PW 1452 Chemical laboratory safety in higher education: case study in kmutt thailand

KMUTT is one of Science and Technology University in Thailand which concerned on safety in all activities. Chemical laboratory is one of the high risk workplace that may harm to health and safety of the laboratory worker. Safety management system has been developed according to standard practice and focused on chemical laboratory safety. Safety policy has been issued by university president since March 2010. Training and preparation on the developed safety management system have been given to all students and staff who work in laboratories. Risk assessment has been evaluated in all laboratories once a year. Proper safety equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE) have been provided for students and staff. Safety training for applying safety test and safety card has been implemented for all who worked in chemical laboratories. The system procedures and manuals for laboratory safety have been developed and implemented for all laboratories and workshops for five years (June 2012-June 2017). The results showed 7572 students and staff attended the safety training and applied safety test for safety card. The accidental reports also showed 60% decrease. The system evaluation has been done on the fifth year of system implementation. The results showed the implementation requires the cooperation and support from students, faculties and staff members. Therefore, it is quite ready to expand this management system to other universities and other sectors in Thailand in a near future. As results of this study, the developed safety management system within KMUTT can help to decrease the chemical accidents and health impacts and maintain a sustainable management to all staffs and public.