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Laboratory safety

Work in laboratories is often associated with risks that can affect the environment and human health. Changes in working method or a new laboratory should always be risk assessed and safety measures implemented to prevent accidents and ill health. This page presents some lab safety topics. More detailed information can be found on the Aktum staff website (requires login with UMU ID).

Illustration: person med skyddskläder håller i ett provrör, labbflaskor m.m.

Image: Ida Åberg


Laboratory waste

Laboratory waste must be classified, stored and labelled to ensure safe handling. Specific requirements apply to the handling of hazardous waste. Material should be sorted at the source, and it is not permitted to mix different types of hazardous waste.

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Biosafety

Biosafety, according to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, is about preventing accidental exposure to biological agents and toxins or accidental dispersion to the environment in the event of incidents and accidents in laboratories.

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Inflammable goods, gases and liquids

Inflammable goods, gases and liquids always require special care to avoid accidents due to fire and explosions. Departments that handle inflammable products must draw up handling procedures and adopt classification plans.

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Gases and pressurised equipment

Gases and pressurised equipment can be dangerous, and if used incorrectly or if they are in poor condition, they can burst and the entire device can become a projectile. 

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Chemical products

The handling of chemical products must be risk assessed and documented and measures must be taken to reduce environmental and work environment hazards. Hazardous chemical products must also be classified and labelled according to the EU CLP regulation, and the hazard must be stated on labels and safety data sheets.

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Medical checks and registration

For certain jobs, the employer is required to offer medical exams. For some jobs, training is also required by law.

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Labelling and signage

There are several rules for marking, labelling and signage of substances, products, premises and pipelines where hazardous substances are stored, handled or flow.

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Protective equipment

Protective equipment is to be used if the risk assessment indicates that it is required. The protective equipment selected must be specific to the purpose. Safety data sheets and supplier descriptions often indicate what type of protective equipment is required for a particular type of handling.

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Work with ionizing radiation

Work with ionizing radiation requires a permit. The University has a collective permit from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and each department and unit must annually report through a questionnaire what they have in inventory and planned purchases for the coming year. Before making certain purchases, the University’s radiation safety expert must be contacted. For this reason, contact your department’s radiation protection contact person, who will in turn contact the radiation safety expert. This applies, for example, to the purchase of technical devices that can and are intended to emit ionizing radiation, fissile material (uranium, thorium and plutonium), materials that cause deviations from the local organisation’s waste plan, sealed radiation sources and open radiation sources that contain an isotope that is not included in the previous year’s reported inventory. To work with ionizing radiation, you must have completed internal training offered by the radiation safety expert.

Learn more about work with ionizing radiation and radiation protection on Aktum (UMU ID required)

Environmental Coordinator

Contact the radiation protection expert

You can reach the radiation protection expert at stralskydd@umu.se.

Latest update: 2025-05-26

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Laboratory safety

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Security

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Security awareness

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