General Laboratory Safety: Summary of The Main Factors

General Laboratory
Safety
Summary of the Main Factors
Why does it matter?
• Safe working protects:
• You
• Other lab workers
• Cleaners
• Visitors
• Your work
How to do a Risk
Assessment?
• Determine hazards and evaluate risks

• Use all relevant available data
• Determine controls needed to
minimize those risks
• Document the assessment
• Agree it with your supervisor
• Use those control measures
Control Measures (in order of preference)
1. Use a less risky

substance
2. Use a safer form of that
substance (eg solution
instead of powder)
3. Totally enclose the
process (eg a glove-box)
4. Partially enclose the
process (eg with a fume
cupboard)
5. Ensure good general
ventilation
6. Safe systems of work
7. Reduce exposure times,
increase distance,
reduce volumes
8. Personal protective
equipment (as a last resort
for primary protection)
Protecting yourself
• Wear the clothing and
protective wear identified in
your risk assessment
• Laboratory coats must be
kept fastened
• Don’t wear sandals or open
shoes
• Long hair must be tied back
Protecting yourself - gloves
• There are many different types of
protective glove
• Use the correct ones for the job
you will be doing
• Remember that you need to
select chemical protection gloves
according to the materials and/or
substances with which you will
be working
• Remove your gloves before using
instruments, telephone, and
leaving the laboratory
Laboratory hygiene
• Never eat, drink or smoke in
a laboratory
• Never apply cosmetics
• Never touch your face,
mouth or eyes
• Never suck pens or chew
pencils
• Always wash your hands
before you leave and
especially before eating
What are the general hazards in a
laboratory?
• Fire
• Breakage of glassware
• Sharps
• Spillages
• Pressure equipment & gas cylinders
• Extremes of heat & cold
• Chemical hazards
• Biological hazards
• Radiation
And many more!

Avoiding Fires
• Flammable substances
• Use minimum quantity
• Store in special storage
cabinet
• Use temperature-controlled
heating sources
(eg water-bath rather than hot-
plate or Bunsen burner)
Minimise fire damage
• Make sure corridor fire

doors and laboratory
doors are kept shut at
all times
Fire Safety
• Make sure that you know
what to do:
• If you have a fire
• If you hear a fire alarm
• If you are a member of staff

you must attend fire
training annually. Post
graduates should also
seriously consider doing so.
Glassware
• Use correct techniques for the
insertion of tubing onto glassware
• Never use glassware under pressure
or vacuum unless it is designed for
the job and suitably shielded
• Dispose of chipped or broken
glassware – it is a risk to you and
others
• Always dispose of broken glass in a
glass bin or sharps bin and not in a
general waste bin
Spillages
• Clear up spillage promptly
• You will already have
determined how to do this as
part of your risk assessment
• Dispose of any hazardous
material as toxic waste
Messy workers are usually poor
workers!!
Gas cylinders
• Never use without formal training
• Minimise the number in a laboratory
• Store externally whenever possible
• Cylinders are heavy and can do serious
damage to you if they fall
• Ensure that they are chained when in use
• Move only with a cylinder trolley
• Use regulators & control equipment suitable
for the gas concerned
• Consider the consequences if your cylinder
leaks
Cryogenics
• Liquid gasses are extremely cold
and can cause burns
• Liquid gases evaporate and
many can cause asphyxiation
• If you need to take cryogens in a
lift, there are special procedures
to follow – speak to your
supervisor or a senior member
of technical staff
• You must have special training
to use them
Electrical Equipment
• Always do a visual check on
electrical equipment before
use, looking for obvious
wear or defects
• All portable electrical
equipment must have a
current “PAT test” sticker
• NEVER use defective
equipment
General Tidiness
• Keep your workplace tidy
• Clear up waste, deal with
washing up and put things
away as you finish with
X
them
• Make sure everything is safe
before you leave things
unattended
• A tidy laboratory avoids
accidents to everyone
Laboratory Equipment
• Never use any
laboratory equipment
unless you are trained &
have been authorised to
do so
• As well as injuring
yourself you may cause
very costly damage
First Aid
• All laboratory workers should
undergo simple first aid
training
• For ALL chemical splashes, wash
with plenty of water for 10
minutes
• Control bleeding with direct
pressure, avoiding any foreign
bodies such as glass
• Report all accidents to your

supervisor or departmental
safety officer
Protecting your health
• If you have an allergy to
lab materials or suffer
from a medical
condition which may
affect you in the
laboratory (eg diabetes
or epilepsy), ensure that
your supervisor knows
Waste Materials
• Part of your risk assessment will
be to determine how to dispose
of waste lab materials safely
• Solvents and oils must be
segregated into the correct waste
bottle or drum
• Your department will help you
determine what to do with chemical
or biological materials
• Do not put materials down the
drain or in with normal waste
unless authorised to do so
When in doubt – ASK!!!
• Do not carry out a new
or unfamiliar procedure
until you have been
fully trained &
understand the
precautions necessary
for safe working
• DO NOT GUESS!!!!

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General Laboratory

• Determine hazards and evaluate risks

1. Use a less risky

And many more!

• Make sure corridor fire

• If you are a member of staff

• Report all accidents to your

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