Appendix A - General Laboratory Safety Rules and Practices

A. General Principles

Know the safety rules and procedures that apply to the work that is being done. Determine the potential hazards (e.g., physical, chemical, biological) and appropriate safety precautions before beginning any new operation.
Know the location of, and how to use, the emergency equipment in your area, as well as how to obtain additional help in an emergency, and be familiar with emergency procedures.
Know the types of available protective equipment and how to select and use it.
Keep work areas clean and uncluttered.
Be alert to unsafe conditions and actions and call attention to them so that corrections can be made as soon as possible. Someone else's accident can be as dangerous to you as any you might cause.
Foods and beverages are prohibited in laboratories and chemical storage areas.
Avoid releasing hazards to the environment by following accepted waste disposal procedures; see Appendix F - Hazardous Waste Handling and Disposal.
Be certain all chemicals are correctly and clearly labeled. Post warning signs when unusual hazards, such as radiation, flammable materials, biological hazard, or other special hazards exist.
Remain out of the area of a fire or personal injury unless it is your responsibility to help with the emergency. Curious bystanders interfere with rescue and emergency personnel and endanger themselves.
Avoid distracting or startling any other worker or student. Practical jokes or horseplay cannot be tolerated at any time.
Use equipment only for its designation purpose.
Use fume hood when working with hazardous chemicals. Keep reagent containers back 6 inches from the bench top edge. The hood sash is not to be raised beyond the designated mark.
Do not use the fume hood for a storage area.
Think, act, and encourage safety until it becomes a habit.

B. Health and Hygiene

Wear appropriate eye protection at all times.
Use protective apparel, including face shields, gloves, and other special clothing as appropriate when in the laboratory.
Confine long hair and loose clothing when entering a laboratory.
Use a pipette bulb or an aspirator to provide suction or to start a siphon, DO NOT pipette chemicals by mouth.
Use appropriate safety equipment to avoid exposure to gases, vapors, and aerosols.
Wear long pants and shoes that cover the foot. Minimize bare skin areas.
Wash your hands well before leaving the laboratory area. Avoid the use of solvents for washing the skin. They remove the natural protective oils from the skin and can cause irritation and inflammation. In some cases, washing with a solvent might facilitate absorption of a toxic chemical eg. methanol.
Pregnant women should exercise appropriate precaution when working with reproductive and embryo toxins. See Appendix K – Reproductive Hazards, Mutagens, Teratogens.
Exercise special precaution to avoid skin contact when working with allergens such as diazomethane, isocyanides, nickel and dichromates.

C. Food Handling
Contamination of food, drink, and smoking materials is a potential route for exposure to toxic substances. Food should be stored, handled, and consumed in an area free of hazardous substances.

Consumption of and storage of food or beverages is not permitted in laboratories or prep rooms, including laboratory classrooms when not being used for laboratory activities.
Glassware or utensils that have been used for laboratory operations are not to be used to prepare or consume food or beverages. Laboratory spaces, refrigerators, ice chests, cold rooms, and such are not to be used for food storage; separate equipment should be dedicated to that use and prominently labeled.

D. Housekeeping

Work areas should be kept clean and free from obstructions. To the extent practicable, cleanup should be done at the end of each day.
Wastes should be deposited in appropriate receptacles.
Spilled chemicals should be cleaned up immediately and disposed of properly. Disposal procedures should be established and all laboratory personnel should be informed of them.
Unlabeled containers and chemical wastes should be removed from the laboratories. Avoid accumulating chemicals that are not likely to be used in the laboratory.
Floors should be cleaned regularly; accumulated dust, chromatography adsorbents, and other assorted chemicals and materials pose respiratory hazards.
Stairways and hallways should not be used as storage areas.
Access to exits, emergency equipment, controls, and such should never be blocked.
Equipment and chemicals should be stored properly; clutter should be minimized.
Clean glassware and reagents from laboratory bench tops at the end of the class period or experiment.
Maintain materials-free area in front of electrical panels 30 inches wide and 36 inches deep.

E. Equipment Maintenance

Develop an inspection and maintenance schedule for laboratory safety equipment, such as safety showers and fume hoods.
Faulty or non-functional equipment must be tagged such that an individual is warned not to use the equipment.

F. Guarding for Safety

All mechanical equipment should be adequately furnished with guards that prevent access to electrical connections or moving parts (such as belts and pulleys of a vacuum pump).
Inspect equipment before using it to ensure that the guards are in place and functioning.
Provide emergency shutoff devices for equipment such as ovens, water baths, and evaporators that will be operating unattended.

G. Shielding for Safety

Safety shielding should be used for an operation that has the potential for an explosion, particularly:
1. When a reaction is attempted for the first time (small quantities of reactants should be used to minimize hazards).
2. When a familiar reaction is carried out on a larger than usual scale (e.g., 5-10 times more material).
3. When operations are carried out under non-ambient conditions.
Shields must be placed so that all personnel in the area are protected from hazard.

