Development of a safe, sustainable and applicable laboratory management system for higher education

In recent years, the concept of safety culture has become more important for both private and public institutions. Along with the increasing awareness through health, safety and environment, many practices have been developed for creating safe and environment friendly workplaces. Regulations about health, safety and environment have become not only popular but also mandatory for being able to have a voice globally. Regarding recent advances, many industrial companies come into action in the matter of developing new applications and systems for environment, health and safety (EHS). Although there are many developed safety management systems for industrial laboratories, there is no certified or accredited system for universities. Academic laboratories are considered as safe places since the amount of materials are less and the scale of the processes is smaller than industrial processes. Although there is a perception that academic laboratories are safe places to work and study, they contain various at-risk activities inherently. They have complex environments that may have many types of studies and ever-chancing procedures so the scope of the risks involved always changes. Due to increasing awareness of safety culture globally, new approaches and tools have been developed for laboratory safety management to minimize and control the risks for engineering education that contains various at-risk activities inherently. Regarding the requirement of management system in the matter of laboratory safety for material science and engineering program of Istanbul Technical University, a new integrated model is known safe, applicable and sustainable laboratory management system was developed in this study and called GSULYS. Within the scope of this study, a wide range of laboratory management systems were investigated considering national and international universities. It was seen obviously that, the all analyzed systems were constituted regarding their own organizational structure and working conditions. All laboratory safety manuals and laboratory safety systems have been issued considering their special processes so these systems has not been able to be adaptable. Moreover, the sustainability of these systems have not been taken up comprehensively. Therefore, the necessity of a laboratory management system, which is safe, sustainable and applicable, has been identified for higher education. Primarily, the most commonly adapted ISO management systems 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and were analyzed. Then, their common approaches and practices were determined. Also, GLP; Good Laboratory Practices was analyzed regarding the situations and features of academic laboratories in universities. Based on the common practices of ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 management systems and GLP, the necessities for academic laboratories were determined and some special practices were developed in this study. These exclusive practices of GSULYS are stated as; strategic plan, communication and cooperation management, risk management, database management, standard and safe operating procedures, learn-save-announce-teach-inspect cycle and awareness/competency analyze. Top management of GSULYS creates strategic plan of the system. While making strategic plan, the targets of the systems are determined and the action plans and projects for the reaching targets are described. Key performance indicators measure the efficiency of action plans and projects. In accordance with the strategic plan, the mission and vision of the organization are designated. Top management conducts communication and cooperation management and the procedures are informed to all organization. The communication and cooperation management is considered within the organization and the out. The tools for communication are also formed by top management and the communication procedures are informed to all related bodies. In this study, risk management cycle consists of five steps and a common platform. Hazard definition, determining risk level, risk analyzing, action plans and continuous improvement are the main steps. First, the hazards are determined then risk rating is conducted with respect to working conditions. Based on the risk levels determined, safety measures are suggested. Laboratory safety officers evaluate the proposed safety measures and actions plans are prepared. Continuous improvement is important step for the keep the cycle sustainable. Database is the common platform, which every steps of risk management apply. Database is formed digitally and hardcopy. The tools for conducting practices in every steps of risk management cycle are stated. The use of the tools are described with examples. SOP, which is the key element for GLP is modified in this study and the safety issues are considered in SOPs and it is called SSOP; standard and safe operating procedures. The SSOPs are prepared in routine and new processes. It describes how processes should be conducted in standard and safe way. Moreover, it is described how a SSOP should be prepared so it is clear for the people in the organization to create SSOP when they need. Learn-save-announce-teach-inspect cycle is created for the organization to share all information and experiences within system. People can share their risk assessments and control methods through this platform. This kind of cycle prevents time waste and workforce loss. Moreover, owing to this platform, this steps of the learn save-announce-teach-inspect cycle enhances the relations and communication skills of the organization. With the awareness and competency analyze, the efficiency of the system is evaluated. Surveys and quizzes are used for the analysis While surveys reveals the awareness level of organization, quizzes helps to determine the competency level of organization. The results of the awareness and competency analyze guides which practices should be improved for increasing awareness or competency level of organization. Besides, awareness and competency analyze is an excellent tool for the assessment of the present and past statement of the organization and system. The all examples for the tools and forms are prepared for making the system more understandable. The examples of the tools and forms are prepared with regard to organization structure and the working conditions of ITU Metallurgy and Materials Engineering Department. As a result of this study, a manual for GSULYS was created. The tools for the practices are specified for making model system more practicable. It is expected that this manual can assist some organizations to create safe, sustainable and applicable laboratory management systems.