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Laboratory
Safety
Safety in the laboratory must be a primary concern to both
student and teacher. Specific safety concerns vary
from between different science courses and laboratories, but
many safety concerns and precautions need to be taken in all
science laboratories. At the beginning of most
laboratories, the teacher will engage in a pre-lab discussion.
Many safety procedures will be discussed during these
discussions. It is important to listen attentively and follow
the safety procedures given by the teacher.
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Some General Lab Safety Rules |
1. Keep all
flammable materials away from open flames or
dangerous chemicals.
2. Tie back long hair when you are working
with an open flame.
Pipe cleaners, rubber
bands, and string are useful for this purpose.
3. Do NOT mix chemicals or perform
unscheduled
experiments without your
teacher's approval
4. Never use chemicals from an unlabeled
container. Do not
taste, smell, or
touch chemicals unless specifically instructed
by your teacher to do
so.
5.
Wear safety goggles during experiments involving
dissection, heating,
hammering or while using acids/bases or
other chemicals. If you do
not have goggles on, stay away
from students that are
experimenting.
6. Point
the open end of a test tube or flask away from
yourself
and others while heating
it. Never heat a closed container.
7. Use liquid squeeze bottles only for
their intended purpose.
8. Keep the lab clean and discard
materials in containers designated
for this.
9. Be careful picking up hot materials,
especially glassware. Hot
glass and cold glass
appear the same.
10. Do not force glass tubing into a stopper.
Use glycerine or
water to
lubricate the glass before doing this.
11. Do not eat in the lab or place
pencils, pens, or other materials
in your mouth.
12. Never return excess chemicals back to
their container.
13. Know where all laboratory safety equipment
is located in the
lab and how to
use it.. |
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Some Dissection Safety Rules |
1. If you wear
contact lenses, these should be removed when
working near chemicals or dissections.
Contact lenses can
hold chemicals in the eye(s) increasing
the potential damage in
the event of an accidental splashing of
chemicals into the eye(s).
2. Inform your teacher of any illness as a result of
exposure
to chemicals used in specimen
preparation.
3. Avoid contact with preservative chemicals. Rinse
the
specimens completely before dissection.
4. Properly mount dissection specimens to dissecting
pan. Do
not dissect a specimen while holding
it.
5. Handle scalpel or razor blade (safety edged) with
extreme care.
6. Always cut away from your body and away from others.
7. Never ingest specimen parts or remove
specimens/specimen
parts from the classroom. Properly
dispose of dissected materials.
8. Store specimens as directed by your teacher. Clean
up the
work area and return all equipment to
the proper place when
the dissection is completed.
9. Wash your hands after each dissection. |
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