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Access to KAUST University laboratories, workshops and other work areas housing hazardous materials or machinery is restricted to the relevant University faculty, staff, students, or other persons on official business.
Visitor guidelines, visiting scientists, open houses and tour guidelines are published on this page.
Due to the potential hazards and liability issues, other persons (in particular children under the age of 16) are not permitted in hazardous work areas, with the exception of KAUST-sanctioned activity, e.g., tours, open houses, or other KAUST-related business as authorized by the Principal Investigator or laboratory manager. In these instances, all children under the age of 16 must be under careful and continuous supervision. If a Principal Investigator or laboratory manager authorizes visitors or children to enter a hazardous work area, then that Principal Investigator or laboratory manager
is responsible for the health and safety of those individuals.
There are potential risks associated with allowing access to labs and equipment by visiting scientists. These risks include theft or questions of ownership of intellectual property, bodily injury, and property damage. Departments should verify that all users of the lab have the required safety and health training and competence prior to allowing access to the lab and/or specialized equipment. It is the userʼs responsibility to have or obtain the appropriate training.
It is the responsibility of the center directors, Principal Investigators, and laboratory managers to ensure visiting scientists and other similar users have been properly trained and made aware of any potential health and physical hazards that may exist in their labs.
Please contact hse@kaust.edu.sa if you have additional questions or require some assistance and support.
Pets are prohibited in KAUST laboratories. In addition, while on University- controlled property, animals must be attended and restrained at all times.
It is the responsibility of the center directors, Principal Investigators, and laboratory managers to ensure visiting scientists and other similar users have been properly trained and made aware of any potential health and physical hazards that may exist in their labs.
To prevent exposure to hazardous materials through ingestion, do not eat, drink, chew gum, or apply cosmetics in areas where hazardous materials are used. Wash your hands thoroughly after using any chemicals or other laboratory materials, even if you were wearing gloves, and especially before eating or drinking.
To help promote awareness, laboratories refrigerators and freezers should be properly labeled. Refrigerators used for the storage of chemicals should be labeled “Chemicals Only, No Food”. Examples of these signs can be found on the Signs and Labels webpage.
Keep in mind that some chemical exposure can result in immediate effects (acute exposure) while other effects may not be seen for some time despite repeated exposure (chronic exposure). Consuming food or drink or applying cosmetics in the lab can result in both types of exposure.
Good chemical hygiene practices include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and good personal hygiene habits. Although PPE can offer a barrier of protection against chemicals and biological materials, good personal hygiene habits are essential to prevent chemical exposure, even when using PPE.
The following are guidelines designed to minimize opportunities for intentional removal of any hazardous materials from your laboratory:
Evaluation and assessment of risk is an integral step in designing an experimental protocol. Not only does a thorough risk assessment allow researchers to systematically identify and control hazards, but also improves science through better planning and understanding of the research question and variables.
KAUST has developed a template Lab Activity Risk Analysis (LARA); this tool provides a framework for risk assessment that maps onto the scientific method, melding with the process researchers already use to answer scientific questions. LARA
Contact HSE@kaust.edu.sa with any questions or to request support in conducting a risk assessment.
The Risk Assessment Tool uses a four-part framework that can be used for an experiment, analytical process, or series of tasks:
Risk Assessments and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are complementary tools. An SOP is typically written for repeated operations, equipment use, or required maintenance. SOPs may also be required for high-hazard chemicals and operations (e.g. work involving particularly hazardous substances, hihly reactive chemicals, and other high risk research procedures).
A Risk Assessment is well-suited to novel operations in which the researcher is designing and planning an experiment. However, the Risk Assessment Tool can also be helpful in understanding risk when preparing for procedures that have an established SOP, varying parameters (e.g. scale, reagents, conditions), or in preparing to write new SOPs.
