Safety risk management in University laboratories

Risk management has become an essential element in the functioning of modern society. Correct risk identification and assessment are undoubtedly crucial to improving overall safety; nevertheless, often, it is accompanied by the wrong selection of corrective actions. To ensure that safety intentions reach their final objective – making the working environment safe for people both inside and outside, nature and organization, the whole process of safety management must be set correctly. It includes three main stages: risk analysis, decision-making, and follow-up. While the two first steps are closely connected in the time frame, the last step can be significantly extended and represented by a continuous process. University laboratories are often mistakenly considered a safe place; however, frequent accidents demonstrate otherwise. There are plenty of different efficient risk management methods. However, they are not applicable in the academic environment or require significant modifications. Different limitations: not standardized and modified processes, diversified laboratory hazard pool, limited budget planning, organizational decentralization, other specific characteristics of the university setting require a different approach. This dissertation aims to investigate existing approaches further and propose a solution suitable for the mentioned environment. It involves reviewing further risk analysis and decision-making methods and setting a list of objectives for the required safety management method ideal for academic laboratories. These objectives are met by designing LARA+D (Laboratory Assessment and Risk Analysis + Decision-Making), a method that enhances previously applied in Swiss Universities LARA tool.The application of the LARA+D for process risk analysis and decision-making illustrates that it is a helpful tool for process risk assessment and decision-making. It is sufficiently flexible for a diverse multi-hazardous environment of the research laboratories and precise to the extent possible in the environment with no historical data. Integrated decision-making tool assists involved stakeholders with selecting optimal safety solutions, considering various objectives. This tool considers different types of human involvement in the risk analysis and decision-making stages, diminishing the harmful effects and designing a proper safety environment.