• Do not mix chemicals together unless instructed to by a teacher.
• When smelling a chemical, waif the vapors towards you, never smell it directly.
• Use the least amount of chemicals necessary during an experiment.
• Never return unused chemicals back to their original container. They could be contaminated with another substance.
• Dispose of chemicals in the proper container as instructed.
• Label and store chemicals properly. When using hazardous substances read and re-read the label carefully to assure that you are working with the correct chemical.
• If a spill occurs, tell a superior or teacher immediately. Clean the spill up according to the proper guidelines for that substance. A spill can be just an inconvenient mess or a major accident.
• When working with chemicals try to keep them off your skin and avoid touching your face, especially your eyes. If you do splash a chemical in your eyes or somehow get it on your skin tell a superior immediately and locate an eyewash or emergency shower as soon as possible.
An eyewash should be used only if your get a chemical in your eyes. You should flood your eyes and eyelids with water for at least 15 minutes. When rinsing, wipe from nose to ear to avoid splashing chemicals back into the eye. An emergency shower is needed when a large spill occurs on the skin or clothing. Be sure to remove items that have chemicals on them.
When using electrical equipment make sure that all electrical cords are in good condition. Check the cords for wear and tear, loose plugs, and that the outlets are grounded. Do not overload electrical outlets and keep your work area dry. Finally, before exiting the lab, unplug all your electrical equipment. Never "yank" the plug out by the cord.
• Fire Prevention: Many fires are sparked off by the use of a Bunsen burner or another form of flame. The utmost care should be used when working with these types of equipment. One thing you can do is to always use gloves to pick up hot objects. The natural reaction to touching something hot is to drop the item which could lead to knocking over your burner. Make sure you know where to eliminate the source of gas from the burner. In the case of a chemical spill you would want to shut off any equipment that produces a flame or spark at once. You should never wear loose clothing or long sleeves when working with a flame. Your hair should also be tied up if necessary to eliminate the chance of accidentally leaning over an open flame. Familiarize yourself with the emergency plan for your lab and emergency equipment such as the fire blanket and fire extinguisher. Always have a properly working fire alarm installed and you might want to consider leaving a hallway door or window open so that someone can be alerted for help if need be.
• What to do in case of a fire: If you find yourself in a fire emergency, alert others (or a teacher) of the situation and evacuate immediately. After everyone is safely out, close the doors if possible to help contain the fire. If you are the person in charge of the lab, activate a fire alarm and call 911 or other emergency number for help. In most school settings, only teachers are allowed to use fire extinguishers, but if possible, use the extinguisher to put out or hinder the fire. If you or someone else in the lab is on fire, a fire blanket can be used. Is it not intended to put out all fires, but can help in extinguishing clothing fires. If all else fails remember the childhood phrase "stop, drop, and roll".
In the event of a major fire, it helps if someone is there who can identify the types and amounts of chemicals that are stored in the lab. This will assist emergency and fire crews in effectively fighting the fire.
• Contact lenses should never be worn in a lab setting. If a chemical splash occurs, it is very difficult to remove the contacts and the chemicals trapped underneath them could do more harm to the eye.
• Thoroughly wash hands before leaving the lab.
• Wash any clothing that could have come into contact with chemicals or other substances separately like lab coats or aprons.
• Wearing jewelry such as rings and necklaces are usually discouraged. Chemicals could irritate the skin underneath rings and dangling jewelry could get caught on equipment or accidentally fall into a flame.
• When heating substances up, make sure you point the test tube away from yourself and others.
• Keep your work area free of unnecessary clutter and excess equipment.
By following all safety guidelines and being aware of potentially dangerous situations you can eliminate the chance of accidents and keep the lab an educational and productive place.
Sources:
www.scienceaware.com
www.labsafety.org
• Accident: Anytime you happen to see an accident, or even been involved in an accident, you could be exposed to diseases from open wounds from the victims themselves. This includes blood, semen, or other bodily fluids.
