RAMP Approach to Safety

Enhancing your understanding of laboratory safety requires preparing for new

situations and equipping yourself with ways to ensure safe practices. A

commonly used acronym to aide in working safely in the laboratory is RAMP.

R – Recognize

A – Assess

M – Minimize

P – Prepare

Recognize

In order to operate safely, we need to identify potential risks. If we never

recognize the risks associated with an experiment then there is no way we can

be adequately prepared. Think about the Titanic. The people in charge of safety

never fully recognized the risks of

hitting an iceberg and therefore

were wholly unprepared when that

situation arose. So how do you

recognize a risk when you haven’t

performed an experiment before?

In introductory laboratories we will

help you recognize new risks that

exist when performing new

techniques or using new reagents.

Chemical labeling under the Global

Harmonized System (GHS) and

National Fire Protection Agency

(NFPA) diamonds are both used to

help people working with chemical

reagents recognize the associated

risks. Look at the GHS symbols and

try to guess what risks they are

identifying. Check your accuracy by looking at the OSHA Hazard Communication

Standard Pictograms.

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Figure 1.2: "GHS HAZCOM Safety Labels" by

Mpelletier1 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.