WORLD AT WORK

Research and testing laboratories

World at work: Research and testing laboratories

R J Emery, G L Delclos

Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr R J Emery
Associate Professor of Occupational Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health, PO Box 20186, Houston, TX 77225-0186, USA; Robert.J.Emery@uth.tmc.edu

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Spotlight on a diverse industry

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Keywords: hazards; research laboratories; tasks; testing laboratories

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Manufacturing facilities typically focus on the creation of a finite array of products in large volumes. Consequently, the potential hazards inherent to these workplaces are limited in scope, although they may be high in output. On the other hand, a research and testing laboratory performs testing and diagnostic evaluation of samples, a setting not typically within the production line sequence; hence, the likelihood of exposures to large volumes of potentially hazardous agents is usually much lower. However, the sophisticated analytical procedures conducted in laboratory settings often involve the use of a variety of exotic and potentially hazardous agents. It is this array of hazards, combined with differences among potentially exposed individuals, that makes the laboratory setting a unique working environment.

Laboratories are ubiquitous in today’s world, are designed to fulfil various roles, and can vary markedly in size, from that of a small closet area to . . . [Full text of this article]

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• Zhu, J L, Knudsen, L E, Andersen, A-M N, Hjollund, N H, Olsen, J (2006). Laboratory work and pregnancy outcomes: a study within the National Birth Cohort in Denmark. Occup. Environ. Med. 63: 53-58 [Abstract] [Full Text]