Safety and Laboratory Rules for Chemistry

Accidents in a chemical laboratory usually result from improper judgment on the part of the victim or one
of his neighbors. Learn and observe the safety and laboratory rules listed below. If an accident does occur and
involves you or your neighbor, call the attention of the laboratory instructor, no matter how slight it may appear to
be.

The following must be always observed in a chemistry laboratory class.

1. “No teacher, no entry” policy. Students must not enter a laboratory facility unless their teacher is present.
2. Do NOT eat food, drink beverages, or chew gum in the laboratory. Do not use laboratory glassware as
containers for food or beverages.
3. Familiarize yourself with the locations of safety features of the lab room including the safety showers, fire
extinguisher, sand, exits, eye wash fountains and laboratory first aid kits.
4. Perform only authorized experiments. Anyone attempting to conduct unauthorized experiments will be
subject to immediate and permanent expulsion from the laboratory.
5. Never fool around in the laboratory. Horseplay, practical jokes, and pranks are dangerous and
prohibited.
6. Students are never permitted in the storage rooms or preparation areas unless given specific
permission by their instructor.

Personal Protection
1. Wear safety glasses. Because the eyes may be permanently damaged by spilled chemicals and flying
broken equipment of glass pieces, be sure to wear safety goggles or safety glasses at all times in the
laboratory. If you get anything in your eye, report it immediately to your instructor.
2. Wear suitable clothing and footwear. Clothing is a protection against spilled chemicals. Clothing with
exposed large areas of bare skin is a laboratory hazard, and open-toed shoes or sandals are an invitation
to a maimed foot. Closed footwear must be worn at all times.
3. Wear a laboratory gown. It protects your clothes from corrosive chemicals.
4. Personal Hygiene. Avoiding the following minimize exposure to dangerous chemicals:
 Do NOT apply cosmetics in the laboratory.
 Wash hands and arms thoroughly before leaving the laboratory.
 Wash laboratory gowns separately from everyday clothing.
 Never pipette by mouth. Use a suction bulb instead.
 Long hair should be tied back.
5. No contact lenses in the lab. Contact lenses should not be worn during any investigations using chemicals
(even if you are wearing goggles). In the event of an accident, chemicals can get behind contact lenses
and cause serious damage before the lenses can be removed.
 If your doctor requires that you wear contact lenses instead of glasses, you should wear eye-cup
safety goggles in the lab. Ask your doctor or your teacher how to use this important eye
protection.
Desk Cleaning
6. Keep your work space orderly. Never place books and other belongings on your laboratory bench so
that they will NOT interfere with your performance of the experiment. You may place your personal
belongings in the shelves near the teacher’s table. Position glass wares in safe locations so that they will
NOT be overturned easily.
7. Clean up for the next student. At the end of each laboratory period, wash and wipe off your desk top. Be
sure that gas and water outlets are turned off. Be sure to clean and dry all your materials. Return all
borrowed apparatus to the dispensing personnel.
During the Experiment
8. If you do not understand how to use a piece of equipment, ask the instructor for help.
9. Experiments must be personally monitored at all times. You will be assigned a laboratory station at
which to work. Do not wander around the room, distract other students, or interfere with the laboratory
experiments of others.
10. Never leave a lit burner unattended. Never leave anything that is being heated or is visibly reacting
unattended. Always turn the burner or hot plate off when not in use.

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11. Know what to do if there is a fire drill during a laboratory period; containers must be closed, gas
valves turned off, fume hoods turned off, and any electrical equipment turned off.
12. When removing an electrical plug from its socket, grasp the plug, not the electrical cord. Hands
must be completely dry before touching an electrical switch, plug, or outlet.
13. Do NOT cut yourself. Broken glass wares are common reasons for this. Always check the condition of each
glass wares before using them. You may also protect your hands with a hand towel especially when the
items are hot or when you are cutting glass tubing.
14. Be careful with flames. The burner should only be lighted when it is to be utilized. Position the burner only
on a safe location where it will NOT overturned and where it is away from flammable materials. Keep hair
away from flame. Long hair must always be tied up.
15. Smell cautiously. Do NOT smell directly. You may fan vapors toward your face or point the chemical
vessel away from your face, then sniffing gently. Never taste a chemical unless instructed to. When
directed to taste a solution, use a clean stirring rod. Tap a drop of the solution, suspend on a stirring rod,
and then slump to the tongue. Wash out your mouth with water.
16. Pour acid into water. Do NOT put water into acid. Steam is generated may spew out with explosive
violence. Dilution of concentrated acids or bases must be done by pouring them into the water at the
same time carefully and continuously stirring.
17. Use the hood. All experiment involving the production of poisonous or irritating gases must be performed
under the hood.
18. Read the label. The use of wrong chemicals can spoil an experiment. Sometimes, it can also cause serious
accidents.
19. Leave reagents on the designated table or shelves. Do NOT bring the reagent bottles to your working
areas. Other students will use the same material, and you must be courteous to respect their need.
Obtain only the required amount of reagents needed in the experiment because many chemicals are
expensive.
20. Do NOT contaminate reagents. Do NOT return excess chemicals to the containers. You may share them to
other students, or if water soluble you may drain them in the sink; flushing with water. If they are insoluble,
throw them in the waste jars, or you may consult your instructor as to where to place the excess materials.
21. Inspect equipment prior to use. All clamps must be tight, rubber hoses secure and in good condition,
glassware free of chips/cracks, electrical cords in good condition. Discard questionable materials and
replace them with new pieces. Report any questionable equipment to the teacher.
22. Beware of glass/porcelain. The vast majority of lab accidents involve cuts from glass or burns from
hot/glass/porcelain. In the rush to clean up after a lab, students often neglect to allow sufficient time for
equipment to cool down.
23. Avoid touching hot objects. Remember that when you heat a chemical in a container, the burner or hot
plate AND the clamp holding the container also get hot. Do not lay hot objects directly on the laboratory
bench, or on a towel. Instead, place the tubing on a heat-resistant board. You can use a “Hot Object”
sign to warn others and help them avoid injuries.
24. Be very careful when inserting glass tubing, glass rods, thermometers, funnels or thistle tubes into rubber
stoppers or corks. Protect your hands by holding the glass and stopper with a cloth towel or multiple
layers of paper toweling. Always lubricate the glass surface with water or glycerin before inserting the
glassware into a stopper or cork.
25. Oral contact with anything while working in the laboratory is forbidden. This includes (but not limited to)
food, beverages, chemicals, pens, pencils, fingers, hoses and pipettes. (NOTE: Never pipette anything by
mouth. Bulbs are available for drawing liquid into pipettes.) Never deliberately taste any chemical in the
laboratory.
26. Always wash your hands. It is a general rule. Doing this avoid possible poisoning and also possible
contamination through hands. Wash all chemicals from skin. They may cause irritations.
27. Clean up spilled chemicals. Immediately all spilled chemicals must be cleaned up. You may use
generous amount of water do this.
28. Dispose properly. All water insoluble liquids and solids must go to the waste cans.
29. Immediately report all physical and chemical injuries to your laboratory instructor, no matter how minor
the injury might seem. This may include minor cuts/burns, fires/accidents.
30. Inform your instructor at the first laboratory session if you have a particular allergy or medical condition.

