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Safety Moment Collection
of the Joint Safety Team at the University of Minnesota,
Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical
Engineering and Material Science.
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Use these safety
moments as you see fit.
Feel free to adapt a safety moment to meet the specific
needs and time constraints of an audience or occasion;
this may mean using only a portion of the prepared
slides for a topic or including additional
resources for an in-depth discussion.
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Have a safety moment?
Contribute it to this collection.
Send safety moments to jst@umn.edu
with Safety Moment <topic> in the subject line.
Please put content in the provided template
and cite reliable, credited sources.
Thank you!
Safety in the Media
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JST Shares it philosophy
Student Involvement in Improving
the Culture of Safety in Academic
Laboratories
J. Chem. Edu.
The JST shares its philosophy
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed400305e
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New mandatory online training for
anyone working with chemicals
Complete by December 1, 2013
http://z.umn.edu/umnghstraining
New mandatory online training
• Required for anyone working with chemicals.
– All university staff members, faculty members, and students who
use, purchase, or are “potentially exposed to one or more
chemical hazards”
– Required by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's
(OSHA)
• Learn changes to the Hazard Communication
Standard.
• Go to http://z.umn.edu/umnghstraining
to complete this online training.
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Culture of Safety
within Universities
Safety survey reveals lab risks:
Questionnaire suggests researchers not as
safe as they feel.
Nature 493, 9–10.
Culture of Safety within Universities
Survey from UCLA’s Center for Laboratory Safety
“Some… survey participants… felt that any
injuries they sustained were just part of the job.”
“Only 60% said they had received safety training
on specific hazards or agents they worked with”
“30% of respondents said they had witnessed at
least one ‘major’ lab injury, something that
required attention from a medical professional”
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Noorden, R.V. Safety survey reveals lab risks: Questionnaire suggests researchers not as safe as they feel.
Nature 493, 9–10 (03 January 2013) doi:10.1038/493009a
http://www.nature.com/news/safety-survey-reveals-lab-risks-1.12121#/
10
Communicating about safety
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Noorden, R.V. Safety survey reveals lab risks: Questionnaire suggests researchers not as safe as they feel.
Nature 493, 9–10 (03 January 2013) doi:10.1038/493009a
http://www.nature.com/news/safety-survey-reveals-lab-risks-1.12121#/
11
The Disparity between
Perceived Safety and Actual Practice
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Noorden, R.V. Safety survey reveals lab risks: Questionnaire suggests researchers not as safe as they feel.
Nature 493, 9–10 (03 January 2013) doi:10.1038/493009a
http://www.nature.com/news/safety-survey-reveals-lab-risks-1.12121#/
12
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Common Laboratory Injuries
How safe is your working
environment?
Common Laboratory Injuries
“A survey of almost 2,400
scientists (world-wide)
show that although most
believe their laboratories
to be safe, about half have
experienced injuries in
the workplace.”
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• Noorden, R.V. Safety survey
Common Laboratory Injuries
What injuries on
this list have you
experienced/
witnessed?
How can you
reduce/ eliminate
the occurrence of
these injuries?
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• Noorden, R.V. Safety survey
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Video:
Methanol Whoosh Bottle Gone
Wrong
What is wrong with this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnwYs0dgl
ZQ&feature=related
Video: Whoosh Bottle
What is wrong with this?
Standard Safety Precautions:
–
–
–
–
Eye protection
Flame-retardant lab coat
Long pants
Other reactions occurring on the same bench
Knowledge of Experiment:
– Was too much methanol used?
– Plastic or glass container?
– Blast shield
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnwYs0dglZQ&feature=related
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The ultimate lab safety video
that you've never seen before
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr7
roogzM8c
• Watch and look for the obvious safety
infractions… and then think about similar things
you do (or don’t do) when working in the lab.
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The Safety Zone
The Safety Zone
Visit this blog is devoted to chemical safety issues in
academic and industrial research labs for a current
discussion of safety topics and accident information.
http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/
Written primarily by C&EN associate editor
Jyllian Kemsley
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Refrigerator Blast
in Chemical Lab
Safety News Blog
(for additional information on refrigerator
safety see the “Equipment: Refrigerators
and Freezers” safety moment)
Refrigerator Blast
A refrigerator door blew off and hit an inner pane of
a double-paned window in a chemical lab at the
University of South Florida.
No one was injured in the blast, which set off a fire
alarm about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. The building did
not catch on fire.
Tampa Fire Rescue's hazardous materials team responded:
- no one was inside the building (no injuries)
- no hazardous chemicals spilled
- cause of the blast is being investigated.
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Chem lab refrigerator blast sets off fire alarm at USF. Tampa Bay Times. Accessed 8 March 2014
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/fire/refrigerator-blast-prompts-fire-alarm-atusf/2168615
22
Storing Chemicals in
and Freezers
Fridges
• The atmosphere of a refrigerator could contain an explosive mixture
of air & chemical vapors
–
–
To avoid inhaling vapors, don’t stick your head inside
Seal containers tightly (parafilm or tape are good options)
• Use a refrigerator approved for storage of these materials
– Modified to not spark inside
– Approved for “flammable storage”
• Store incompatible chemicals separately
– Oxidizers and highly reactive in a separate unit from flammables.
– Use secondary containment
• Air- and moisture- sensitive materials stored at low temp. are prone
to problems exacerbated by condensation.
• Peroxide-forming chemicals are also often stored in fridges.
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Prudent Practices for Handling Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories. Section5.E.4 Cold
Storage. Accessed 8 March 2014
23
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55868/#ch5.s29
Available Resources
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DEHS Contact
Anna Sitek (Englund)
E-mail: engl0131@umn.edu
Phone: (612) 625-8925
Office W-147 Boynton
Research Safety Specialist assigned to our
department, and newly-created DEHS safety
contact for our entire college.
She will serve as a member of our
department Safety Committee and will work
with the JST.
Feel free to contact her with any questions!
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JST website
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Dow Safety Academy
http://safety.dow.com/
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2
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Have a safety moment?
Contribute it to this collection.
Send safety moments to jst@umn.edu
with Safety Moment <topic> in the subject line.
Please put content in the provided template
and cite reliable, credited sources.
Thank you!
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Templates
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Safety Moment Title
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