The idea of color ranking based laboratory safety

Abstract. Laboratories can represent a wide range of indoor and outdoor spaces in which a large number of specific activities (SA) can be performed. These SAs can be chemical and physical. At the same time, some tasks are performed regularly, while others are performed very rarely. Each SA represents a different level of risk to its surroundings. The basis for the safe performance of a task is standard operating procedures (SOP), which should also include a description of safety measures (DSM). The first objective of the procedure under preparation is to propose a standardized DSM form with several levels based on the SA's risk level. The second objective is to create a simple procedure for determining the required DSM for each SA. The third objective is to create a simple procedure for selecting and using a method to achieve the necessary DSM level. Three steps are also planned to achieve these objectives. The first step is to divide the DSM into several colors according to the increasing level of risk of the SA. For this reason, the name color ranking based laboratory safety is used. The safety assessment of the investigated SA must be fast, simple, and user-friendly. For this reason, the decision-making system is based on several simple decision trees that provide colored results. The color results are entered into prepared color matrices. The proposed procedures must be suitable both for preparing SOPs for completely new SAs and for preparing SOPs for SAs created by modifying other already established SAs with their SOPs. The second type of situation is likely to be more common and corresponds to the approach known as Management of Change (MoC). This paper focuses on demonstrating the proposed DSM grading, the framework of the decision-making process, and examples of individual decision-making tools.