Safe Together: The podcast
Episode 3: Designing safety into the lab
In this episode, host Ellen visits Kiwa Technology in the Netherlands for a tour that proves one thing fast: safety starts before the test even begins.
She’s joined by Nadia Luijsterburg-Vleugels, a PhD chemical and elastomer engineer, who walks us through real lab setups and the safety decisions behind them. From redesigning a test setup so risks become visible to dealing with unexpected chemical reactions and managing an odorant test that triggered concerns outside the building. This is about thinking ahead and communicating clearly when stakes are high.
You’ll hear
- How a design improvement made a test safer and easier to understand
- What happens when a ‘safer’ replacement chemical creates new risks
- Why openness between labs can protect people across the industry
- How communication can prevent panic and keep a site safe
Extra context for a few terms mentioned in the episode
- Elastomers: rubber-like materials that can stretch and recover, often used in sealing systems where leakage risk matters.
- REACH list: EU regulation controlling hazardous chemicals, which can lead to substances being restricted or phased out.
- Round-robin test: multiple labs run the same test to compare results and improve reliability and safety practices.
