Handbook for Laboratory Safety

By Benjamin R. Sveinbjornsson and Sveinbjorn Gizurarson

Handbook for Laboratory Safety provides insights into what you should expect when you enter a laboratory, along with how to behave in these specialized work environments. It is a practical book that can be used as a general introduction to laboratory safety, but also works as a resource for employees or students who do laboratory work. Students could carry this book in their backpack, whereas university/institute/company laboratories could place the book in every laboratory as a reference. This book is also ideally suited for essential courses for students, (new) employees or laboratory technicians who are starting their work in a laboratory environment.

• Helps increase safety awareness and safety culture in laboratories
• Provides a handy reference for situations where students or workers need to quickly look up specific information
• Aids with risk assessment in various situations

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9780323993210

Benjamin R. Sveinbjornsson

Benjamín Ragnar Sveinbjörnsson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Iceland. He obtained his B.Sc. in chemistry from the Unviersity of Iceland (2009) and Ph.D. in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology in 2014. After his studies at Caltech he joined Pomona College as the Robbins Postdoctoral fellow before joining the Faculty of Physical Sciences within the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences at the University of Iceland. He has served in the safety group for the Institute of Physical Sciences and Faculty of Physical Sciences since 2018 and has been involved in teaching a safety course at the university. He is also currently the chairman of the Icelandic Chemical Society.

Book preview

Chapter 1: Introduction to safety

Abstract

Safety should be our number one priority when working in lab. While we cannot prevent all accidents in a guaranteed manner, we can take certain steps to minimize the risks and prepare ourselves in case of an accident. This involves adapting a safety mindset on a personal level and a safety culture at the workplace. It is important to follow all safety rules, such as wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and never working alone in lab. Proper preparation for experiments is also key, noting potential hazards and taking the appropriate precautionary steps to minimize the risks and be prepared if something goes wrong. Cleanliness and good organization in the workspace help minimize unnecessary risks as well, with it being especially important to leave the workspace in the right state at the end of each day.

Keywords

Mindset; Organization; Preparation; Safety awareness; Safety culture

Safety mindset and safety cultures

One of the steps we can take to enhance our safety is to adapt a safety mindset. A safety mindset involves prioritizing safety first, practicing being aware of and proactively thinking about potential hazards in our surroundings, taking steps to minimize potential dangers that we notice, and preparing a game plan for what we would do in the event of an accident. Think about your experiments and work in advance with safety in mind, remaining vigilant of your surroundings, how well equipped and designed your facilities are from a safety perspective, and consider your coworkers’ safety along with your own.

Equally important is cultivating a safety culture. It is important that you and your coworkers are comfortable in discussing any and all safety aspects of your work, and that you are at ease asking for advice regarding the safety of your experiments. Whenever doing a new experiment, it can be good to walk through the procedure with a coworker, noting the potential hazards you have noticed, and receive feedback on whether there are more hazards that you might have missed that you need to be prepared for and what steps would be best to take to minimize such dangers.

You should also make sure to communicate any issues that you notice to your supervisors. Unfortunately, accidents can happen because of factors that we did not expect to be a potential hazard. It is therefore important to report and discuss openly all accidents that do happen and think about ways to prevent similar accidents from taking place again. Let us all work together to get everyone safely home, each and every day.

Be familiar with the facilities

When you enter a laboratory, your first task should be getting familiar with the facilities. Where are the emergency exits, the sinks, emergency showers, eye wash stations, fire extinguishers, etc.? Are there sinks that are reserved for handwashing only or is the same sink also used for cleaning glassware? What personal protective equipment (PPE) are people required to wear in this workspace? If this is your first time working in a laboratory, be especially alert and observant, and make sure to get familiar with the new work environment and instruments there, especially those relating to safety, before you start working.

Never work alone in the laboratory

This is a crucial rule. You should never work alone in the laboratory! If a serious accident takes place, it is important that there are other people there who will be available to help immediately. If you are alone during a serious lab accident, there is no knowing when help might arrive, and odds are that it would arrive too late.

Since we should never work alone in the laboratory, it is also useful to be mindful of what others in the lab are doing. If you see something that looks unsafe, say something! Accidents in the laboratory can affect more people than just the lab worker doing the experiment that resulted in the accident. It is therefore important to say something if you see something, both for your own safety and your coworkers'. And remember that it is perfectly acceptable and should be encouraged to ask for advice if you have any questions regarding safety.

Food, beverages, and smelling in lab

It is strictly forbidden to eat or drink in the laboratory. There could be chemical traces anywhere in the lab and you should never take the chance of contaminating your food or drink by bringing it into the laboratory. This extends to all edibles including candy and/or chewing gum in your pockets (Fig. 1.1).

In general, you should never touch, taste, or smell chemicals that you are unfamiliar with. If you are familiar with them, you should probably not touch, taste, or smell the chemicals either, but in those cases, you would at least be more aware of the potential consequences. The smell will not tell you how dangerous a compound is. Many highly toxic compounds have no identified aroma. An example of that is carbon monoxide (CO), a colorless and odorless gas, which if exposed to, can cause loss of consciousness and even death (Fig. 1.2).

All work with harmful and toxic compounds should be carried out inside a well-ventilated cabinet or a fume hood to minimize the chance of you unnecessarily breathing in fumes of hazardous compounds. Remember to lock all bottles as required ¹ , after use, and keep your workspace clean and organized so that you have a clear overview of everything you are working with, at every time point.

Figure 1.1  No drinks or food should be brought into the laboratory for consumption. Credit: Birkir Eyþór Ásgeirsson

Figure 1.2  You should never smell chemicals in lab unless you are absolutely sure they are safe. Credit: Birkir Eyþór Ásgeirsson

Smoking and alcohol

Smoking is also always forbidden in the laboratory and its surroundings. Due to the number of flammable solvents and chemicals, smoking would create an additional fire hazard and is therefore strictly prohibited inside the lab. It is also strictly forbidden to be intoxicated, no matter how slightly, while in the laboratory. Intoxication increases the risk of mistakes significantly, so it is never acceptable to work in lab intoxicated.

Personal state of mind

It is also important to be aware of our personal state of mind. Tiredness can have similar effect on us as alcohol, including slowing down our reaction times and reducing our concentration. You should therefore make a habit of getting proper sleep before working in lab and make sure you are feeling well awake, especially when doing something new or potentially hazardous in