A Science Safety Guide for Chemistry

1. www.sciencesafetyconsulting.com A Science Safety Guide for Chemistry Lab safety is of utmost importance and this also recommends us not to remove any laboratory chemicals, apparatus and equipment from their respective place without teacher’s permission. This is considered a crime and calls for punishment. So, follow the guideline properly and make your experience exciting and fun. Chemistry is a branch of science dealing with elements, compound, their properties, reactions and formation of new substances. This subject is also called as “the central science” as it forms a bridge between other branches of science. Chemistry laboratory is the hub, where different experiments are performed and new bridges are built on science. Chemistry has an utmost role in the scientific enterprises and their labs. The hazards increase with the potential of chemicals, but those can be avoided with science safety measures and precautions. Safety is not a single person’s responsibility, but of everyone working in and around the laboratory. It can be avoided by accepting the following measures: Better Understanding of Chemicals Understand the potential hazards of the chemicals to be used and plan it accordingly. Chemicals are important because of their unique set of properties and similarly, in some cases anticipating their hazard is difficult. For instance, some cannot be directly dumped into the drains, some need to be buried deep inside the earth and some are to be burned for disposal. Accordingly, chemicals are grouped under four categories: Toxicity – Level of poisonous effect

2. Flammability – Burning effect of chemicals Corrosivity – Level of destruction or damage by chemical action Reactivity – Spontaneity and degree of reaction with other chemicals Proper Laboratory Action Before using the chemicals in any experiment, comprehend the procedure and outcome. Check the required apparatus. If the setup and equipment used are new, go for a "dry run". This will summarize the whole phenomenon of safety consulting features and will work as a checklist for all required materials. This will reduce the rate of hazardous situation while performing the experiment. Safety Gears and Attires If you are working with chemicals, then you must have heard about the gears and attires available in the market for lab safety. Availability of goggles, glasses, gloves, lab coat, and boots have become common and different types of equipment are available such as fume hoods, burners and more to make the procedure easy and fast. Adapt them for safety. Most of the companies do not include environmental safety in their business process and pay no attention to it. These companies often treat the hazardous chemicals same as others, whereas they need special disposal, handling criteria, and storage. Negligence of proper handling of chemicals can result catastrophically for any organization. To get away from the critical issues, chemical management system work as a boon. This system assists in integrating different measures to enhance environmental health and safety. Science safetymeasures assist you in having a better work environment, good for the workers as well as the industry. Be safe with the chemicals! Science & Safety Consulting Services 3006 Lester Mills Rd Greenville, NC 27858 910 339 5153 ph 919-270-2914 cell lmstroud@sciencesafetyconsulting.com