LabSafety 2025: from hazardous substances to silent risks

How do you recognize a hazardous substance? What is the impact of noise on your health? And how much impact does work pressure have on the chance of an accident? During LabSafety 2025, professionals came together for a day full of surprising insights, recognizable practical examples and sharp discussions about safety in and around the lab.

 Chairman Charlie Morales immediately captures attention: an explosive demonstration with liquid nitrogen and ping-pong balls shows how powerful – and unpredictable – hazardous substances can be. The message is clear: hazardous substances are everywhere, from your sink cabinet to nail polish remover. And yet the risk is still often underestimated. With a sense of drama, Morales talks about incidents at home and abroad and presents confronting figures: thousands of people die every year due to exposure in the workplace.

Occupational hygienist Arco Engelen calls for not immediately reaching for personal protective equipment. According to him, filters, gloves and masks are useful, but no excuse for not looking at the source. Moreover, they often cause a false sense of security. His plea for the occupational hygiene strategy is impressive: systematically identify risks, replace what is dangerous, and only reach for personal protective equipment as a last resort.

Margreet Sturm offers a different perspective on safety: mental stress. “A high workload causes mistakes. And mistakes lead to accidents.” She discusses how work stress, burnout and undesirable behavior affect physical safety in the lab – and how you as an organization can get a grip on that. Using scientifically proven models, such as the UK HSE Framework, she shows how mental well-being can be structurally improved. “Good information, support from colleagues and space to discuss mistakes make the lab safer – and healthier,” Sturm concludes.

Joyce van der Peet (environmental expert, dP&O) and Jan Griffioen (Senior Staff Advisor Quality) create quite a stir in the room with practical examples from the UMC Utrecht. In a large organization, environmental management plays an increasingly important role, especially when it comes to wastewater and chemical waste. They openly share what is going well, but do not shy away from the bottlenecks either. For example, the barrels for chemical waste have been causing complaints for years because of the difficult clamp closure. Recognizable, as can be seen from the reactions in the room. Fortunately, screw caps have now been introduced as an alternative.

Ergonomics in the lab often receives too little attention, states Erwin Speklé in his closing presentation. While repetitive actions such as pipetting are an enormous physical burden. Did you know that laboratory technicians are more than seven times more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) when they pipette frequently? The combination of a static posture, precision work and an unfavourable working position makes the risk high. Fortunately, there are practical solutions: it is better to take short breaks more often than one long one, a well-designed workplace and sufficient variation in activities. With a few adjustments, you as a laboratory professional can prevent many complaints.

LabSafety 2025 shows that laboratory safety goes beyond gloves and fume hoods. It is about knowledge, culture, and daring to look at your work environment. Whether you work with hazardous substances, silent risks such as noise or under high pressure – safety starts with awareness.