Transitioning from Glassware to Plasticware in an Industrial Analytical Laboratory Following a Laceration Incident: A Case Study

Glassware-related lacerations are the most frequent category of injury in chemistry laboratories. Despite this, manual dishwashing, a daily routine step in every analytical laboratory, is virtually absent from safety literature as a distinct risk context. Here, we report a case study from an incident at the quality control laboratory of Saipol (Groupe Avril), a major European oilseed processing company, where a laboratory technician sustained a hand laceration requiring three sutures following the breakage of a glass beaker during postanalytical rinsing. Internally, glass cuts were identified as the most frequent accident type across Groupe Avril laboratories over the past ten years. The technician was wearing nitrile laboratory gloves at the time of the incident. A root cause analysis identified two contributing factors: water accumulation on the outer surface of the beaker reducing grip, and an instinctive catch reflex that forced the technician’s hand against the shattering glass. Following the NIOSH hierarchy of controls, a material substitution program was then implemented. A glassware use inventory (∼300 items/week) and a chemical compatibility assessment revealed that over 50% of glass items used mainly for titrimetric applications could be substituted with plastic equivalents (like poly(ethylene terephthalate glycol)-modified, polypropylene, and polymethylpentene). Comparative analyses confirmed no measurable analytical interference from the newly introduced PETG vessels. Consequently, based on item counts, the substitution achieved a 30% reduction in glassware usage (∼90 plastic items/week) across the facility over the past two years. This case study provides a transferable framework (inventory, compatibility evaluation, material selection, analytical validation, and implementation) for analytical laboratories seeking to reduce glassware-related injury risk.