General Laboratory Precautions

Pharmaceutical Biochemistry I (Practical)
General laboratory safety rules and procedures

Purpose
The concern for laboratory safety can never be over emphasizes. One must always be aware
that chemicals used in the laboratory are potentially toxic, irritant, or flammable. However,
such chemicals are hazardous only when they are mishandled or improperly disposed off. The
possibility of an accident is minimal to students who come to each laboratory session
mentally prepared and with the complete understanding of the experimental procedure to be
followed. Since dangerous situations can occur unexpectedly, students must be familiar with
the general safety practices, facilities and emergency action. Students must have a special
concern for the safety of classmates. Carelessness on the part of one student can often cause
injury to other students. Laboratory safety rules and chemical handling are designed neither
to hinder productivity nor to bring in a fear of chemicals or laboratory procedures. Rather,
their purpose is to create healthy awareness of potential laboratory hazards, to improve the
efficiency of each student, and to protect the general public and the environment from waste
contamination.
Safety precautions
1. Be familiar with the experiments which you will be performing. This will increase your
understanding, enjoyment, and safety during exercises. Completely follow the procedure
set forth by the instructor.
2. During performance of experiment, pay attention to what you are doing and what you are
working with.
3. Be familiar with properties of all chemicals used in the experiment / laboratory. This
includes their flammability, reactivity, toxicity, and proper disposal.
4. Never work alone in the laboratory.
5. Do not touch any equipment, chemical, or any other material in the laboratory area until
you are instructed to do so.
6. Eating, drinking, smoking is strictly prohibited in the laboratory.
7. Wear safety glasses and goggles during exercises when chemicals are handled or when
glassware and solutions are heated or when dangerous fumes may be present that creates
possible hazard to eyes or contact lenses.
8. If chemical come into contact with skin or clothing, wash immediately with cold water
for at least three minutes. If you accidentally get any reagent in to your mouth, rinse
mouth thoroughly with the water and inform your instructor. If a chemical is splashed in
the eyes, wash it with cold water for at least fifteen minutes. Contact lenses, if any, must
be removed for effective flushing of the eyes.
9. Observe good house-keeping practices. Work areas should be kept clean all the times.
Bring laboratory instructions and worksheets to the work area. Other materials (books,
purses, bags, etc.) should not be placed on the working bench.
10. Never taste any chemical or reagent. If you need to smell any chemical, waft a few
vapors of it gently towards your nostrils with your hand.
11. Do not carry reagent bottles around the room.
12. Do not pipette anything by mouth. Suitable pipette filler should be used for this purpose.
13. Do not put chemicals in sink or trash unless instructed to do so.
14. Do not place broken glassware in the garbage (instead, place broken glassware into the
dedicated container).
15. Do not work in the lab unsupervised.
16. Wash hands and glassware at the end of each exercise before leaving the laboratory.
17. Tightly close all reagent bottles when not in use.
18. Be careful when using heat, especially when heating chemicals. Do not leave a hot plate
turned on or gas burner unattended. Do not turn on a hot plate or a gas burner near a gas
tank or cylinder. Do not move a turned on hot plate or gas burner. Keep hair and loose
clothing well away from turned on hot plates or lit Bunsen burners. If your hair or
clothing happens to catch on fire: STOP, DROP, and ROLL. Then smother the flames
with a fire blanket.
19. Use proper ventilation and fume hoods when instructed.
20. Use extra care when working with glassware and glass tubing.
21. Wear aprons or laboratory coats, since some chemicals may damage fabrics.
22. Wear closed shoes as protection against broken glass or spillage that may not have been
adequately cleaned up.
23. Report any condition that appears unsafe or hazardous to the instructor.
24. Keep your hair confined (tied back) when using burners or chemicals, using machinery,
etc.
25. Experiments must be personally monitored at all times. You will be assigned a laboratory
station to work. Do not wonder around the laboratory, disturb other students, or interfere
with the laboratory experiments of others.
26. Check the label on chemical bottles twice before removing any of the contents.
27. Acid must be handled with the extreme care. Always add acid slowly to water, with slow
stirring and swirling, being careful of the heat produced, particularly with sulfuric acid.
28. Examine glassware before each use. Never use chipped or cracked glassware. Never use
dirty glassware. Do not immerse hot glassware in cold water. It may shatter.
29. Never handle any laboratory chemicals with your fingers, some chemicals are stains and
some are corrosive. For solids chemicals a clean scoop/spatula can be used.
30. Whenever the lid/stopper of a bottle containing a chemical is removed, either hold it in
hand or put it upside down on the counter in order to avoid contamination.
31. The chemicals can be directly transferred from the container to the test container with a
suitable, cleaned and dried transfer aid. However, extreme care should be taken.
32. Another technique for transferring chemicals is to pour from the bottle into a container
(beaker etc in case of liquid chemicals, and watch glass or china dish or folded piece of
paper in case of solids) and then pour it into the test container. In that way you avoid
contaminating the chemical in the bottle.
33. Take only the amount of chemical you need. Never return the excess. It is better to throw
out a little bit, than to accidentally contaminate the whole container by putting it into the
wrong bottle.
34. When disposing off used chemicals, first look for special "waste" containers designated
for that chemical. In the absence of a special container, put solids that don't dissolve in
water into the wastebasket, not the sink.
35. Liquids and solids that are soluble in water can sometimes be disposed of in the sink, and
washed down with plenty of water. But first check to see if there is a special waste
container for them.
36. Always point the reaction container or tube away from everyone, including you.
37. Be careful with hot substances. Almost all the accidents that happen in the lab are burns
caused by careless handling of hot objects.
38. Always put equipment back from where you took it, in the same condition in which it was
received.
WORKING IN THE LABORATORY AND REPORTING EXPERIMENTS

1. Always come prepare for the experiment to be performed.
2. Keep in mind the Lab safety guidelines.
3. All the work should be performed in groups.
4. Bring your own apron, gloves etc.
5. Work quietly, intelligently, systematically, neatly and carefully.
6. Check the reagents, chemicals, and apparatus before you start work.
7. All the experiment with pungent odor should be performed in fume hood.
8. On the right hand side of your copy which is ruled, write the experiment, objective,
glassware, chemicals, theory, and procedure. The observations, calculations and diagram,
if any, should be given on the left hand side which is not ruled.
9. Use past tense for reporting the experimental procedure.
10. Start your new experiment on a new page.
11. Keep your note book always neat and clean.
12. All the observation should be noted down in the note book when they are made.
13. Do not write what you have not done.
Get your copy signed by your teacher before leaving the laboratory.

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Pharmaceutical Biochemistry I (Practical)

General laboratory safety rules and procedures

WORKING IN THE LABORATORY AND REPORTING EXPERIMENTS

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