During the planning of any procedure involving chemicals and prior to purchase, potential hazards must be identified and the risks assessed. This ensures that all staff, students and visitors are aware of potential hazards, and that appropriate handling techniques and control requirements are in place to minimise risk to personnel and University property.

• Legislative Requirements
• Responsibility for Chemical Risk Assessment
• Chemical Risk Assessment Procedure
• Chemical Procedure Risk Assessment Form

Regulations 5.15 - 5.18 of the OSH Regulations 1996 specify the legal requirements for conducting and documenting risk assessments for hazardous substances. They require:

• Assessment of the risk of injury or harm to a person as a result of exposure to hazardous substances, including:
  • identification of each hazardous substance used
  • review of the MSDS for each hazardous substance
  • identification of the likelihood of injury as a result of exposure

• Assessments must be repeated if:
  • there is a change in the risk of injury or harm
  • the risk assessment is five years old
  • improved controls become available

• Assessments must be available at all times 

Responsibility for chemical risk assessment follows the normal School or Section management hierarchy. Area Supervisors (research supervisors, laboratory supervisors, etc) are responsible for ensuring risk assessments are conducted in their areas. Risk assessments should be delegated to those conducting the work (i.e. research assistants, post-doctoral students, technical staff, etc), however the area supervisor is ultimately responsible for ensuring chemical risk assessment occurs. Accordingly all risk assessments should be checked and signed by the supervisor prior to commencement of work. The supervisor is also responsible for ensuring risk assessments are stored, available and reviewed as required.

A Chemical Procedure Risk Assessment form must be completed prior to commencement of any work involving hazardous chemicals. To complete a chemical procedure risk assessment the assessor must identify:

• all hazardous substances and dangerous goods used in the procedure
• all hazards associated with the chemicals to be used
• existing control measures
• control measures required before work commences

With this information the risk can be assessed and ranked, and the procedure can be approved if the risk is insignificant or sufficiently controlled. If the risk is significant and adequate controls are not in place the procedure can not be approved, and the work and controls need to be revised.

Conducting thorough risk assessments will ensure that:

• personnel are aware of the risks associated with the work they are undertaking
• appropriate controls are in place
• personal protective equipment is adequate and available
• waste disposal has been considered and protocols developed
• emergency procedures are in place

The flow chart below shows the process that should be followed when conducting a chemical procedure risk assessment. A risk assessment form has been provided by Safety and Health to assist in conducting procedural based chemical risk assessments. A PDF copy of the Chemical Procedure Risk Assessment Process document can be downloaded here.

The UWA Chemical Procedure Risk Assessment Form is available below, and can be filled in electronically, or printed and completed by hand. Copies of all assessments should be approved by the supervisor and must be stored and be readily available at all times. Chem Alert should be used to retrieve MSDS to complete the assessment. If insuficient space is provided to include necessary safety information additional pages should be attached to the risk assessment.

Help is available in the form by selecting the section and pressing the F1 key.

Click here to download Chemical Procedure Risk Assessment Form