Overview

Laboratories are an integral part of the activities of the process industries. They include not only analytical laboratories and laboratories carrying out research and development work in industry but also university teaching laboratories where future industrial managers are trained. Pilot plants are considered in Appendix 10.

Accounts of laboratories and of laboratory safety are given in Safety in the Chemical Laboratory by Pieters and Creighton (1957), Safety in University Laboratories by the AUT (1967), Hazards in the Chemical Laboratory by Muir (1971) and later Bretherick (1999, 2000), Handbook of Laboratory Safety by Steere (1971), A Guide to Laboratory Design by Everett and Hughes (1975), Prudent Practices for Handling Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories by NRC Staff (1981), Introduction to Safety in the Chemical Laboratory by N.T. Freeman and Whitehead (1982), Handbook of Laboratory Waste Disposal by Pitt and Pitt (1985), Improving Safety in the Chemical Laboratory by J.A. Young (1987a) and Safety in Chemical Engineering Research and Development by V.C. Marshall and Townsend (1991) (the IChemE Laboratories Guide).

A Code of Practice for Chemical Laboratories (the RIC Laboratories Code) has been published by the Royal Institute of Chemistry (RIC) (1976).

Activities in a chemical laboratory are distinguished from those on an industrial plant, above all, by their small scale. The smaller quantities of species in the laboratory can reduce the overall consequence of an event. In addition, heat losses are relatively greater at the laboratory scale. This...