Laboratory Safety Procedure Audit

This Process Street Laboratory Safety Procedure Audit has been engineered to make sure the highest standards are kept to in ensuring a safe working and studying environment while in the laboratory.

This process applies to a self-audit of procedures or preparation for an external audit. In the case of an external audit, this checklist prepares you to meet with the auditor and be fully ready for their visit. 

The template has been designed alongside materials from the University of Iowa’s internal safety procedures. 

The checklist is flexible to allow for your needs and requirements to guide the process. 

As with all Process Street checklists, this template is fully editable and you can add or remove steps in the process as you wish.

The template in Process Street acts as structure from which you can run checklists; instances of each template. This means that changes to the standardized template will result in changes for future runs of the checklist.  

All data entered into each checklist is stored in a table format in the Template Overview tab. This shows each checklist which has been run along with the metadata for each checklist plus all information which has been entered into the form fields.

You can assign whole checklists to one person or assign different aspects of each checklist to different people. You can do the latter with our Task Assignment feature. This helps you manage workflows and involve multiple people in complex processes or use cases where approval may be required. 

To assist further in facilitating approvals, we also have Stop Tasks which stop the process user from continuing until a particular task has been completed. This helps in promoting process adherence and improving accountability. 

You can also make use of Process Street’s inbuilt automation features like conditional logic, variables, and checklist run links. Or connect Process Street with the third party automation tool Zapier. 

This Teacher Job Description Checklist will walk through the steps of the process from determining the scope of the role to be filled to beginning an interview process. 

The process contains certain suggestions and tips as you navigate through along with sample form fields where you can enter data. 

Use the form fields to record information relevant to the checklist. 

Take this opportunity at the beginning to review the last audit which was carried out.

Review which documents are present and the dates when previous assessments had been carried out. 

Look out for documentation which is out of date or completed to inadequate standards. 

Leave your notes in the form field below. 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management:

A training needs assessment identifies individuals’ current level of competence, skill or knowledge in one or more areas and compares that competence level to the level required for their position or another position within the organization. The difference between the current and required competencies can help determine training needs.

All staff who are undertaking work within the lab environment should have undergone a TNA. Those who have not done a TNA recently should be required to take one. 

Use the form field below to provide notes.

Sample Training Needs Assessment

Once everyone has taken TNAs or had their recent TNAs collected together, make sure this information is included in the training log. 

The training log should be kept up to date at all times as this is a record that your staff are able to undertake their roles safely. 

An external auditor will want to review the training log. 

Upload or link to a copy of the training log in the form field provided.

When dealing with dangerous chemicals it is important that they are handled properly. 

A Chemical Hygiene Plan covers the basic lab safety procedures to ensure that handling is secure and that staff members know what to do in case of something going wrong.

All staff must review the CHP each year and sign off on this. Check that all staff have signed off on the CHP within the past year. 

Record your notes in the form field provided.

Sample Chemical Hygiene Plan

According to the University of California:

Before using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) a PPE hazard assessment certification must be completed by the Supervisor/Principal Investigator (PI) and each individual must complete PPE training prior to using.

Make sure all relevant individuals have received the appropriate training and there is a clear record of them having done so. 

Record your notes below.

Sample Hazard Assessment Tool

Every employee should have completed the Site Specific Lab Chemical Safety Checklist with the supervisor when they first started working on the site. 

There should be a record of this initial training. As best practice, review the checklist with the relevant staff members again as part of the audit. 

Leave your notes in the form field below.

Sample Site Specific Lab Chemical Safety Checklist

The Site-Specific Bloodborne Pathogens Checklist should be reviewed with each at-risk employee when they first start work in the lab. 

This training should have been recorded by both the employee and the supervisor. As part of the audit, make sure to review the checklist again with the relevant employees. 

Use the form field for notes.

Sample Site Specific Bloodborne Pathogens Checklist

Both the Site Specific Shipping Infectious Substances Checklist and/or the Site Specific Shipping Dry Ice Checklists should have been completed at least once every two years by any employees involved in the process. 

This should have been signed off by both the supervisor and the employee. 

Make sure that all records are up to date and everyone who requires training has received it.

Use the form field provided for notes. 

Sample Site Specific Shipping Infectious Substances Checklist

Sample Site Specific Shipping Dry Ice Checklist

The Site Specific Electrical Panel Breaker Resetting Checklist has to have been run with any employee who requests access to the lab circuit breaker panels. 

This checklist is required to be run at least once per person. All training on this must be documented with both the employee who undertook the training and the supervisor who provided the training. 

Leave your notes in the form field below.

According to the University of Iowa:

The written program should contain a list of all currently approved respirator/dust mask users in the lab, as well as the approval letter for the Laboratory Request for Respirator Use Evaluation.

Leave your notes on the existing respiratory program in the form field below.

Sample Respiratory Program

Make sure to review the laboratory to check that all equipment is safe and secure. This is your opportunity to review the physical space and determine whether it is being maintained to a high enough standard. 

Use the sub-checklist below to cross off the priority issues. You can find a sample version of the full self-audit below the sub-checklist.

Highest priority areas to be checked are: 

You can find a full document here:

Sample Lab Self Audit and EHS Annual Lab Review Checklist

Now that all the necessary steps have been completed, you can compile your findings into a report. 

This report can be provided with copies of the training logs and sign-offs. 

Use the form fields below to upload or link to your report, and use the email widget to send a copy to senior staff for review. 

Upon reviewing the lab report, the relevant senior member of staff can then approve, reject or reject with comments the report. Completion of this laboratory safety procedure audit is not possible until the report can be approved.

• General Laboratory Safety Procedures
• Lab Safety Rules and Guidelines
• Laboratory Safety Plans
• Laboratory Safety Guidance
• Lab safety rules for students

• Classroom Management Plan Preparation
• Weekly Lesson Plan Template
• Teacher Job Description Checklist
• Unit Plan Template
• Student Registration Process
• Laboratory Safety Procedure Audit
• Electrical Inspection Checklist: Residential Rough Inspection General
• Student Discipline Management Process
• Expense Management Process