Fume cuboard / hoods safety

Fume hoods are in widespread use in science laboratories, and play an important role in protecting operators from dangerous fumes and particles. However, it is well known fact that many hoods are ergonomically poorly designed, making them clumsy and inefficient to use and giving rise to postural injuries.

Here are some tips to watch out for when considering buying a fume cabinet:

Poor internal visibility

In some fume hoods, the researcher needs to sit high to see and reach into the cabinet. This means that the stool used needs to be high and thus thighs can be squashed up against the underside of the cabinet.

With some hoods, when the operator stands upright in front of the cabinet, the eyes are level with the control panel. Thus the line of site to work is completely obscured. To see what he is doing the researcher needs to adopt and maintain a very awkward standing posture.

Poorly positioned arm apertures

Sometimes the arm apertures are poorly positioned and do not extend high enough to enable the operator to easily reach the top shelf. This results in the operators arms being pushed up hard against the top of the aperture when trying to reach the top of the cupboard.

Obstructions to seating

Where the operator can sit, there are often obstructions under the cabinet leg well which can be hazardous – plug sockets, sharp edges and ducting for example.

Some hoods do not have a foot rest for stool users, resulting an uncomfortable seating position.

Fume hoods with no seating option (cupboards underneath the unit)

Some fume hoods have cupboards under the work surface that limit the use of chairs. The user either has to stand, meaning that the user either needs to stand with splayed feet or is forced to stand back to work in the fume cupboard, or adopt an uncomfortable seating position.

Height of work surface

The fume hood needs to be at the correct height for a comfortable working position – not too high and not too low.

Fume cupboards

FUME CUPBOARDS