• Blood: Believe it or not, you can get contaminated by just touching blood. Or, if you have a blood transfusion you can get all sorts of diseases. You don't have to be near an accident to touch blood. You could see someone on the street after he was shot or stabbed. As long as you are near and touch the person, and get the person's blood on you, you could get contaminated.
• Crime: You could also get contaminated by being involved in some kind of crime where your friend or partner is either shot or stabbed, or the perpetrator is hurt in some way. If the person that is hurt, has any kind of wound, this could cause diseases to enter into your body.
• Death: If you've ever seen a dead animal, you know how it smells. Plus, the body starts to decay. Well, you could get some kind of disease from the dead animal. The same goes with being around a dead person. If someone died in your home, you could get some kind of disease from that body by being around it.
• Person providing first aid: There is one concern for the individual. If he comes to the aid of someone who was hurt and bleeding, touching such a person, when not using protective gear, could put the person at risk.
• Providing CPR: If someone's heart had stopped, and you tried to help, you could put yourself at risk the minute you blow into the person's mouth to force that person to breathe. The saliva could be contaminated. This you would not know.
• Taking care of ill people: You could be putting yourself at risk by treating ill people, whether it is a neighbor, or a fellow employee. You could exposure yourself to contaminates just by touching the person's body where fluids are present.
• Cleaning vomit: If you are a caregiver, you may have to clean the floor after someone, especially a patient throws up. In this kind of situation, you would use precautions before touching the floor.
These are just some of the many situations where hazards can be found and where protection needs to be taken into consideration. Diseases are found in such areas of the body, particularly when exposed to the air.
• Get educated: Be educated. Know exactly what you have to do to protect yourself. Learn procedures that must be followed to safeguard yourself from any kind of danger or harm from someone you are taken care of or treating.
• Wear protective gear: Before you approach a sick person or someone needing the help, you must wear protective gear. This gear can include gloves, a mask, and eye protection. You must put these protective gear on before you even go near someone who even remotely is sickness or is discharging in some way.
• Protect area of exposure: If you know of an area where there is someone who has been hurt recently, is discharging, and has not received medical attention; or you happen to notice some infectious material in containers nearby, secure the area until help arrives to properly cleanup the area.
• Wash hands: Anytime you come in contact with any fluids, or you happen to touch any body part of a sick person, or you touch someone who has been in contact with infectious materials, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before you touch them with your face, mouth, or other body part.
• Clothing: Any clothing that has been contaminated with any infectious materials or fluids must be discarded immediately. This means placing the clothing in a biohazard bag so it is away from exposing anyone.
• Food and drink: In areas where infectious materials may be found, are known to be near, or you are in a location where there is someone sick and prone to discharge, do not eat or drink in such an area. Your food and drink could become contaminated as well and poison you.
• CCI: CCI is a company that has been in business for quite a while. They can be accessed 24/7 by telephone. If you have a biohazard cleanup to take care of, they can be there in a matter of hours. They are trained in blood borne pathogen clean up and they do their work in accordance to OSHA's Blood Borne Pathogens Standard. To learn more about the company you can go here - http://www.cci-env.com/biohazard.htm.
• Biohazard Response, Inc: Biohazard Response is located in Orlando, Florida and are able to take anything that may require biohazard cleanup include an accident, blood spill, crime, death, and/or trauma of some type. Biohazard Response has over 18 years of experience dealing with biohazard cleanup so they know what they are doing. To check them out you just need to go to http://www.biohazardresponse.com/.
• Amdecon: Amdecon has been around since 1999. They perform cleanup services including crime scene and trauma cases. They are available 24/7. They even provide training if you want to teach your staff about biohazard cleanup. Go to their website at http://www.amdecon.com/ to learn more about them.
• BIO-TEC: BIO-TEC Emergency Services provides Crime Scene cleanup and support. All you do is call their toll free number and they'll have a representative at your door to handle your problem quickly. To learn more about BIO-TEC, just go to http://www.usacsc.com/.