SAFE LAB PRACTICES
M RAJU
Dept. of Biochemistry
GMC & GGH. NZB
Elements of the Safety Program
Lab Safety Rules
Always wear safety equipment.- lab coat
Always tie your hair up. Never eat inside the lab.
Always follow the rules
Tell the teacher if you broke something and if you spilled
something.
Wear closed toe shoes.
Dispose of all chemical waste properly.
Elements of the Safety Program
• The goal of the Laboratory Safety Program is
to minimize the risk of injury or illness to
laboratory workers by ensuring that they have
the training, information, support and
equipment needed to work safely in the
laboratory.
PPE
Personal Protective Equipment
• Personal Protective Equipment: What must be
worn when you work in the laboratory.
• Eye Protection
• Lab Coat
• Long Pants
• Closed Toed Shoes – no exposed skin around
feet
• Lab gloves – when required
PEP
• Autoclaves utilize steam, heat and pressure and
therefore the risk of personal injury through
scalding, burns and exploding glassware is great.
• Personal protective equipment is absolutely
required.
1) Safety Glasses
2) Lab Coat
3) Long pants
4) Closed Shoes
5) Long thermal gloves
6) Face shield recommended
Eye Protection
Contact lenses are OK as long as
glasses/goggles are worn
• Prescription glasses – you must wear goggles
over them
• Safety goggles are provided in organic labs in
UV irradiating cabinets
• Eye wash stations are present in all labs
Goggles and Apron
• Used to protect your
eyes and clothing
from damage.
• These are a must in
lab!!
Clothing & Foot Protection
• Clothing must cover all exposed skin including
legs/ankles
• Stockings or leggings do not provide good coverag
• Sandals, flip-flops, Crocs, open-toe and open-top
(i.e. ballet flat) shoes and canvas shoes (i.e. Toms)
are not appropriate.
• These are not going to protect your feet if you
drop a piece of glass with a liquid chemical
reagent in it.
Use of Gloves
• Always one should wear hand gloves while
handling toxic substances, chemicals, bio
fluids, organs etc.
Fume Hood
• This window/bar is called the sash. If this is not saying
NORMAL, then the hood is not protecting you. Keeping
the sash and sliding panels in proper position keeps
this NORMAL, otherwise the alarm goes off. If the
alarm goes off, you need to reposition things to the
correct positions, then press the “mute” button to
reset the controller. The sash should never be raised
above the green “operation” level when you are
working in the hood.
• Check the air flow in the normal range on the digital
display
• Turn on the hood light • Set the equipment
and chemicals back at least 6 inches. • Never
lean in and/or put your head in the hood
when you are working. This is worse than
doing the experiment with no hood at all. •
It’s a good idea to put liquid reagent
containers in trays to catch all spills and drips
Fire Alarms/ Fire Extinguisher
• Although we want you to be informed on the
operation of a fire extinguisher, we do not expect
you to use it. If a fire is ignited in your area, the
proper STUDENT response is to: • Notify
everyone in the room • If possible shutdown any
reaction in progress by removing heat/energy
source • Proceed to the nearest exit and pull the
nearest fire alarm • Evacuate the building •
Assemble in the area where you feel safe.
Autoclave
• An autoclave is a specialized piece of
equipment designed to deliver heat under
pressure to a chamber, with the goal of
decontaminating or sterilizing the contents of
the chamber.
What can be Autoclaved
• Cultures and stocks of infectious material •
Culture dishes • Tips, pipettes, gloves, paper
towels, aluminum foil • Centrifuge bottles •
Glassware -- all caps must be loosened •
Media and other aqueous solutions •
Contaminated solid items
What cannot be Autoclaved
Solvents or volatiles • Chlorinated compounds (HCL,
bleach) • Corrosives • Radioactive material • Some
plastics
Toxic Chemical Safety
Health Hazardous chemicals
Categories:
• Irritants
• Sensitizers
• Corrosives
• Carcinogens
• Target Organ Effects
• Reproductive Health Toxins
• Acute Toxins
• Physical Health Hazards
• Common routes of exposure in the lab are inhalation and skin absorption,
while ingestion is less common. Carcinogens, reproductive toxins, target
organ damage Acute toxicity, fatality Irritants, sensitizers, acutely toxic
Corrosives
Toxic Chemicals/ Toxicology
• Many chemicals commonly used in the lab are toxic.
• Toxicology concerns the degree to which a chemical is
hazardous to human health.
• How do toxicologists predict which chemicals will be
toxic and determine their mechanism of action?
• Animal studies to determine a dose-response curve to
predict a threshold level above which a chemical is toxic
• Mechanistic studies to determine how a chemical will
be toxic to animals and humans
• The Ames test to assess DNA damage caused by
carcinogens
• Gene microarrays to determine target genes
List of toxic chemicals
• Ethidium Bromide
• Acrylamide
• Sodium azide
Biohazard
• Sterilization techniques are generally effective in
destroying biohazard agents (except prions and
spores)
• • Autoclave, Bleach, Alcohol, Biohazards are
another reason (in addition to avoiding ingestion
of toxic chemicals) for good lab hygiene
• Glove use and proper gloves hygiene
• Hand washing
• No food or drink in lab
Report any Concerns
• If you have any safety concerns about the lab
you are working in or the people working
around you, you can contact: • Your lab
instructor