H. Glassware

Careful handling and storage procedures should be used to avoid damaging glassware.
Adequate hand protection should be used when inserting glass tubing into rubber stoppers or corks or when placing rubber tubing on glass as hose connections.
The use of plastic or metal connectors should be used to connect glass joints rather than rubber tubing.
Glass-blowing operation should not be attempted unless proper annealing facilities are available.
Vacuum-jacketed glass apparatus should be handled with extreme care to prevent implosions.
Equipment such as Dewar flasks should be wrapped with tape or shielded.
Only glassware designed for vacuum work should be used where vacuum environments are required.
Hand protection should be used when picking up broken glass (Small pieces should be swept up with a brush into a dustpan). Use a "Broken Glass" container for disposal.
To minimize cut potentials keep broken glass out of the daily trash.
Provide instructions to first time users of glass equipment designed for specialized tasks where there are unusual risks. (For example, separator funnels containing volatile solvents can develop considerable pressure during use).

I. Flammability Hazards

Do not use an open flame to heat a flammable liquid or to carry out a distillation under reduced pressure.
Use of open flames must be approved by the laboratory instructor.
Before lighting a flame, remove flammable substances from the immediate area. Check all containers of flammable material in the area to ensure that they are tightly closed.
Notify other occupants of the laboratory in advance of lighting a flame.
Record date received on labels of peroxide formers. Check for peroxides before using peroxide formers when container opened exceeds 6 months. Dispose of unopened peroxide formers after one year.
Use only non-sparking electrical equipment in areas where flammable vapors are present.

J. Cold Traps and Cryogenic Hazards.

Gloves and a face shield are needed when preparing or using cryogenic liquid baths.
Liquid nitrogen should not be used to cool a flammable mixture in the presence of air because oxygen can condense from the air and create an explosion hazard.
Dry gloves designed for handling cryogenic materials should be used when handling dry ice. Add it slowly to the liquid portion of the cooling bath to avoid foaming over.
Avoid lowering your head into areas where dry ice (carbon dioxide) or liquid nitrogen have accumulated.

K. Systems under Pressure

1. Reactions should never be carried out in a closed system, or heat applied to an apparatus that is a closed system, unless it is designed and tested to withstand the maximum pressure that could result.
2. Pressurized apparatus should have an appropriate relief device. If the reaction cannot be opened directly to the air, an inert gas purge and bubbler system should be used to avoid pressure buildup.

L. Waste Disposal Procedures
Also see Appendix F - Hazardous Waste… Handling and Disposal

Design experiments so that a minimum quantity of waste is generated.
Label waste containers with Hazardous Waste label showing chemical name(s), concentration(s), accumulation date and initials of generator.
Limit consolidation to compatible chemicals of like hazard classes.
Record mixture components showing chemical name, quantity and concentration.
Use original containers or containers of like materials for collecting hazardous waste.

M. Warning Signs and Labels

1. Laboratory areas that have special or unusual hazards should be posted with warning signs.
2. All signs and symbols should be left in place and not altered unless a change to laboratory operations occurs.
3. All chemical containers not in immediate use (day of experiment) should be labeled showing chemical name, concentration, date, hazard characteristic and owner.

N. Unattended Operations

1. 1. Plan for unscheduled interruptions in utility services such as electricity, water, and inert gas. Operations should be designed to fail safe.
  2. Wherever possible, arrange for routine periodic inspections of the operation.
  3. In all cases, an appropriate sign should be placed on the door to alert the security officer what to do in the event of a failure along with the telephone number of the responsible laboratory professor/instructor.
  4. The name and phone number of the laboratory worker and their laboratory professor/instructor shall be posted in the hallway directly outside of the laboratory showing permission has been granted to work unattended or to set up unattended experiments. Instructions are given to show the notification order of the persons who are to be notified in the event of an accident or emergency.

O. Working Alone or After Hours

Working alone is to be avoided and only done with the approval of the laboratory professor/instructor.
Working after hours (6 pm to 6 am on weekdays, and all times on weekends) is to be avoided and only done with the written approval of the laboratory professor/instructor. (See Appendix N)
If work must be conducted after hours in the laboratory, the worker must arrange to have a "buddy" with him/her in the room within hearing distance. The buddy must have completed the annual safety training and abide by all laboratory rules.

P. Accident Reporting

All accidents involving fire, personal injury, explosion or spill must be reported to the Chemical Hygiene Officer.
Any injuries must be reported on the appropriate Injury Report Form. Copies are available in the First Aid Kits or online https://my.emu.edu/ICS/Portlets/ICS/Handoutportlet/viewhandler.ashx?handout_id=e983b44b-9033-47e5-9e7a-a8753440923a