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UNL Chemistry Safety Training: Online At: HTTP://WWW - Chem.unl - Edu/safety
UNL Chemistry Safety Training: Online At: HTTP://WWW - Chem.unl - Edu/safety
5 February 2014
Pat Dussault
Safety Chair and Chemical Hygiene Officer
pdussault1@unl.edu
2/5/14 1
Outline:
Required training Chemical Spills
Overarching principles Floods and Flood Prevention
Standard (required) practices Electrical Hazards
Alarms and evacuation Personal Safety/Crime
Safety Equipment: Links and Resources
Eyewashes and Showers Cryogens
First Aid /Health Center Perhaps our most common
Fire Safety injury accident.
Personal protective equip.
Fume hoods Assessment and (brief)
homework.
Safety Data Sheets and
related
Chemical handling and
storage
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Required training
2/5/14 3
Overarching principles: a warm-up
2/5/14 4
Required Practices: Clothing, Behavior, and
Personal Protective Equipment
Clothing:
NO open-toed shoes/sandals.
If your research involves machinery with moving parts ( belt drives!),
avoid loose clothing and neckties or necklaces.
Approved lab coats required except where specifically exempted (ask if you
are not sure).
Working alone- not allowed for inexperienced investigators (and not
encouraged for anyone).
Food/drink: Not allowed in any areas in which chemicals or
biochemicals are stored/used/dispensed.
Gloves are discussed later.
2/5/14 5
North Summoning emergency
responders: Fire alarm
Hamilton Hall
Fire (unless very minor)
Major chemical spill or toxic
leak.
Only easy way to evacuate
building
2/5/14 6
Fire alarm: what should you do?
Exit immediately via stairs. A fire can quickly trap you.
Close office and lab doors behind you.
Turn off the power to solvent stills, heating mantles, etc., only if
you can do so without delaying your departure. If you later
realize that an unattended laboratory operation may pose a
hazard, inform a UNL police officer or a member of the safety
committee.
2/5/14 7
Summoning emergency responders: Red
phone or 402-472-2222)
2/5/14 8
TORNADO alarm
Use north or east stairs to get to floors 2,3,4 (stay in labs
or alcoves in north end of corridor) or use elevator to get to
basement.
STAY AWAY from windows. A tornado is likely to shatter
windows and create flying glass shards
DO NOT go outside.
Even if the alarm does not sound, seek shelter if you hear
the city alarm or if authorities broadcast a tornado warning.
Tornado alarms are tested at 10:15 am one Wed each month
in spring and summer - when the weather is good. If the
tornado alarm sounds at exactly 10:15 on a Wednesday, check
your phone or computer to see if you need to evacuate.
2/5/14 10
First Aid-overview
Major bleeding:
Put on gloves and safety glasses. Apply pressure.
Yell for help (so someone else can summon ambulance).
Chemical splashes:
Arm or hand or face: Wash in a sink with lots of water.
In eyes (wear goggles!)-use eyewash with lots of water.
Remove any contaminated clothing! Get under a safety
shower. Help an injured party get to a shower.
Once you have removed the chemical, seek medical
treatment. Ask others to bring an MSDS for the chemical.
HF burns need special treatment.
Do not use HF without special training and access to
special first aid equipment (calcium gluconate solution)
2/5/14 12
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)-1
2/5/14 13
PPE: Gloves
Disposable nitrile gloves are usually OK for
transient protection:
*Check the permeability of your gloves against the
chemical: http://ehs.unl.edu/documents/chemical-safety
Immediately replace damaged / contaminated gloves. Grasp the
sleeve and pull it towards your fingertips, inside-out. Wash your
hands before re-gloving.
Talk carefully with your lab director and/or EHS about any
applications that require prolonged exposure or immersion
you will probably need thicker gloves and compatibility
will become critical.
2/5/14 14
Showers and
eyewashes
Eyewash fountains
Where is the one closest to you?
Push on the handle, flush
eyes thoroughly (15 min.)
Rinse out fountains weekly.
Make sure they remain
Showers are located in accessible.
selected doorways near
or within research and
teaching labs. To operate, Dont worry about floods or a mess.
stand under the shower, Help the injured person get to the
and pull down the handle eyewash or shower
(overhead rings in some Call for help
parts of building) Offer your lab coat if someone needs
to remove their clothes.
2/5/14 15
Fires: Should you fight or leave?
2/5/14 16
Fires: Sounding the alarm
2/5/14 19
Fume Hoods
2/5/14 20
Chemicals: What is a hazardous material?
2/5/14 21
Chemical Transport
Transport of any hazardous materials outside of your
lab requires secondary containment, which can be
either a specialized container or a sturdy plastic pail.
Would you want to be on the elevator when
someone dropped a bottle of solvent?
Containers must be
securely closed.
Gas cylinders
discussed later
2/5/14 22
Chemical Storage: the quick version
Flammable solvents
Large quantities in safety containers or in safety cabinets.
