LAB SAFETY

(1) Food or Drink Never eat or drink in the laboratory. Do not bring food or drink into the lab. Accidentally ingesting chemicals can cause serious problems.

(2) Clothing Wear safe clothing. Jackets, ties, and loose fitting clothes should not be worn. Remove dangling necklaces, chains, and bracelets. Ties and loose fitting clothing are easy to catch on fire in the lab.

(3) Hair Tie back or cover long hair, especially near open flames. Hair is very flammable (especially if you use hairspray)

(4) Footwear Never wear open-toed shoes or sandals. Chemical spills and broken glass are bad enough, getting them between your toes is even worse. Protect your feet.

(5) Eyes Safety goggles need to be worn at all times when you are in the lab. Your eyes are extremely valuable to you. Glass shards, chemicals, fumes, fire, etc. can all cause catastrophic damage to your eyes.

(6) Eyes Avoid wearing contact lenses. If a chemical gets in your eye, contacts hold the chemical directly against your cornea, and prevents the chemical from being washed out Also, some vapors can go right through contact lenses, and will stick the contact to your cornea.

(7) Face Never put your face near the mouth of a container that contains chemicals. You should never smell a chemical directly, instead use a wafting motion to smell a chemical. You can burn your sinuses and mouth if you breather in some types of vapors.

(8) Work Stations Clean and wipe dry all work stations and equipment at the end of the class. A messy lab is a dangerous thing. Keeping things clean also ensures the equipment lasts longer, which means we’ll have more of it in the future.

(9) Injuries Report any injuries or spills to your teacher immediately. Don’t be afraid of getting in trouble. Not reporting that you spilled acid down your leg will only prevent you from getting your leg properly taken care of. Accidents do happen, make sure you prevent an accident from being a disaster – report it!

(10) Behavior No horseplay in the laboratory. “Just having some fun” can result in serious and permanent injury around chemicals and glassware. Have fun in the lab, but be responsible.

(11) Hand Washing Keep hands away from face, eyes, mouth, and body while using chemicals and equipment. Wash your hands with soap and water after performing all experiments. You can accidentally damage your eyes after a lab by rubbing a chemical that you unknowingly have on your hand into your eyes

(12) Fire Drill Know what to do if there is a fire drill during a lab period. Containers must be closed, any electrical equipment turned off, and all burners shut off.

(13) Mixing Chemicals Never mix chemicals unless you are instructed to do so. Mixing the wrong two chemicals together can release poisonous gases, cause glassware to shatter, or cause fires and serious injury.

(14) Read Instructions Labels and equipment instructions must be read carefully before use. Set up and use the equipment as directed by your teacher.

(15) Be Alert Be alert and proceed with caution at all times in the lab. Notify the teacher immediately of any unsafe conditions you observe.

(16) Splashes If a chemical should splash in your eye(s) or on your skin, immediately wash with running water for at least 20 minutes. Immediately (and loudly) call out the teacher’s name to get their attention.

(17) First Aid Stations Know where the eye wash and shower are located in the lab. If you do not know, ask your teacher before you get into the lab. It is important that you don’t have to search for these devices when you really need them.

(18) Heating Be very careful when heating beakers and lab equipment. Glass and iron do not necessarily look hot even when they can be extremely hot.

(19) Hot Glassware Do not immerse hot glassware in water. The glassware can shatter, creating a safety hazard and reducing the equipment that the school has available for your use.

(20) Acids Use extreme care when working with acids and other caustic chemicals (those that might burn or irritate your skin)