General

1. Every precaution is taken to make the laboratory a safe place to work. However, because of the serious consequences of mistakes or carelessness, safety can only be assured by complete cooperation and compliance with instructions.

2. Follow the instructions for performing each experiment carefully. Never go beyond the scope of the instructions. If your initiative should suggest trying some phase not covered by the instructions, consult the teacher before attempting it.

3. The laboratory is the work room of the scientist -- a place of serious business which involves may potential dangers. It is not a playroom. Absolutely no horseplay or practical jokes will be tolerated in the laboratory. The consequences of such tricks as squirting another student with a wash bottle can sometimes be disastrous. Instinctive recoil from the surprise of a prank of this sort can cause damaging spills or fire hazards.

4. Efficiency is directly dependent upon good order and cleanliness. Cleanliness and the avoidance of clutter makes experimentation much safer as well as more pleasant. Students should periodically clean and set their station in order during an experiment and wipe up all spills immediately. AT the end of the laboratory period, glassware and equipment should be cleaned and replaced in its proper storage. After working with liquids, the table top should be sponged down.

5. Special purpose reagents, not provided at the individual stations, should be used at the supply table and not carried through the laboratory to individual stations.

6. If the laboratory is equipped with stools, they should be used only when authorized by the teacher. When used, all four legs should be placed firmly on the floor, never tilted.

7. Minor spills on the floor should be wiped up with a sponge. Should extensive spills occur, the teacher should be notified so that he can have them mopped up.

8. If glassware or equipment is broken during an experiment, the teacher should be notified. Replacement should be obtained and the floor and/or table top cleared of broken glass.

9. Chemicals spilled on the hands or person should be flushed off immediately with plenty of water. If there is any skin irritation as a result, the teacher should be notified and action taken in accordance with the Health Manual.

10. In the event of chemicals being splashed in the eyes, the eyes should be flushed immediately with copious amounts of water, using the eye bath fountain or flushing hose for this purpose. The flushing should be continued for at least 15 minutes. If contact lenses are worn they should be removed immediately, before flushing with water. In this, as in all other cases of accident, the teacher should be promptly notified and action taken as indicated in the Health Manual.

11. Know the location of the emergency eyewash station, the flushing hose, and the deluge shower. The shower is very effective in quenching clothing fires as well as in washing off extensive spills on the face or body.

12. Should any chemicals be spilled on any clothing, especially tight-fitting clothing such as socks, hosiery, shells, sweaters, etc., the article should be removed promptly. Some organic chemicals which cause little or no irritation on bare skin can cause sever dermatitis if clothing dampened by them is in contact with the skin for prolonged periods.

13. In the event of a fire, verbal alarm should be given and the area immediately evacuated. Students are not to attempt to extinguish any fire except on person or clothing.

14. Sensible clothes should be worn in the laboratory. It is inadvisable to wear frilly blouses or shirts, or excessively loose-fitting clothing. The wearing of sandals is also discouraged. Hair sprayed with aerosol setting preparations presents a special fire hazard around Bunsen burners. In this regard, students should be aware of the extreme flammability of the spray from some aerosol containers. They should never use them in the presence of an ignition source, such as an open flame, lighted cigarette, etc. Keep this in mind in your outside activities as well as in school.

15. Some wigs and falls are more flammable than natural hair. Special care is in order around Bunsen burners when these are worn. It is strongly recommended that long, free-flowing hair be bound in a pony tail with a rubber band during laboratory work involving the use of the Bunsen burner.

Chemistry

1. Wash the hands after each lab period.

2. Never drink from laboratory glassware.

3. Never taste any chemical (unless specifically instructed to do so by your teacher).

4. Check Bunsen burner hose for security and leaks before lighting burner.

5. Have spark lighter or match handy before turning on the Bunsen burner.

6. Check gas valves before leaving station.

7. When diluting acids, pour acid slowly into water with constant stirring. Never pour water into acid.

8. Never point a test tube at yourself or another person, especially when heating. Never look down into a test tube.

9. Smell the contents of test tube, when necessary, by wafting some of the escaping gas toward your nose with a cupped hand.

10. Test the temperature of questionable beakers, ring stands, wire gauze, or other pieces of apparatus that have been heating by holding the back of the hand close before grasping them.

11. Always wear protective glasses unless specifically told by the teacher that they are not necessary.

12. When pouring liquids, especially caustic or corrosive ones, use a stirring rod to avoid drips and spills.

13. Never pipette by mouth.

14. Read the label twice before using contents of a reagent bottle.

15. In cutting glass tubing, score with the file, wrap in a towel, grasp the tubing firmly in both hands with the thumbs opposite the scratch, and bend the ends toward you. Fire polish the ends of all glass tubing before using in an assembly.

16. Do not attempt to remove ground glass stoppers which have become stuck. Ask the teacher for assistance.

17. Cracked or broken glassware should never be used. Ask for a replacement.

18. Follow the instructions for the disposal of wastes prescribed in the experiment. Never pour inflammable material down the drain.

19. Use beaker tongs to handle hot beakers, not towels or crucible tongs.

20. Glass stoppers of reagent bottles should not be laid on the bench top but held between the index and middle finger while pouring, This practice will prevent the accidental interchange of stoppers between reagent bottles and prevent contamination of the bench top.

21. Never pour reagents back into stock bottles. The amount needed should be estimated and any excess discarded.

22. When inserting glass tubing, thermometers, thistle tubes, etc. in stoppers, be sure the hole is large enough, lubricate both the glass and stopper with water, glycerin, or silicone grease, and insert by holding with a towel, using a gentle rotary motion. Keep the hand holding the stopper out of the line of the tubing being inserted.

23. If glass tubing or thermometers are stuck in a rubber stopper, do not attempt to remove them. Ask assistance from the teacher.