THE HAGUE, Netherlands—15 June 2023—The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in partnership with the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of the Italian National Research Council and the Italian Federation of Chemical Industry organised a workshop entitled “General Aspects on Chemical Safety and Security in Laboratories” from 9 to 11 May in Milan, Italy.
The workshop, now in its third edition, promoted safety and security management in chemical laboratories and in small chemical production plants. It also supported the sustainable and ethical use of chemistry in academia, research institutions and governmental agencies.
The participants were from a wide range of chemistry and laboratory professions. During the workshop, they studied case studies related to and exchanged expertise on the risks related to hazardous chemicals, including the most recent advances in the use of personal protective equipment, risk mitigation strategies and the management of laboratory-scale accidents.
A table-top exercise was conducted for participants to practice and demonstrate their emergency response and risk assessment skills in a scenario involving toxic chemicals.
Following the classroom activities, the attendees visited forensic chemistry and toxicology laboratories at the University of Milan and exchanged with scientists on safety and security protocols in the management of forensic samples.
During her opening remarks, Head of the Technical Office of the Italian National Authority for the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Andrea Gloria underlined the importance of capacity-building and experience sharing among academic institutions, government agencies, and private sector firms. He also reaffirmed Italy’s continuous support to OPCW’s capacity-building programmes.
The workshop saw the participation of 18 attendees from the following 15 OPCW Member States: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chile, India, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Suriname. Four technical experts from Italy also participated as observers.
Background
Article XI of the CWC, Economic and Technological Development, provides international cooperation for the economic and technological development of States Parties.
Over 99% of all declared chemical weapon stockpiles have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.