Green Chemistry

A risk assessment is an essential step in evaluating the potential hazards associated with chemical processes prior to implementation. It systematically identifies, evaluates, and mitigates risks to ensure that both employee safety and environmental protection are maintained throughout the process. Key characteristics of effective risk assessments include:

• Hazard identification: Determining what could go wrong in the process, such as chemical reactivity, toxicity, or equipment failure.

• Consequence analysis: Evaluating the potential impact of identified hazards on human health, the environment, and production.

• Mitigation strategies: Implementing measures to reduce the likelihood or severity of accidents, such as engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and emergency response plans.

Importantly, a risk assessment is an opportunity to consider what chemicals are being used, and whether there are safer alternatives. It is far better to have less severe risks to manage in the first place. Risk assessment can extend to the use and environmental fate of chemicals, which have different priorities to industrial manufacturing.