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Explain one process safety lesson you have learned in the school laboratory. How has this lesson improved your knowledge and awareness of proper safety procedures?
Asking my lab instructor questions about the aspects of an experimental procedure about which I am uncertain constitutes a safer course of action than improvising. The instructor’s responses to these questions will likely contain information which clarifies the proper safety procedures and associated hazards. Moreover, the process safety pitfalls associated with an improvised technique may lead to an incident.
Your university has hired you as a summer lab safety assistant, in order to help prepare a newly constructed and equipped laboratory for experiments to be conducted by undergraduate chemical engineering students during the Fall semester. Experiments will involve potentially hazardous chemicals and introduce students to new instrumentation. Suggest at least four safety protocols for incident prevention and/or mitigation.
- Conduct a comprehensive hazard review prior to running experiments
- Ensure students are aware of the hazards of the chemicals and apparatus used in lab experiments prior to running experiments, and how to avoid/mitigate risks associated with these hazards
- Assess, plan for, and mitigate hazard risks inherent in lab experiments
- Consider previous lab safety incidents and the lessons learned and implement safety measures based on those incidents
- Provide students with documentation on the operating procedures for lab instruments and the associated hazards
- Only purchase and keep on hand the minimum amount of hazardous chemical as is necessary.
- Document when the bottle was opened and how much is being stored at any given time
- Determine the safest way to dispose of hazardous chemicals when they are used in experiments.
- Determine what size and type of containers students should use to dispose of waste chemicals
- Develop a set of lab safety rules which encompass the risks identified from the hazard review.
- Explain to students why the rules are in place
- Make sure students know what to do with their experiments in the case of a fire alarm.
- Make sure students know how to stop equipment quickly and safely in case of the need for sudden building evacuation
- Make sure to promote a culture of safety in the class by making sure as an instructor you are following safety rules, and enforce safety rules whenever anyone breaks them
- Speak to the department or campus safety officer and ask for feedback and suggestions on incident prevention.
Explain, in 3-4 sentences, the importance and/or value of implementing laboratory safety protocols in schools to the chemical engineering industry.
The prospective chemical engineer’s first exposure to the workplace will most likely occur in the school laboratory. Teaching students to operate with safe laboratory procedures will engender a culture which values high standards of process safety. These standards will likely influence operating procedures and policies in favor of process safety in the future.