Laboratory Safety

There should be a limited number of rules for the laboratory, but they must be rigidly and impartially enforced. Willful noncompliance should result in dismissal or suspension from the laboratory. The following are suggested as rules for students in all laboratories:

• All persons, including students, staff, and visitors, in laboratories shall wear safety glasses, goggles, or face shields at all times where potential eye hazards exist.  Goggles are recommended where chemical splashes are possible.  If contact lenses are to be worn, the eyes should be protected by goggles when potential eye hazards exist.
• Eating, drinking, chewing gum, and applying cosmetics are prohibited in laboratory areas where hazardous chemicals are used.  Food and drink are permitted in designated areas in the lab, safely separated from laboratory work areas; such areas should be limited and have appropriate signs delineating the areas.
• Do not store food or beverages in the same refrigerators or freezers with chemicals, biohazards, or radioactive materials.  If food or beverages are stored in designated areas in the lab, the refrigerator or freezer should be marked "FOR FOOD ONLY."
  
• Appropriate gloves are essential when working with hazardous substances.  All glove materials are not equally effective in protection from hazardous substances; consult a chemical resistance chart, such as in Appendix B, a glove manufacturer, or EH&S for appropriate selection.
• The hazards of chemicals used should be known (e.g., corrosiveness, flammability, reactivity, stability, and toxicity). Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) should be available for all non routine or acutely toxic chemicals used and stored in the laboratory.
• Closed toed shoes are required in laboratory areas are all times.
• Lab coats are required in laboratory areas where and when potential hazards exist.
  
• No smoking.

Incidents can be avoided if you:

• Pay Attention to what you are doing! Lab accidents happen most often when you are cleaning up or doing something you think isn't dangerous. If you notice an unusual fog etc. coming from a waste bottle do not cap it. Close the hood sash and notify your supervisor immediately.
• Always double check the label before pouring anything (waste or otherwise). In the case above, someone in the lab did not read the tag on the waste bottle. Never assume that a bottle is reagent or waste just by its color or size! Again, pay attention to what you are doing!
• Properly label your reactions and containers. A label is not just crossing out "Hydrochloric acid" and writing "waste", "waste acid" etc. in magic marker. There are specific rules and procedures to follow!
• Hoods are not meant for chemical storage. In the case above, the hood was being used for the storage of well over 30 different chemicals as well as waste materials. If you're not using certain chemicals, put them away. If the hood has to be used for storage of nasty chemicals, find a different hood to run your reaction.
• Never run experiments in hoods where waste is stored. Do not use or store incompatible materials in the same fume hood. In the case above, the combination of organics, acids and bases contributed to the resulting fire, forced the closure of the building for several hours and costing a lot of time and money for cleanup.
• Minimize potential injury. When possible, avoid performing benchtop work immediately across from a fume hood that is being used for waste collection or an experiment.
• Use the fume hood correctly. Keep the fume hood sash closed except when necessary to contain accidental fires, ejecta and shrapnel (as well as fumes).
• Do not perform unauthorized experiments. Not only is this generally forbidden, but it increases the chance of an accidental mixing of incompatible chemicals. A student doing this in a lab course may be expelled from the laboratory, charged with a crime, and/or receive a failing grade in the course.