Risk assessment of hazardous waste in a basic chemistry laboratory: The case study of a chemical storage building, Faculty of Applied Science, KMUTNB

Abstract

The basic chemistry laboratories at the Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok generates considerable amount of hazardous chemical wastes. The Thailand Industrial Standard (TIS 2677-2558) was utilized as an assessment guideline for hazardous waste management. Before the operation, 31 items showed high risks that are prone to accidents. The bottles containing hazardous waste that are placed within the toilet vicinity were considered at risk of level 4 rating. Thus, immediate actions to remove these hazardous waste must be performed. Whilst, lack of data system, default separation of hazardous waste, inappropriate use of containers, damaged labels and deflected containers, limited number of secondary containers, and hazardous wastes near a heat source scored a risk of level 3 rating. With these, corrective actions, such as safety management and risk assessment, must be employed in order to minimize the risk of accidents that can occur inside a basic chemical laboratory.