Laboratory Safety for Students
Course Overview
Laboratory environments can pose a number of risks to students. Working with chemical, hazardous, and dangerous goods, while essential, is not an activity that should be undertaken lightly. Laboratory work can be conducted safely, when the proper procedures, protocol, and guidelines are adhered to responsibly. The purpose of this module is to provide learners with the information necessary to work in a laboratory safely. Students will be made aware of proper chemical handling procedures, including the proper use of protective equipment, storage, labeling, and how to respond to incidents (such as spills). After this module, students should be able to conduct their lab work safely, and make informed risk assessment decisions.
Key Content- OHS responsibilities and obligations.
- Chemical and hazardous substances safety.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
- Dangerous goods.
- Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS).
- Proper labeling.
- Chemical storage.
- Maintaining a proper inventory of chemicals.
- Purchasing chemicals.
- Waste policies.
- Spill kits.
- First aid.
- Eye wash and shower stations.
- Incident reporting.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this course, learners should be able to:- Identify OHS issues related to working in laboratories.
- Handle chemicals, dangerous goods, and hazardous materials safely.
- Locate and understand a Material Data Safety Sheet.
- Read and correctly label laboratory substances.
- Store chemicals safely.
- Respond to an incident correctly, including:
- Reporting the incident.
- Cleaning spills.
- Responding with basic first aid if necessary.
- Locating and using eye wash and shower stations.