investigations, environmental incident investigations, root-cause analysis, and trend analysis), internal audits or external agency audits, fire and building codes, employee feedback regarding unsafe work conditions or situations, emerging issues, corporate/institution goals, and emergency management are all examples of risk assessments.

A risk-based evaluation is carried out to ascertain the potential impact and sufficiency of the current control measures after the relevant EHS aspects have been identified. Then, business planning incorporates any additional controls employee health and safety or corrective actions required to bring risks down to acceptable levels. By categorizing each item, gaps can be prioritized and filled based on their importance and available resources.

New controls and corrective measures should be developed and disseminated with caution. There is a possibility of lower compliance within the organization and a loss of credibility on the part of EHS personnel if requirements are perceived by laboratory personnel as excessively burdensome. While it is essential to provide clear, supported justifications for modifications to existing protocols to encourage adopting new policies and procedures, it is necessary to recognize that some individuals will never be convinced of the necessity of new controls.

2.A.4. Implementation

The organization's business requirements and the nature of its risks should be reflected in the design of management arrangements. However, appropriate activity should occur across all model components (policy; planning; implementation; audits, performance evaluation, change management; and a review by management).

In particular, the organization ought to plan to cover the following essential areas:

overall plans and objectives for the organization's policy implementation, including employees and resources;

Operational Plans for Putting Plans in Place to Control the Risks that have been Identified;

procedures for preventing, preparing for, and responding to foreseeable emergencies to lessen their effects;

programs that deal with the management of change, whether it is permanent or temporary (for example, changes to plant procedures or processes, fluctuations in production, legal requirements, and organizational and staffing changes);

plans for interactions with other parties interested (such as contractors' control, selection, and management; coordination with the emergency services; visitor management);

audits, performance evaluations, and status reviews;

putting into action corrective measures;

Plans for assisting staff members recovering from injuries or illnesses caused by work activities and returning to work;

networks of communication with employees, management, and the public;

explicit criteria for performance and evaluation that specify what needs to be done, who is responsible for it, when it needs to be done, and the desired result;

requirements for education and training related to EHS;

system for document control; Additionally, before a contract is awarded, qualified staff and written safety plans should be in place for contractors. The safety plans and policies of the sponsoring organization ought to be required of all contractor employees.

Although each researcher is responsible for ensuring that work is carried out prudently and safely, creating a safe laboratory environment requires the cooperation of management, EHS staff, and laboratory staff. Plans, policies, and regulations will only cover some things that could happen, so these different groups need to talk to each other to handle new situations correctly. Establishing safety committees comprised of representatives from each component of an organization is one method for assuring all groups' requirements are being met. Safety concerns can be discussed, affected parties can receive information, and a rough idea of the effectiveness of policies and programs can be gathered in this forum.

2.A.5. Measurement of Performance and Change Management The primary objective of EHS performance measurement is to evaluate the implementation and efficacy of risk management procedures. The arrangements (strategies, processes, and activities) an organization uses to control risks to EHS are tracked through performance measurement, which provides information on their progress and current status. In addition, measurement data can be used to evaluate a management system by gathering data on how it works in practice, determining areas where improvement health and safety in construction is required, and providing a foundation for ongoing improvement.

To Guarantee that the EHS 

Management system will continue functioning effectively, each component needs to be inspected, evaluated, maintained, and monitored. Changes or advancements in technology should be considered when assessing and managing risks. As part of the planning process and management review, evaluation activities' results enhance performance over time and address deficiencies.

Scheduled periodic audits considering the nature of the organization's risks and hazards should enable a deeper and more critical evaluation of all system components (see Figure 2.1). Audits should be carried out by competent individuals not associated with the activity or area in question to get the most out of the benefits. Independent external auditors should be considered to assist in evaluating the EHS management system. When carrying out these reviews, the organization needs to have a strategy for following up on the audit's outcomes to guarantee that any issues are resolved, and that praise is bestowed where it is due.

In the laboratory, the idea of change management is very different from the methods usually used, like manufacturing processes. The industry of conducting experiments is constantly evolving by its very nature. As a result, evaluating changes and technological advancements in experimental and scale-up techniques is an everyday occurrence. To ensure the safety of laboratory work, several standard practices are used to identify appropriate handling practices, containment strategies, and required procedures. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the designation of molecules as particularly hazardous substances (PHSs), which specify specific handling and containment requirements, are two examples of these practices.

Approval and Instruction for New Users of Radioisotopes

completing biosafety risk assessments for infectious agent usage; and a review of the chemicals used on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).

2.A.6. The organization's EHS management system should be reviewed by top management regularly to ensure that it continues to be suitable, adequate, and effective. The EHS policy and goals are evaluated as part of this review to determine whether or not the management system needs to be altered. Documentation of the management review's outcomes is required.

A Management Review Should Include The Following Information, Among Other Things:

Audits of the EHS management system, any external audits, communications from interested parties, the degree to which objectives have been met, the status of corrective and preventative actions, follow-up actions from previous management reviews, and suggestions for improvement based on shifting circumstances are all included in this report.

Consistent with the commitment to continuous improvement, management review outputs should include any decisions and actions related to a possible change in EHS policy, objectives, and other management system components.

The management system review ensures that the EHS management system is evaluated regularly to find flaws and fix them. During compliance or risk assessments, systemic gaps, evidence that targets are not being met, and compliance issues may necessitate modifications to the management system or its implementation.

