| 1. Always wear approved eye protection. Failure to do so will result in your expulsion from the lab.
2. "Horseplay" is strictly forbidden. Enjoy chemistry but be mature.
3. No eating or drinking in the laboratory.
4. Always add acids to water, never water to acids.
5. Return caps and lids to all reagent bottles immediately; make certain tops are tightly closed.
6. Never return reagents to stock bottles.
7. Dispose of unused or contaminated reagents properly. Throw solids in waste jars, flush water-soluble liquids down the sink with a large excess of water. Non-water soluble liquids should be placed in a waste can or jar.
8. Always use a split stopper for glass tubing, thermometers, or thistle tubes rather than inserting these into a stopper. Open the split stopper and wrap it around the stem of the piece of equipment.
9. Test for odors by wafting.
10. Never aim the opening of a test tube or flask at yourself or at anyone else.
11. Use a pipet bulb for all solutions. Never mouth pipet.
12. Perform all reactions in your hood area.
13. Never leave an experiment unattended.
14. Under no conditions are unauthorized or unsupervised experiments to be performed.
15. Appropriate lab attire will be stressed in the laboratory. Sshorts and skirts must be to the knee to be considered acceptable. Shirts must have sleeves. No footwear that exposes feet to chemicals will be acceptable. This includes sandals, open-toed shoes, and crocs. You will be dismissed from lab if appropriate lab attire is not worn. Failure to complete that day’s assignments will result in a grade of zero.
16. If you have long hair, tie it back to keep it out of flames.
17. Report any accident, however minor, to your instructor or advisor at once.
18. You are advised to avoid wearing synthetic finger nails in the chemistry laboratory. Synthetic finger nails
are made of extremely flammable polymers which burn to completion and are not easily extinguished.
20. AT ALL TIMES THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
OVER
These safety rules are to be followed by all students, employees, and faculty of the College of Charleston, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The department expects each person to develop an awareness of safety regulations and to follow these safety procedures.
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Charleston considers safe practice essential to all activities. No experiment is so important that it should be undertaken in an unsafe manner. In an effort to provide safe laboratories, the department endeavors to make its facilities safe and to provide special equipment for protection against special hazards. It is the responsibility of ALL the people in all of the laboratories to observe safe practices and to know what to do in the event of an accident. The safety rules printed on the facing page outline the most important safety practices. It is important to remember that you must prevent accidents. Accidents do not "happen", they are caused.
Whenever you are conducting an experiment involving unfamiliar chemicals, instruments, or techniques, consult an expert or a reference for specific details.
When handling gas cylinders, liquid nitrogen, glass tubing, explosives, toxic materials, lacrymators, radioactive materials, machinery, vacuum systems, etc., observe the prescribed procedures. For example, safe practice with gas cylinders includes;
1. always move tanks with a cart, never by sliding or rolling them on the floor,
2. before moving a tank, make sure its protective cup is securely on,
3. tag an empty tank,
4. tanks must be chained or strapped securely while in use or storage.
It is extremely important that you know where the safety equipment is located in your lab. If there is a fire, there is no time to hunt for the fire extinguisher. Know where the extinguisher, fire blanket, shower, eyewash, and most importantly, where the exits are. Remember, you may have to find these without being able to see them.
Memorize the campus emergency telephone number 3-5611. |