Segregate by hazard:
Oxidizers: Separate from flammables, reducing agents
Water Reactive: Protect from water, segregate from
flammables and oxidizers.
Inorganic Acids: Segregate from organic acids, flammables.
Toxic Materials: (includes carcinogens). Segregate, protect
from cross-reactions. Would you want to be in a lab where
sodium cyanide and sulfuric acid were stored together?
Segregation can be based upon secondary containers (for
example, plastic tubs).
For more details, ask a Safety Committee member or see the
EHS SOP: http://ehs.unl.edu/sop
2/5/14 23
Peroxide-forming molecules (picture of test strip)
Shock sensitive and explosive peroxides may form on
prolonged exposure to oxygen or air, and detonate upon
concentration, heating or friction.
Diethyl ether (ether) tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1,4-dioxane,
and cumene are notorious but you can have problems
with old containers of secondary alcohols (e.g.,
isopropanol).
Peroxide formers should be used or disposed of within 90
days of container opening (date upon opening) or you
can also test for peroxides with commercial strips.
See Use and Storage of Peroxide-Forming Chemicals
(http://ehs.unl.edu/sop) or ask a Safety Committee member for
more info.
Our most serious accident in the past 25 years
involved peroxides.
2/5/14 24
Chemicals: Gas Cylinders
2/5/14 26
Chemical disposal-labeling
Labeling of materials for
disposal has much greater
legal requirements:
Must have full name (no
abbreviations)
Must show all constituents.
Applies to any recovered
chemical, whether used,
excess, spent, etc.
2/5/14 27
Chemical disposal-containers (show tag)
Hazardous materials must be
disposed of through
Environmental Health and
Safety (EHS, 2-4925)
Containers must be closed,
appropriate for contents, and in
good condition.
Must be tagged for disposal
Contact EHS with any questions. In
general, better to assume
something is a hazardous material
(if it is not, EHS will tell you) than to
risk a federal crime by putting a
hazardous material into the trash or
the sewer.
2/5/14 28
Unknown chemicals
Major problem. Presumed to be hazardous
material until proven otherwise.
Could lead to fines of $25,000/day/sample!
Label everything. Dont allow materials to
become unknowns.
If you have 50 nearly identical samples in a rack, you
can legally label the rack.
If you discover unknown materials in your lab:
Attempt to identify them using your own knowledge and
records;
Ask your advisor, the Safety Committee,
or EHS (2-4925) for assistance.
2/5/14 29
Chemical Spills: Should I stay or should I go?
2/5/14 30
Chemical spills: what should you do?
For any spill, alert others and close off the area;
Use chairs/stools to close off part of a corridor.
If necessary, you can use the fire alarm to clear the
building.
2/5/14 31
Chemical spills:
bare-bones procedures
Acids
Confine, neutralize (bicarbonate), clean up, dispose (call
EHS).
Flammable solvent
Eliminate ignition sources, confine, absorb, clean up, dispose
(call EHS).
Mercury
Consolidate, collect, dispose of, wash yourself.
Always call EHS (2-4925) for consult
Solids
Scoop, place in container for disposal by EHS.
Detailed procedures are available through EHS
and/or the departmental safety plan.
2/5/14 32
Chemical spills: clean-up kits
Your lab needs spill kit(s) appropriate to the nature of chemicals you
store and use. All spill kits should contain:
Vinyl and nitrile gloves, large (1 pr each); safety goggles (2 prs);
plastic shoe protectors (2 prs); dustpan (1); polyethylene
trashbags (10). Adsorbent pads/pillows are also a good idea.
Labs working with solvents should also have:
5 gallon bucket of sorbent or kitty litter (labeled)
Labs working with acids:
5 gallon bucket of Na2CO3 or NaHCO3 or similar.
Labs using Hg should have a commercial spill kit.
Kits must be labeled and readily accessible. All lab workers need to
know of the kits and their location.
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Personal risk/injury?
Property damage?
2/5/14 38
Personal Safety and Crime.
UNL is fairly safe (see http://police.unl.edu/statistics)
-lets keep it that way.
Dont prop open outside doors or admit strangers.
Be careful when you are alone in offices or labs. Use a
buddy system.
Lock valuables in desk drawers when leaving offices.
2/5/14 39
Safety Committee (2012-13)
Members:
Prof. Barry Cheung (514 HaH, 2-5172)
Prof. Stephen DiMagno (818 C HaH, 2-9895)
Ms. Dodie Eveleth (Building manager, 545 HaH, 2-5312)
Prof. Jiantao Guo (634AA HaH, 2-3525)
Prof. Rick Hartung (326 HaH, 2-2737)
Dr. Darrel Kinnan (Lab manager, 228 HaH, 2-3514)
Prof. Alex Sinitskii (604C HaH, 2-3543)
Prof. Martha Morton (834 Hamilton, 2-6255)
2/5/14 40
Links and Resources
2/5/14 41
Things to do TODAY
2/5/14 42