Lab Safety/Procedures

Laboratory Safety
The following information is also available on the Chem 116 and Chem 117 websites.

All people who work in any capacity in chemical laboratories must learn to live with
three serious hazards:

Chemical Explosion/Fire

Chemical Poisoning (by inhalation or absorption through the skin)

Chemical Burns (acids/bases)

These symbols are placed in the upper right hand corner of each page of laboratory
proce-dures, when such caution is appropriate to the particular experiment. They are
intended as a reminder of needed caution in the experimental procedure.

While situations presenting some danger cannot be avoided entirely (by the very nature
of chemistry), reasonable and sensible precautions will minimize the potential of
injurious accidents or severe property damage. The reasons for laboratory accidents are
generally carelessness or ignorance, rarely an act of The Chemistry Gods.

The ultimate responsibility for safety must rest on each individual worker in the
laboratory, not the faculty member. You will never be asked to, required to, or allowed to
perform any experimental work known beforehand to endanger your person in a serious
manner. For your contribution towards safety in the laboratory, it is incumbent on you to:

⇒ be informed about any procedure you intend to carry out in the laboratory,
including an awareness of any obvious hazards.
⇒ know exactly what to do if you experience an accident, or are witness to an
accident and are summoned for help.
⇒ be responsible for the safe disposal of any material you are using.

To help maintain laboratory safety, considerable effort has been given to preparing the
following list of safety precautions. Because it is impossible to anticipate every possible
hazardous situation, no list of safety rules is complete, and no list can substitute for common
sense and laboratory courtesy. If in doubt about the degree of hazard for something you plan
to do, do not hesitate to consult a faculty member or teaching assistant. Your sympathetic
cooperation and adherence to these rules are expected and demanded at all times, even
though the reason behind each may not be immediately apparent to you. Your part of the
collective safety responsibility is taken very seriously by the laboratory staff.
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I. General Laboratory Safety Rules

1. Instructions: Carry out all manipulations in accordance with instructions and the
safety rules and procedures given herein.
2. Eye Protection: All students and staff working in the laboratory must wear chemical
splash safety goggles. Contact lenses are strongly discouraged in the laboratory, and
wearers of such lenses should use alternate glasses if at all possible.
If a student needs to be reminded more than three times to wear
goggles, she/he will be dismissed from lab for the remainder of the
day, and will not be given an opportunity to make up the work.
3. Apparel: The clothes you wear in lab are an important part of your “safety equipment,”
and should offer protection from splashes/spills. As such, when in lab you must wear:
• Closed toed shoes (sneakers are fine),
• Full-length pants or a full-length skirt, and
• A shirt that completely covers your torso (i.e. at minimum, a t-shirt).
In other words, you must NOT wear shorts to lab. You must NOT wear flip-flops,
sandals, or crocs. You must NOT wear tank tops, halter tops, spaghetti-strap tops, or low
cut jeans to lab. Exposed abdomens, hips, and backs are not safe in the lab. Finally:
• Long hair must be pulled back and properly restrained, and
• Jewelry should be worn sparingly.
4. Gloves: Gloves are an important part of personal protection. Gloves will be available
at all times in the laboratory. Your instructor will require their use when appropriate.
5. Lab Coats and Aprons: Flame-resistant lab coats and chemical-resistant aprons are
also available for your protection. Your instructor will require their use when
appropriate.
6. Fume Hoods: Your instructor will direct you to use a chemical fume hood for some
reactions. Typically, fume hoods will be used when dealing with chemicals that have an
offensive smell, are corrosive or reactive, or are known or potential inhalation hazards.
The bottom of the sash must not be raised above the black triangle (located on the side of
the hood), and all material must be at least 6 inches back from the sash opening.
7. Food: Food, drinks, and gum are not allowed in lab. None at all, not even water bottles.
8. Sanitation Issues: Be sure to wash your hands before leaving lab, before you eat
anything outside of lab, and before you answer your cell phone.
9. Music: Individual headphones and earbuds are not allowed. Your instructor may
choose to play music for the entire class.
10. Other: All students are explicitly prohibited from:
1. conducting any unauthorized experiments.
2. removing chemicals or apparatus from the laboratory for any reason.
3. working in the lab alone, or at other than regularly scheduled lab periods.
4. smoking in the laboratory or within 20 feet of any doorway.
5. impeding movement in aisles or through doorways with bags, skateboards, etc.

35. Safety Equipment

Each student in the lab must familiarize themselves with the location and use of the safety
shower, eyewash fountain, fire blanket, first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, neutralization kits, and
the fire alarm pull station. In case of fire, call campus safety at X72000.