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LABORATORY RULES AND REGULATIONS (Taken from Laboratory Manual for General Inorganic Chemistry)
Chemistry Department, College of Education

1. Strictly NO eating! NO smoking! and NO radios inside the laboratory.

2. Stools should NOT be brought out of the laboratory.
3. Students are allowed to work in the laboratory only during their official laboratory period.
4. NO UNAUTHORIZED OVERTIME IS ALLOWED!
5. When borrowing laboratory items from the counter, surrender your IDs to the laboratory technician.
6. READ THE LABEL TWICE before taking anything from a bottle.
7. Do NOT take reagent bottles from the side shelves to your working bench. Carry liquids in clean test tubes
or beakers; carry solids in clean beakers or watch glasses or on small squares of paper.
8. Use a little reagent that is convenient to perform your experiment. Two to three milliliters are usually
sufficient in test tube experiments.
9. NEVER RETURN UNUSED CHEMICALS TO THE STOCK BOTTLES!
10. DO NOT INSERT your own pipettes, medicine droppers or syringes into the reagent bottles. Pour out the
solution instead. This will avoid any possible contamination of the stock solution.
11. Do NOT lay the stopper of a bottle down. Impurities may be picked up and thus contaminate the solution
when the stopper is returned.
12. Do NOT heat graduated cylinders or bottles; they break easily. Test tubes may break if heated above the
level of liquid in them. Evaporating dishes or crucibles may be heated red hot, if necessary.
13. Throw all trash in the proper disposal cans (put all solids and waste paper in waste cans).
14. NEVER THROW MATCHES, PIECES OF LITMUS PAPER OR ANY SOLID, INSOLUBLE CHEMICALS INTO THE SINK!
Empty liquids into the sink and wash them down with plenty of water.
15. If liquid chemical have to be disposed off in the sink, dilute this first by opening the faucet, allowing the
water to run for a short while. This will prevent corrosion of the liquid pipes.
16. Leave your pieces of glassware clean and dry at the end of the laboratory period. Wash and wipe your
bench top before leaving the room.
17. Return all Bunsen burners, burettes and other items borrowed from the laboratory counter at the end of
every laboratory period. Do not forget to get your surrendered ID’s.
18. See to it that your lockers are properly padlocked before leaving the room.
19. Keep all your student copies of the Laboratory Division forms issued during the distribution and returning of
apparatus. You may need these for clearances of your accounts in the future.

AGREEMENT
I, ______________________________________________ (student’s name) have read and agree to follow all of the
safety rules set forth in this contract (Safety and Laboratory Rules for Chemistry, pages 1-3). I realize that I must
obey these rules to ensure my own safety, and that of my fellow students and instructors. I will cooperate to the
fullest extent with my instructor and fellow students to maintain a safe lab environment. I will also closely follow the
oral and written instructions provided by the instructor. I am aware that any violations of this safety contract that
result in unsafe conduct in the laboratory or misbehavior on my part, may result in being removed from the
laboratory, detention, receiving a failing grade, and/or dismissal from the course.

___________________________________________________________
Student’s Signature over Printed Name/Class Number/Section
___________________
Date Signed
Dear Parent or Guardian:

We feel that you should be informed regarding the Safety and Laboratory Rules for Chemistry that is
stated above. It is an effort to create and maintain a safe science classroom/laboratory environment. With the
cooperation of the instructors, parents, and students, a safety instruction program can eliminate, prevent, and
correct possible hazards. You should be aware of the safety instructions your son/daughter will receive before
engaging in any laboratory work. Please read the list of safety rules above.
Your signature on this contract indicates that you have read this Safety and Laboratory Rules for
Chemistry. You are aware of the measures taken to ensure the safety of your son/daughter in the science
laboratory, and will instruct your son/ daughter to uphold his/her agreement to follow these rules and procedures
in the laboratory.
_________________________________________________________________
Parent’s/Guardian’s Signature over Printed Name/ Date Signed

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