Safety+Practices+in+the+Laboratory+Section

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Safety Practices in the Laboratory
A safe environment must be a part of any laboratory program. The teacher and administration should work cooperatively to maintain safety equipment, establish safety practices, and provide safety education in the high school chemistry laboratory. The teacher has an obligation to make the laboratory experience a safe one. Whenever a safety problem arises, the teacher should alert the administration. It is the responsibility of the administration to remain informed about safety issues and to support the teacher on matters of safety.

**INFORMATION**
The chemistry teacher must be familiar with currently accepted safety practices and standards. Such information can be obtained by reading safety publications and attending workshops. (See Resources, especially "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories", American Chemical Society, 2003). It is the obligation of the administration to give financial support to these activities. 1. The teacher should stay informed of current information on the prevention of problems associated with chemicals through prudent purchasing, inventory control, safe storage and handling, and proper waste disposal. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and other resources should be used to provide information on safe storage, disposal and hazards for each chemical used. The teacher should be aware of local and state regulations regarding chemicals that are not approved for use in the high school chemistry laboratory. 2. The teacher should know when and how to use personal protective and lab safety equipment and should enforce its proper use. Only those experiments that can be safely conducted with the equipment available should be planned. The teacher should test each new experiment before allowing students to perform the lab to ensure that it meets safety requirements. 3. The teacher should know first aid and immediate rescue procedures for emergencies and have contingency plans for obtaining professional help as quickly as possible. 4. The teacher should keep records of accidents involving injury, fire, or explosion and notify appropriate administrators or file appropriate reports. These should be analyzed so that hazards may be minimized. 5. The teacher should work with other science teachers to develop a workable Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) that lists general safety information, requires MSDS for all chemicals and includes Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handling all hazardous chemicals.

**INSTRUCTION**
The chemistry teacher must instruct the students on the subject of safety in a manner appropriate to the activity and the maturity of the students, without creating undue anxiety. 1. Students should know the location of and learn how to use the safety shower, eye-wash, and fire blanket located in the laboratory. 2. A written set of general safety guidelines should be provided to each student at the beginning of the course. The student and parent/guardian should be asked to sign a safety contract indicating their receipt and understanding of the safety guidelines. 3. The teacher should instruct the students on the procedures needed for the safe handling of the chemicals and equipment used in the laboratory. Furthermore, acceptable standards of student conduct should be specified during each pre-lab discussion. It is essential that the teacher set a good example in laboratory and safety practices. 4. Students behaving in an unsafe manner should be removed from the laboratory. 5. To ensure that students develop good safety habits, the teacher should continually monitor students and offer further instruction of safe procedures while lab work is in progress.

**ENVIRONMENT**
The chemistry teacher must maintain a safe environment for students in the laboratory. 1. The teacher must ensure that the availability and require the use of accepted safety equipment (see Facilities, "The Laboratory", above.) 2. The teacher should plan experiments that can be performed safely in the environment of the particular lab. The facilities, maturity of the students, and time available must be considered. The smallest quantities of chemicals that can be used for an experiment should be selected. Microscale procedures should be used where appropriate to minimize the quantities of materials needed and student exposure to chemicals. 3. It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that equipment is in safe, proper working order before it is used by the students. This includes activating the shower and eyewash weekly to verify operation and assure clean water flow. 4. The teacher should organize and maintain a safe and secure work area, including storage and preparation facilities.

**SUPERVISION**
The chemistry teacher must continuously supervise all laboratory activities, from planning and set-up through experiment and clean up. 1. The teacher is responsible for the safety of all persons within the laboratory, both students and visitors. Unless an emergency arises which requires the teacher’s absence, laboratory supervision should not be delegated to other persons. In case of such an emergency, only qualified persons should be permitted to supervise the laboratory. 2. The teacher has a duty to maintain discipline in the laboratory at all times. Appropriate behavior is vital to the safety of all persons present in the laboratory. It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that students are never engaged in unauthorized activities. It is the responsibility of the administration to support the teacher in the maintenance of discipline. //(see// //notes// //for this pag//e)