What are examples of bad lab safety?

Answer 1

Lots of behavior can be considered "bad lab" practice. Whenever one is in a lab where they are working with chemicals or biological material (or anything else that could be hazardous to their health) they must always practice good lab technique and safety. Outlined below is a list of the most important things to remember when in a lab situation:

1) always dress appropriately. Always wear protective clothing when working with potentially dangerous materials. Clothes toed shoes, lab coats, gloves if necessary and most importantly safety goggles. Some corrosive chemicals can easily burn sensitive areas like the eyes and can lead to blindness.

2) Always assume everything you are working with is dangerous. When in a Biology lab, it can be sometimes hard to distinguish a colony of bacteria that can make you very sick compared to a harmless colony of bacteria. In chemistry some chemicals may look exactly alike, it can be difficult to tell by sight the difference between hydrochloric acid (which can painfully burn, I have a scar on my hand to prove it...see number one about the gloves) and water.

3) Never taste or smell unknown chemicals. This may sound like a given but there have been discoveries because careless chemists tasted their unknown product. In fact, that is exactly how saccharin was discovered which in turn let to the production of artificial sweeteners. You may not be so lucky, you may accidently taste something that is extremely hazardous. So just don't. If you need to smell a chemical, never put your nose directly over the chemical and inhale. Try this with ammonia and you will see how badly just the fumes from a chemical can burn. In order to smell a chemical, do what we call wafting. Wave your hand accross the chemical container, moving the air towards your nose. Trust me, if you are dealing with a chemical like ammonia, you will still most definitely be able to tell just from wafting the air.

4) Always dispose of chemicals properly. Neutralize acids and bases with reagents such as baking soda to make them safe to pour down the drain, never pour an unknown or a chemical known to be dangerous down the drain or in the regular trash. Whatever lab you are in should have a special way to dispose of hazardous chemicals. Ditto for a biology lab, we do not want to pour anything down the drain that could potentially infect our drinking water. If you wouldn't want to drink it yourself, do not pour it down the drain. Most biology labs also have special areas to dispose of biological waste.

5) Most importantly, if you are in a classroom lab, always listen to your lab instructor. Never get started without finding out all the facts of the substances you are working with and the procedures you are to follow.