Risk assessment

Risk assessment is an essential practical skill in scientific investigations. It is carried out to ensure safe working conditions and is a fundamental part of planning any experiment.

The primary purpose of a risk assessment is to identify potential hazards and implement measures to minimize the risks associated with them.

A comprehensive risk assessment involves identifying:

• All the dangers in the experiment. These can include hazardous chemicals, microorganisms, or naked flames. For example, ethanol is flammable and should be kept away from open flames during tests. Anhydrous calcium chloride is an irritant to eyes and skin and generates heat when in contact with water. Enzymes can irritate the skin and cause allergic reactions.

• Who is at risk from these dangers. This includes the experimenter, lab partners, and anyone else in the vicinity.

• What can be done to reduce the risk. This often involves taking safety precautions.

Common safety precautions and risk minimization strategies include:

• Wearing protective equipment: This is a standard precaution and typically includes a lab coat and safety goggles. Gloves should be worn if the experiment involves substances that can irritate the skin or when culturing microorganisms. Eye protection is essential when heating water and solutions.

• Using a fume cupboard: If the experiment involves volatile chemicals.

• Aseptic techniques: These are crucial when culturing microorganisms to prevent contamination, which can be harmful. For instance, minimizing the time the lid is off an agar plate and briefly flaming the neck of glass containers helps prevent contamination.

• Careful handling of apparatus and materials: For example, being careful with scalpels by cutting away from oneself. Sharp dissection tools require particular care. Water baths need time to heat up, and their temperature should be checked with a thermometer during the investigation. If using high temperatures (e.g., 80 °C), tongs or heatproof/waterproof gloves should be used to handle apparatus in the water bath.

• Safe disposal of waste materials: For instance, used agar plates with microbes should be sterilized before disposal.

• Specific considerations for certain experiments:

  • Fieldwork: Risk assessments for fieldwork should consider specific environmental hazards, like checking tide timetables when working on a beach, wearing appropriate footwear on boggy ground, and washing hands after handling soil. Precautions near wild animals are also advised.

  • Handling organisms: Woodlice should be handled carefully and returned to their natural habitat, and hands should be washed afterward.

  • Chemical tests: Awareness of hazards is needed for tests like Benedict's test, which involves heating. Ethanol used in lipid tests is flammable.

  • Drug trials: Ethical issues related to genetic screening and drug trials are also considered.

It is important to only identify genuine risks and not invent them if none exist. However, the mention of risk is always important, even if it is to state that none are anticipated.

In examinations, students are expected to perform risk assessments as part of planning investigations and demonstrating practical skills. This includes identifying dangers, who is at risk, and how those risks will be minimized.