2.A.7. An example of a management system:

The Department of Energy's (DOE) integrated safety management system is one example of an established EHS management system. All DOE facilities use the agency's 1996-adopted Integrated Safety Management (ISM) system employee health and safety, which has served as a model for other organizations and institutions. The system has six guiding principles and five fundamental management safety functions. The following DOE Policy DOE P 450.4 (DOE, 1994) principles and procedures require prior planning, identification of hazards and controls, and execution of work within these defined and planned methods.

Principles:

Safety is the responsibility of line management. The public, employees, and the environment are all under the direct control of line management. In addition, the Department's Office of Environment, Safety, and Health provide safety policy, enforcement, and independent oversight to complement line management.

Clearly define roles and duties. At all organizational levels within the Department and its contractors, lines of authority and responsibility for ensuring safety must be established and maintained.

Competence appropriate to the duties at hand. Personnel must have the skills, knowledge, experience, and abilities necessary to perform their duties.

Priorities in Balance.

Resources must be effectively distributed to address safety, programmatic, and operational considerations. The public, workers, and the environment must be protected when planned activities occur.

They were determining the requirements and standards for safety. An agreed-upon set of safety standards and conditions must be established before any work can occur. If these standards and requirements are followed, they will provide sufficient assurance that the public, workers, and the environment will not be harmed in any way.

Controls of hazards that are specific to work being done. The work being done and the risks that come with it should be considered when designing administrative and engineering controls to reduce and prevent hazards.

Authorization for operations. It is necessary to establish and agree on the conditions and requirements that must be met before operations can be started and carried out.

Functions:

Define the work's scope. Expectations are established, tasks are identified and prioritized, missions are translated into position, and resources are allocated.

Examine the dangers. The work-related risks are identified, assessed, and categorized.

Create and put into action safety measures. The safety envelope is established, applicable standards and requirements are identified and agreed upon, controls to prevent or mitigate hazards are identified, and authorities are implemented.

Work within constraints. Work is done safely, and readiness is confirmed.

Give feedback and work to improve continuously. As a result, information about input and controls' adequacy is gathered, opportunities to enhance work definition and planning are identified and implemented, line and independent oversight are carried out, and regulatory enforcement actions are taken if necessary.

Additionally, in 2006, the Department of Energy (DOE) identified four additional safety culture elements to recognize a hole in the management system. The following are listed in DOE Manual DOE M 450.4-1 (DOE, 2006):

Attitude and accountability for one's safety. Everyone accepts responsibility for the safe execution of the mission. People demonstrate a questioning mindset by challenging presumptions, looking into anomalies, and considering the potential adverse effects of planned actions. Workplace conditions that could affect safety are known to each employee, and they work together to avoid risky behavior.

Excellence in operations.

To achieve mission, safety, productivity, quality, environmental, and other goals, organizations maintain high levels of operational performance across all DOE and contractor activities. A focus on operations, cautious decision-making, open communication, respect for expertise, and systematic approaches to removing or reducing the likelihood of errors all contribute to high reliability.

Oversight to ensure performance. An essential source of feedback that confirms that expectations are being met and identify opportunities for improvement is competent, robust, periodic, and independent oversight. Activities related to performance assurance check to see if standards and requirements are being met. Performance assurance provides fresh insights and observations for safety and performance enhancement through conscious, directed, and independent previews at all levels.

Improvement in performance through organizational learning. The organization excels in performance monitoring, problem analysis, planning and implementing solutions, and performance monitoring. In addition, the organization fosters continuous learning and encourages trust and openness.

The DOE ISM system's additional details can be found at www.directives.doe.gov.

Numerous other examples of EHS management systems, including the DOE ISM system. Each organization must develop a management system tailored to its specific requirements. The temptation to "over-engineer" the system should be avoided by small businesses and those that do not deal with particularly hazardous materials. The safety program may lose credibility in the eyes of the people it supports if the burden of organizational oversight and management of the ESH program is not appropriately linked to corporate risk.

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2.B. CHEMICAL HYGIENE PLAN

Identifying environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues is the foundation of all management system approaches. These issues can lead to environmental harm, employee illness, and regulatory action if they are not adequately controlled. Chemical safety is one of the most critical aspects of environmental health and safety (EHS) for laboratories. In the United States, the OSHA Laboratory Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1450, Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories, specifically regulates chemical safety. The OSHA Laboratory Standard defines a Chemical Hygiene health and safety in construction Plan (CHP) as "a written program developed and implemented by the employer which sets forth procedures, equipment, personal protective equipment, and work practices that are capable of protecting employees from the health hazards presented by hazardous chemicals used in that particular workplace." 3 This standard was created to minimize employee exposure to hazardous chemicals in the laboratory and provides guidelines for employers and trained laboratory personnel engaged in using hazardous chemicals. A written Chemical Hygiene Plan must be developed and implemented by the employer whenever hazardous chemicals are used in the workplace, as defined by this standard. The CHP, which serves as the foundation of the laboratory safety program, should be reviewed and updated annually, as required, to reflect personnel and policy changes. A facility-specific CHP can help foster a safety culture and safeguard employees from exposure to hazardous materials.

Chemical Management

Laboratory housekeeping, standard operating procedures, emergency action plan (EAP) for accidents and spills, safety equipment, chemical waste policies, required training, safety rules, and regulations, facility design and laboratory ventilation, medical and environmental monitoring, compressed gas safety, laboratory equipment, biological safety, and radiation safety are all included in a CHP. Individual responsibilities for chemical hygiene within the organization (see Boxes 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3), emergency preparedness and facility security issues, personal apparel and PPE, chemical management,