Safety in the Lab
Safety is everybody’s responsibility. The biology Laboratory will be a safe workspace if you are
aware of the possible hazards, exercise good judgment, and use the correct operating procedures.
If you are unsure about a certain protocol or have a specific safety-related concern, don’t hesitate
to ask your professor.
Safety Regulations
The following rules are for your own protection:
1. Lab coats:
 Fully buttoned at all times.
 Should be brought in a bag and put in the bag immediately
after lab session to avoid cross-contamination to others
and to personal belongings
 Should be washed in washing machine
 Separately
2. Safety goggles: must be worn in the lab for specific experiments as mentioned
in the lab manual.
3. Contact lenses cannot be worn alone in the lab, safety glasses must be worn
with them.
4. Sandals, open footwear, skirts and shorts are not permitted in the lab.
5. Smoking, eating and drinking are prohibited in the lab at all times.
6. Only authorized experiments may be performed. Any changes in procedure as given in the
lab manual must be authorized by the professor.
7. Never work alone in the lab, a professor must be present at all times.
8. Never use mouth suction for filling pipettes. Utilize a device like a section bulb or whatever
is provided for pipetting.
9. All accidents, regardless of how minor they may seem, must be reported immediately to the
professor.
10. Do not touch any spilled chemicals or attempt to clean up without proper supervision.
11. Get to know the lab you are working in. Check out the location of all exits, safety
showers, eyewashes.
12. Hats, coats, briefcases, or books that are not required for the performance of
experiments should not be brought into the lab. Working area should remain
clear: use lockers provided to you.
13. Never sit on benchtops.
14. Keep long hair tied back at all times.
15. Notify your professor about malfunctioning equipment or instruments. Do not
attempt to fix it yourself.
16. Do not touch, taste, or smell chemicals unless specifically instructed to do so.
17. Read the label of a chemical stock bottle carefully, and never return reagents to stock
bottles.
18. When heating and mixing chemicals, keep containers away from yourself and others in
the lab.
19. Wash your hands immediately after coming in contact with chemicals or bacteria and at the
end of the lab session.
20. It is not allowed to remove chemicals from the lab to the outside.
21. Glassware is fragile and expensive equipment. Use extreme care and caution when
handling flasks, cylinders, beakers, microscope slides and other similar items.

Broken glass, needles and pointy elements should be disposed of in a
hard container
22. Before leaving the lab, clean up your work area. Wipe the benchtop
with disinfectant and paper towel.
23. If you are using a microscope, turn it off and put it back into its
cabinet.
24. If you are hyper-allergic you should inform your professor. Extra care should be taken.
Laboratory Instructions
Always bring to the lab:
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a lab coat which is compulsory in this course.
the lab manual.
a ruler, pencil, and eraser.
a calculator.
Most common glassware and instruments used in the lab
Graduated cylinder
Pasteur pipette or dropper
Beaker
Heating plate
Slides
Balance
Cover glass
Test tubes