
Lab Safety Resources for a New Semester
The start of each semester means that a new group of undergraduate students will be enrolled in laboratory science courses—maybe their first lab courses at the college level. To prevent accidents and avoid injury in the lab, it is essential that students receive safety training before they begin lab work. The beginning of the semester is also a great time to review safety training for student workers and staff.
A good place to begin the process of evaluating and developing a safety training program is The American Chemical Society’s Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Academic Institutions. These guidelines emphasize the need for students to learn the reasons why safety precautions should to be followed, so students can identify safety issues and make decisions based on their knowledge. Here are some ideas to help you facilitate safety training to help students understand the reasons for safety training.
Accident Awareness — Ask students to think about and possibly share stories of non-lab accidents that they have experienced. How many accidents are due to not paying attention, distractions, multi-tasking, or not following the rules? Accidents—in the lab or not—can have similar causes.
Videos — Videos are a great way to convey important safety-related information in a format that tends to keep students’ attention more than a series of power point slides.
Lab Techniques & Safety: Crash Course Chemistry #21 covers how to avoid common lab accidents. (Note: This video references the fire diamond hazard system, not the GHS standards.)
Introduction to Flinn Lab Safety Course. Includes an animation of the story of Ira Remsen’s investigation of nitric acid acting upon copper.
Lab Map and Scavenger Hunt — Using a diagram of the lab room, students become actively involved in the safety process as they mark the location of safety equipment such as the items listed below. On their maps, students could circle the equipment closest to their lab stations.
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Fire extinguishers
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Eyewashes
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Safety Shower
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Fire Blanket
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First Aid Kit
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Spill Control Material
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Gas and Electrical Shut Offs
Download A Lab Safety “Scavenger Hunt”
How to Read a Safety Data Sheet PDF — Students need know how to read and understand the information provided on Safety Data Sheets (SDS) in order to use chemicals safely and responsibly.
Flinn Lab Resources for Colleges and Universities — Free safety references from Flinn, including Safety Data Sheets, demonstrations, videos, safety contracts and exams, and more.
If you have any questions about lab safety training, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Best Regards,
Alan Downward
Senior Chemist
