Lab Safety Tip #11
Require Every Classroom Pre-Lab Discussion to Include Consideration of Health and Safety Aspects

This safety tip is sponsored by Tecniplast and taken from The Laboratory Safety Institute Guidelines.

Providing instruction in the safety hazards, appropriate precautions, and potential emergency procedures is one of a teacher's duties under the law. Failure to do so can result in being found negligent by reason of nonfeasance, i.e., failure to provide a warning.

The use of a "Hazard Review Form" is a good way to formalize this procedure. Prepare a list of all the hazards present, the necessary precautions, and the appropriate emergency responses. This will allow the teacher to end up with a written record of the instructions that have been given for each class on each day.

How do students/employees know that a particular topic of instruction is important? You give emphasis, you set a good example, and you test on the material.

Be sure to have quiz and test questions on your safety instruction. The Ebbing Lab Manual is a good example because each set of pre-lab questions contains asks "What are the precautions required in this experiment?"

Dr. James A. Kaufman is the founder and president of The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) www.labsafety.org – an international, non-profit center for safety in science and science education. LSI provides workshops, seminars, onsite training programs, lab safety program development consultations, facilities inspections and regulatory compliance assistance. Contact LSI with all your lab safety questions: 800-647-1977 or info@labsafety.org.

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