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III. Chemical Exposure and Awareness

1. Given the fact that you are in a chemistry laboratory, you will have some level of
chemical exposure. Some chemicals are relatively harmless, but caution should
always be taken to minimize exposure.
2. Being aware of the toxicity, flammability, physical properties, etc. of chemicals can
help you to be aware of, and to minimize, your exposure levels.
3. A Material Safety Data Sheet or an MSDS for each chemical used in lab is available
in lab as well as online. Each MSDS provides information regarding the toxicity,
flammability, etc. of a chemical in addition to first aid measures, fire fighting
measures, exposure controls, and chemical and physical properties.
4. Your instructor will highlight any particularly chemical safety issues in a pre-lab
lecture and advise you in ways to minimize your exposure.

IV. Waste Disposal (a big problem, please pay attention to proper disposal
procedures)

1. All organic solvents and all potentially harmful inorganic solutions and residues must
be deposited in the waste receptacles provided in the laboratory.
2. Non-organic acids or bases are poured into the sinks, with plenty of water.
3. Sponge up promptly any acids or corrosive liquids or potentially toxic substances
spilled on the desks or floor. Use plenty of water to wash them off.
4. Do not put solids or paper in the sinks.

V. In Case of Fire

Know the location of all fire extinguishers in the laboratory and be familiar with their use.
Locate all exits in the laboratory. In case of fire notify the instructor immediately. If your
clothing catches on fire, DO NOT RUN. Use the lab safety shower to extinguish the flames,
or have someone smother the fire with a coat or blanket. If hair catches on fire, use water in
any sink to douse the flames. If a liquid catches fire in a container, be careful not to spill the
liquid in your haste, thus spreading the fire. Often, simply covering the container with a
watch glass will be sufficient to put out the fire. However, if the fire spreads outside of the
container then use the fire extinguisher. In case of fire, call campus safety at X72000.

VI. In Case of Accident

Report all accidents to your instructor, even if you think they are trivial - let the instructor
decide! Simple cuts, scrapes and burns can probably be dealt with by use of the First Aid kit
in the lab. More extensive treatment will require a trip to the Health Center (or hospital). In
most cases, an accident report will be made out and filed in the department office.

If the accident involves a spill, but no injury, consult the instructor about the best clean-
up method.

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VII. Laboratory Procedures

1. On withdrawal from a course at any time, the student must clean and check out all
equipment within two weeks of his/her withdrawal.
2. Heating reactions:
1. Never heat a closed system (e.g. a tightly stoppered flask).
2. Never heat organic solvents over an open flame. Use a steam bath or an electric
hot plate with care.
3. Do Not pour or work with organic solvents when flames are in the vicinity.
Avoid the storage of flammable solvents in your locker.
4. No open flames are permitted in the organic laboratory except by specific
permission of the instructor. When permitted, connect burner tubing to a gas
outlet somewhat removed from the apparatus to be heated. This will facilitate
tuning off the gas with a minimum of danger in the case of accident.
5. Never work with flammable solvents within five feet of a flame.
3. Handling chemicals:
1. Minimize contact between chemicals and your skin.
2. Handle solids with a spatula. Handle volatile organic liquids only when there is
adequate ventilation, preferably in a fume hood.
3. Do Not pour reagents from above eye level.
4. Do Not hold any apparatus near your face while mixing or heating reagents or
observing reactions.
5. Never taste chemicals of any kind. Do Not pipet by mouth.
6. Shelf reagents are not to be taken to your desk. Take what you need in a
container if necessary. Do Not return unused reagents to the reagent bottle. Return
reagents to the proper place on the shelf (generally alphabetical). Do Not use
droppers to withdraw reagents from stock bottles except when stock bottles are so
equipped.
4. Handling glassware:
1. Fire-polish the ends of all glass tubing.
2. When inserting glass tubing or thermometers into stoppers be sure that the hole
is large enough to accommodate the glass. Lubricate the tubing with water or
glycerol. Hold the tubing in a towel and hold the stopper between the thumb and
the forefinger, not in the palm of the hand. Grasp the tubing very close to the
stopper and rotate slightly while pressing.
3. Do Not attempt to push or pull glass tubing from stoppers or tubing which has
become hardened. Cut the cork or tubing away from the glass.
4. Do Not force glassware if doesn't seem to fit.
5. Do Not use glassware that is cracked.
5. Laboratory clean-up:
1. Do Not waste distilled water. Use a wash bottle sparingly.
2. Use minimal volumes of wash acetone (in red polyethylene wash bottles).
3. At the end of the laboratory period wash off your desk top with wet paper towels.
4. Be sure that the gas and water are shut off where you have been working.
5. Lock your desk. The equipment in your drawer is your responsibility.

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