Laboratory Safety for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

Hancock, L. M.; Hollamby, M. J.; Jones, G. R.

Abstract

From our perspective as chemistry lecturers our primary goal is to graduate trained chemists who can enter into employment or research degrees and can operate safely within a laboratory; the sort of chemist whose first thought is ‘how do I carry out this procedure safely’ and who has the foresight to put on their CV that they can fill in a COSHH form. Here, we review some of the approaches taken to safety in the undergraduate laboratory and describe our methods for creating a positive safety culture. We explore how, as students progress, the safety culture is incrementally built upon: Completing COSHH forms to engaging and writing Safe Operating Procedures and Risk Assessments. We pose the question “How do you systematically teach students how to undertake procedures correctly and judge when a student is competent enough to engage in experimentation with remote supervision?” We will also deal with some of the practicalities of safety in the undergraduate chemistry laboratories: technician safety; clear labelling; chemical disposal; PPE (and how to police it); the challenge of shared laboratories; and what to do in an emergency.

Citation

Hancock, L. M., Hollamby, M. J., & Jones, G. R. (2020). Laboratory Safety for Undergraduate Chemistry Students. In Challenges for Health and Safety in Higher Education and Research Organisations (111-141). Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839162497-00111

• Online Publication Date: Nov 19, 2020
• Publication Date: Nov 27, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Pages: 111-141
• Book Title: Challenges for Health and Safety in Higher Education and Research Organisations
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 9781839161599; 9781839161599; 9781839162817; 9781839162497
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839162497-00111