Employers have a responsibility to minimize the risk of exposure by following the ‘hierarchy of controls' shown below:
Laboratory safety, especially when handling toxic or hazardous substances, is of increasing importance to health and safety departments in many industries including chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research and manufacturing organizations. However, laboratories in all industries must carefully consider the right approaches and equipment that should be employed to protect operators who are required to handle or weigh out toxic or hazardous substances as part of their daily tasks.
This application note explains how using METTLER TOLEDO's XPR Automatic Balance for automated powder and liquid dispensing can significantly reduce exposure risk, and provide safety benefits to the researcher when handling toxic or hazardous compounds in the laboratory.
Key Benefits of Automated Dispensing
- Dispensing of a substance directly from a sealed container, within an enclosed system, which reduces the risk of airborne contamination.
- Minimized user exposure by eliminating the repeated handling of the substance with a spatula
- Lower risk of spillage
- Reduced manual actions required by the user, by eliminating the need for repeated opening of the balance door and transferring of the compound from the main container to the secondary container
- Safe storage of the substance in a sealed container
- Less time-consuming cleaning
All of the above help to reduce the risk of exposure and contamination, significantly increasing the safety of an operator.
