Whether you’re moving sensitive instruments like electron microscopes and spectrometers or high-powered lasers and centrifuges, relocating lab equipment is a complex and delicate task that requires meticulous planning and execution to get right.
Which is why producing and following a risk assessment method statement (RAMS) is such a crucial best practice to follow.
A RAMS document provides lab equipment movers with a structured framework for evaluating potential hazards, planning each stage of the move safely and complying with health and safety regulations, helping keep all team members aligned with safety protocols.
In this article, we’ll examine the scenarios in which a RAMS is needed, what it should include, and why it’s so important for helping lab equipment movers ensure a safe and successful move.
When Do You Need a RAMS and What Should It Include?
You need a RAMS when planning any work activity that might involve potential hazards for lab equipment movers—whether that’s a routine operation or a more complex and intricate task.
And, for labs, where potential risks and hazards are higher than the average facility, a RAMS is particularly crucial.
Lab moves can involve working in high-risk environments (including electrical hazards), working with large and delicate equipment (such as particle accelerators or cryogenic electron microscopes) and handling delicate instruments that require extreme precision and caution (mass spectrometers and high-powered lasers). RAMS are designed to help reduce or even eliminate associated risks, ensuring that lab equipment movers can conduct the move safely and efficiently.
Your RAMS document should include details on:
- The job owner/person responsible for overseeing the project (including name, job role and contact details)
- The customer (including the company name, project contact, site address and site contact)
- The site (including access times, induction requirements, welfare and first aid information and PPE requirements)
- A list of customer responsibilities (including preparing the site ahead of the move, providing access permissions or decommissioning equipment)
- A formal risk assessment (including electrical hazards, manual handling risks, environmental conditions and contamination risks)
- Job step details (including a description of how the work will be carried out safely from start to finish, who’s responsible for carrying out certain tasks, safety measures and special equipment or techniques required)
- Emergency procedures
Download IES’s RAMS template for free.
Why are RAMS Documents So Essential for Safe Lab Equipment Movers?
Here are 5 reasons why RAMS documents are so essential for supporting lab equipment movers and facilitating safe and successful moves.
1. Identifying and Mitigating Risks
Sensitive lab equipment such as electron microscopes, laser systems, MRI machines and spectrometers can be easily damaged by improper handling, environmental changes or other hazards during the move. Not to mention, large and complex equipment can also pose serious risks to employee safety if they aren’t handled correctly.
Your RAMS document is your blueprint for identifying all potential risks. As well as implementing strategies to mitigate or, ideally, eliminate them.
Key risks include:
- Equipment damage: Delicate lab equipment, such as electron microscopes or NMR spectrometers, are often highly susceptible to vibrations or physical shock. Your RAMS will help you ensure lab equipment movers take the right measures to protect equipment against damage throughout the project.
- Electrical hazards: High-powered lab equipment (such as lasers, MRI machines or mass spectrometers) pose significant electrical hazards for lab equipment movers because of their high voltages and complex power setups. Your RAMS helps you plan how to safely power down equipment and disconnect and manage energy sources.
- Physical injury: Because of their significant weight, equipment such as cryogenic electron microscopes or particle accelerators can pose serious risks to lab equipment movers during handling. Your RAMS helps you ensure all team members are trained in safe handling techniques and using suitable lifting equipment.
- Environmental conditions: Some lab equipment (including cryogenic electron microscopes and mass spectrometers) is highly sensitive to environmental conditions like temperature and humidity or exposure to dust and particles. RAMS will help you ensure you keep equipment in controlled environments and follow cleanroom protocols where required. Learn more about the key considerations for moving and installing equipment in cleanroom environments here.
Finally, be sure that you treat RAMS as a live working document and update it accordingly in real-time when any changes occur throughout the project. Whether that’s changes in the physical environment, the uncovering of unexpected hazards or new issues.
2. Providing a Safe Framework for the Move
A key benefit of a RAMS document is that it provides a clearly defined and systematic approach for lab equipment movers to safely carry out the project.
Your RAMS should help you build out detailed instructions on the following:
- Job steps: Outline exactly when and how each step of the move will be executed, outlining a clear plan from start to finish. This should include everything from disassembly, packing and transportation to reassembly and installation.
- Task responsibility: Detail who is responsible for each specific task (from lab equipment movers, specialised technicians and engineers to project managers and health and safety personnel) to ensure accountability and clarity throughout the project.
- PPE and safety equipment: Supply a comprehensive list of the required PPE and safety equipment for the job, tailored to the specific risks involved in moving delicate lab equipment, including safety gloves, antistatic wear, high-visibility vests, steel-toe boots, protective eyewear, respirators and masks.
- Emergency procedures: Outline and implement emergency procedures that enable lab equipment movers to act quickly and safely in the event that something goes wrong. This includes evacuation plans, accident response procedures, contingency plans for accidental damage, communication protocols
Discover the 7 key considerations to be aware of when moving complex pharma equipment into your lab.
3. Adhering to Regulatory Compliance
Because labs are home to complex, delicate and high-value equipment, they’re often subject to very strict health and safety laws and regulations.
While there is no specific law that requires you to create and follow a RAMS document for your lab equipment move, many of the laws and health and safety regulations that apply to labs do require you to undertake risk assessments and establish safe working methods — both of which are covered by a RAMS document.
That means RAMS documents are a great way to formally ensure compliance with these regulations and keep lab equipment movers safe during the course of your project. Some of these regulations might include:
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA): This regulation requires you to identify hazards related to equipment disassembly and transport, establish safe methods of work for handling and transportation and provide workers with adequate training and information.
- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR): This regulation requires you to carry out thorough risk assessments, develop a safe working plan for each stage of the move and review and update your documentation if new hazards are identified or changes occur during the project.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH): This regulation requires that hazardous substances are handled correctly, appropriate PPE is provided and contaminated equipment is moved safely.
4. Aligning All Team Members with Safety Goals
Miscommunications are a leading cause of accidents, delays and costly mistakes. They happen when team members aren’t on the same page about how to carry out the project safely.
With multiple parties involved in your move (including lab equipment movers, lab technicians, facility managers and health and safety personnel), it’s crucial to have a clear, detailed and unified communication plan, and not to leave your team members guessing or improvising on the spot.
A RAMS will give your teams a unified and consistent understanding of who is responsible for which safety tasks and activities, when and how each step of the project will be carried out and which safety procedures they need to follow.
5. Reducing Unplanned Downtime
Accidents during lab equipment moves are not only dangerous but also costly. They can lead to broken equipment, injuries, and unplanned downtime, significantly disrupting lab operations.
For example, mishandling a highly delicate piece of equipment such as a high-powered laser, NMR spectrometer or electron microscope can lead to significant financial losses and delays because of the time needed to repair, recalibrate or replace the equipment. While injuries to lab equipment movers and other personnel can result in legal liabilities and further project delays.
Even minor mistakes can have significant consequences.
A RAMS document helps you reduce the risk of facing unplanned downtime by taking steps to mitigate and eliminate the risks that could lead to delays.
Work with Professional Lab Equipment Movers
If you want to ensure the safety and integrity of high-value lab equipment during your move, you’ll want to work with people who know the equipment like the back of their hands and know how to protect it against damage.
At IES, we’re professional lab equipment movers. That means we’re trained to safely handle high-value and fragile equipment like electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, and high-power lasers, and understand the importance of precision and care in packing, transporting, and setting up delicate machines.
