Risk Assessment for a Reaction Nobody Has Run Here

Start from the hazard data for every reagent you will touch. Look up what each one can do to skin, airways and surroundings. Then turn each hazard into a handling choice: how much you use, where you use it, and what shields you from it.

Next name the worst credible failure for your exact procedure and the condition that would trigger it. A pyrophoric reagent ignites when it meets air, so a leaking needle, septum or line is the trigger to write down. If the procedure also has a cold, heat-releasing step, lost cooling is a second trigger to list. Write each failure and its trigger side by side.

List your controls in priority order. First remove the hazard or substitute a safer reagent or smaller scale. Next come engineering controls: closed vessels, inert gas, a fume hood and shields. Then administrative controls, which change how people work, such as a written procedure and training. Protective equipment comes last, because it guards only the wearer and not the room.

End with a stop condition you will obey. State the reading or sight that ends the run, such as a temperature drift or unexpected smoke. When it appears, you abandon the run instead of adjusting it.