Establishing Criteria for Laboratory Safety Potential Assessment in Thailand

Abstract

This article presents the results from a research project on establishing the criteria for laboratory safety potential assessment in Thailand. The objectives of the research are to develop the criteria for laboratory safety potential assessment and the criteria for the laboratory safety award and logo, and to disseminate these criteria to stakeholders and the general public. Conducted as research and development (R&D), the research is a sequel to an earlier research project entitled “Enhancement of Safety Practices in Research Laboratory in Thailand, ESPReL” and other projects under the policies for enhancing safety in chemical laboratories by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). In order to set a frame for constructing the criteria, the relevant information and issues from all NRCT’s projects and research related to the safety standards and guidelines for laboratories in Thailand are gathered and analyzed. The achievement of the project is an assessment tool comprising two sets of Criteria for Laboratory Safety Potential Assessment and for Laboratory Safety Award and Logo including the manual. The tool was passed through the public involvement process by engaging all stakeholders including academic institutes, as well as the public and private organizations through a public hearing process with 100 participants and public training with 66 participants which provided a pre-test/ post-test for all participants, in order to increase awareness and understanding of the tool. Recommendations from the study are divided into three parts: 1) recommendations for implementing the project with the tool by NRCT associated with NRCT’s staffs, tools, rewards and incentives; 2) recommendations for the laboratories that will attend the process for laboratory safety potential assessment and acquire recognition for the laboratory safety award and logo; and 3) other recommendations related to the criteria.