Journey
Set up a scientific research operation
Learning path for new scientific research and development businesses — biotechnology labs, natural-science R&D, social-science R&D and humanities research. Work out which rules apply, put a safe workplace in place, meet the conditional regulatory duties for your type of research, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.
What this journey is for
Scientific research and development covers a wide spectrum — from biotechnology laboratories working with genetically modified organisms and hazardous chemicals to social-science and humanities teams that never enter a lab. The duties you carry depend on what your research involves, but the workplace-safety foundation is the same for every R&D business. This journey walks you through that path in the order you will live it, from working out which rules apply through to checking you have everything in place.
It does not give you the step-by-step instructions or the figures — those live in the guides it points to. It tells you where you are, why each stage matters, and which guide to open next.
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Work out which regulations apply to you
Start by getting the picture right. A biotechnology laboratory carrying out GM work and animal research triggers conditional duties that a social-science research team does not, though both share the same workplace-safety foundation. Working this out first tells you which of the conditional duties apply to your operation. Use the router guide to see the full picture before you commit.
Which scientific research and development regulations apply to your business
Work out which rules apply to your research activities. A reference guide that routes you from the shared workplace-safety foundation to the conditional regulatory duties.
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Put your workplace-safety foundations in place
Whatever your discipline, this is the universal spine. Risk-assess the work — laboratories, equipment, fieldwork and the substances or agents your people handle. Carry out your fire risk assessment (particularly important where you store flammable solvents, compressed gases or reactive chemicals). Hold employers' liability insurance and meet your equality and data protection duties. The Data Protection Act 2018 provides specific safeguards for processing personal data for scientific research purposes. Build this in from the start rather than retrofitting it.
Set up and run a safe scientific research operation
The duties every R&D business shares — general health and safety, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
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Meet the conditional regulatory duties for your type of research
This is where the disciplines diverge. If your laboratory work involves hazardous chemicals or biological agents, you carry COSHH duties. If you do GM work, you must notify the HSE and obtain consent for higher-class activities. Animal research requires three Home Office licences under ASPA. Storing human tissue for research generally requires a Human Tissue Authority licence. Working with ionising radiation means notifying, registering with or obtaining consent from the HSE (depending on the risk) and appointing a radiation protection adviser. Each of these duties is conditional — only triggered if you do that type of work. Social-science and humanities R&D typically carries none of them.
Meet your scientific research regulatory duties
The conditional duties that depend on your research activities — COSHH for hazardous substances, GMO contained-use notification, animal research licensing, human tissue storage licensing, and ionising radiation controls.
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Verify you have covered everything
Once the moving parts are in motion, take a step back and check the whole picture holds together. A compliance checklist lets you confirm, in one place, that each obligation — the universal workplace duties and the conditional regulatory duties — is genuinely met rather than assumed. Use it as your readiness review before you begin operating, and come back to it as your research activities change.
Scientific research and development: compliance checklist
Verify you have covered everything — the universal workplace and employment duties, and the conditional regulatory duties for your type of research.
You will also need the general business set-up duties
Alongside the sector-specific path above, every R&D business carries general obligations that are not unique to research but are just as compulsory. As you build the business you will also need to:
- protect the people who work for you — meet your workplace health and safety duties, including laboratory risk assessments that bite hard when hazardous substances or biological agents are involved.
- hold employers' liability insurance once you take anyone on.
- handle personal data lawfully — most businesses must complete data protection registration with the ICO, and the DPA 2018 provides specific safeguards for scientific research processing.
- meet your fire safety duties for the premises you work from, which matter wherever you store flammable solvents, compressed gases or reactive chemicals.
These general duties run in parallel with the sector path rather than after it, so set them up as you establish the business. The workplace spine and the compliance checklist bring the core duties together so you can confirm they are covered.
Where this leaves you
You now have the shape of the whole task. Work out which rules apply, put a safe workplace in place, meet the conditional regulatory duties for your type of research, and verify the lot. Work the guides in order and you will have a clear, defensible position from the day you begin operating.