Safe Practices and Waste Management in Chemistry Laboratories
The chemistry laboratory has hazards that are less common in everyday life. It is essential that all students, instructors, laboratory assistants, teaching assistants and researchers are aware of the hazards, knowledgeable of the location and operation of the emergency facilities available in the lab and familiar with procedures in the event of an emergency. The following links provide detailed instructions.
Department of Chemistry Safety Instructions
Department of Chemistry Waste Handling Guidelines
UVic Occupational Heath, Safety and Environment
Overnight Reaction Sheet - printable form. Notice required to be posted near each reaction left unattended overnight.
The safe practices for the Department of Chemistry presented below represent a synopsis of the information available in the links above.
Incident reporting
Report all emergencies, injuries, accidents, near-misses, etc., to a supervisor using a UVic incident report form (/ohse/incident/reporting/index.php).
Personal safety and the safety of others
- Do not eat or drink in a laboratory.
- Do not enter a laboratory if your judgement is impaired due to consuming alcohol, cannabis products or other drugs.
- Do not work alone in a chemistry laboratory without permission and written instructions from your supervisor, including a procedure for regular checking on the coworker.
- Do not enter a laboratory without wearing appropriate eye protection. Contact lenses are not recommended in the chemistry laboratory.
- Do not work in a laboratory without wearing a lab coat, clothing that covers the entire leg, shoes that completely cover the feet and long hair tied.
- When performing experiments that require gloves, remove the gloves and leave them in the laboratory and do not wear them outside of the laboratory.
- Use an appropriate transport container when a sample(s) is (are) transported from one laboratory to another via a corridor.
First Aid Kit
Each chemistry laboratory has a First Aid Kit. Identify the location and contents of the kit before starting work in a laboratory. In the event of an injury, no matter how minor, call Campus Security (7599) or 911 for assistance. In the event of an injury, a coworker, instructor or teaching assistant who has First Aid training should provide basic First Aid while waiting for assistance.
Emergency Shower
There are emergency showers in all chemistry laboratories. Identify the location of the shower before starting work in a laboratory and become familiar with