Work In A Laboratory? What Happens During A Laboratory Inspection
If you work in a laboratory, you can plan on it being inspected at some point. In many states, this must be done at least once per year. If you have never seen an inspection done before, below is information on what a laboratory inspection is and what happens during the inspection.
Laboratory Inspection
A laboratory inspection must be done in order to make sure everyone is safe and that the laboratory follows all guidelines and regulations. During the inspection, personnel that work in the laboratory can ask questions to the inspector about the laboratory safety and what they can do in order to improve to make sure they stay compliant.
The laboratory inspector will talk with everyone that works in the lab about safety measures they need to take in certain conditions, as well as what they can do to ensure they stay safe.
What Happens During the Inspection
The inspector will first determine what chemics are used in the laboratory and where all the chemicals are stored. The inspector will ask to see inside refrigerators, storage cabinets, drawers, and anything else that is close to the laboratory. If you have drawers where you only keep personal items, tell the inspector as they will not inspect these drawers. The inspector may still investigate the top of things, such as your desk. They do this to make sure you have nothing close to you that you should not, such as chemicals.
If the inspector sees any type of violation, they will correct this while they are there. They may do this themselves or ask one of the employees to do it. If so, they will oversee the changes to ensure everything is done correctly. If the inspector sees any type of danger, this must be taken care of immediately. If any violations are found in the laboratory, the inspector will note it and then write down if the violation was taken care of while they were there.
Some imminent dangers include not storing reactive chemicals correctly, not using the right safety equipment while in the laboratory, and not removing any type of trip hazards, such as electrical cords, debris on the floor, etc. The inspector will also ask personnel what type of safety equipment they wear such as equipment to protect them when working around chemicals.
The laboratory inspector can give you much more information about this while they are there. Reach out to an organization that has a first article inspection lab for more information.