Evaluating the academic scientific laboratories' safety by applying failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) at the public university in Lebanon

Inaam Nasrallah; Ibtissam Sabbah; Chadia Haddad; Lina Ismaiil; Jana Kotaich; Pascale Salameh; Assem El Kak; Rihab Nasr; Wafa Bawab

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21145

Evaluating the academic scientific laboratories' safety by applying failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) at the public university in Lebanon

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 2;9(12):e21145. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21145. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Inaam Nasrallah^{1

2

3}, Ibtissam Sabbah⁴, Chadia Haddad^{5

6

7

8}, Lina Ismaiil³, Jana Kotaich⁹, Pascale Salameh^{3

5

10}, Assem El Kak^{2

3}, Rihab Nasr¹¹, Wafa Bawab³

Affiliations

¹ Doctoral School of Science and Technology (DSST), Lebanese University, Rafic Hariri University Campus, Hadath, Lebanon.
² Laboratoire de Biotechnologie des Substances Naturelles et Produits de Santé (BSNPS), Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Rafic Hariri University Campus, Hadath, Lebanon.
³ Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Rafic Hariri University Campus, Hadath, Lebanon.
⁴ Faculty of public Health V, Lebanese University, Saida, Lebanon.
⁵ INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon.
⁶ School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.
⁷ Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Jal Eddib, Lebanon.
⁸ School of Health Sciences, Modern University of Business and Science, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁹ Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Rafic Hariri University Campus, Hadath, Lebanon.
¹⁰ University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹¹ Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon.

Abstract

Workers at scientific academic laboratories are at risk of potential exposure to different types of hazards. The study's purpose was to assess the potential failure modes (FMs) of hazards facing them through the application of the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) method to propose corrective actions preventive actions (CAPA) to mitigate them and to improve the safety outcomes in these workplaces (WP) at the Lebanese public University (PbU). The potential FMs leading to accident occurrence in biological and chemical labs were identified and prioritized, their causes and effects were determined by applying two surveys, and the risk priority number (RPN) for each failure was calculated. A total of 24 FMs were identified. The most alarming FM having the highest RPN scores (80) was found in the workplace 'category requiring an emergency for corrective actions (CA), it is related to the unavailability of a hazard pictogram plot and the lack of labeling of chemicals and waste containers according to their categories. The FMs having RPN scores (75-60) requiring an urgent CA were assigned to other hazards of the WP, chemical, biological, and failure of the educational system. The need to program for the remaining FMs (RPN scores 20-48) is related to the safety, biological, physical, and radioactive categories 'hazards. It is recommended to apply continuously FMEA and implement the CA proposed for each detected FM in the scientific laboratories of the PbU in order to support the decision-makers to improve laboratory safety.

Keywords: ); Academic scientific laboratories; Corrective actions preventive actions (CAPA; Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA); Potential hazards; Risk management (RM).