Safety in the Science Lab

1. Safety in the Science Lab

2. Katy ISD District Safety Agreement The Safety Agreement must be reviewed and signed by the student at the beginning of each school year before the student participates in a lab investigation. The Safety Agreement should stay on file until the end of the school year. Note: The Safety Agreement does state that students will wear closed toe shoes while participating in a lab investigation.

3. Equipment The following pieces of equipment need to be used when appropriate: • goggles, gloves, apron, fire extinguisher, fire blanket, eyewash/safety shower

4. Material Safety Data Sheet • MSDS- all needed information about a chemical is found on this sheet such as storage, disposal, and safety precautions. • MSDS are in transition to Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals-GHS • These sheets come with all chemical orders and can be found on Mr. YUK on all district computers.

7. Hazardous Waste Pick-up • It is very expensive to dispose of hazardous waste. Teachers can minimize the expense by using microscale investigations and by ordering only the volume of chemical they need for the current year. • The Maintenance Department picks up hazardous waste from the campuses twice a year, in December and May. • Science DCs are notified several weeks in advance so that they have time to identify whether they have a need for this service.

8. Chemical Approval All chemicals requested for purchase for use in the science lab are sent to the Science Coordinator for approval. This helps to ensure hazardous chemicals and large volume purchases are limited.

9. Pets in the Classroom • District policy states that organisms may be present in the classroom if the organism serves a curricular purpose. • Teachers should be aware that some students have allergies and the organism may be a health hazardous to these students. • Handling of organisms should be limited.