College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics

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College of Natural Sciences

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENT SAFETY

VERIFICATION FORM

Check off each item on the green form as you address it. Obtain student signatures on the reverse side of the form and return the completed form to your Department Office within the first two weeks of class.

YOU MUST PROVIDE CONTINUOUS OVERSIGHT DURING LAB/CLASS SESSIONS! The presence of the instructor in the laboratory/classroom is required in order to respond to problems and to ensure that safety rules are enforced. Except for very brief intervals, instructors must not leave their class during laboratory/class sessions. It is your responsibility to relay the safety issues below to each of your students and to enforce these safety provisions throughout the semester. Call the CNSM Safety Office at x55623 if you have questions.

Part I - General Safety Matters

1. Right-to-know/Hazard Communication and Labeling: We all have the right to know (and are expected to know) about all chemicals (including consumer products) we will be exposed to in the lab class. YOU must make sure that all unattended materials are labeled with the NAME (no abbreviations) of the material and its HAZARD if any (e.g. flammable, corrosive, oxidizer etc.). We consider the material to be “Unattended” once the class has left the area. See the yellow CNSM Label poster hanging in this room for label details.

2. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS): Additional information about chemicals/products is available in the form of Material Safety Data Sheets from the CNSM Safety Office or via the MSDS search engine on the CNSM Safety Office Webpage. There is a link to the Safety Webpage on the College homepage. Requests for MSDS’ will be honored.

3. Goggle Policy: Chemical splash goggles with indirect vents must be worn by EVERYONE as soon as anyone in the class handles a hazardous material. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

[INSTRUCTORS: this includes you! Remember that you set the example! However, if you think that this rule is too restrictive for your class due to very limited hazardous material use, contact CNSM Safety for approval to set up an alternative setup such as a “goggle station” or a “splash shield station”. ]

Goggles are required even when using very small quantities of a hazardous material, such as when you are adjusting the pH of a buffer by adding a few drops of acid or base. Know what you are working with; chemicals such as Nitrate A and B, Kovac’s Reagent, Folin’s Reagent, Coomassie Blue, Biuret’s Reagent, ammonia etc. all require the use of goggles.

If you wear glasses, you MUST wear the goggles over the glasses since glasses do not provide acceptable protection. Contact lenses are allowed when worn under goggles. Wear the appropriate eye protection when working with anything that can injure the eyes, including flying particles, laser light, UV light, electric arc etc. If I see you not wearing your goggles when hazardous materials are handled I will be required to dismiss you from the lab. Remember: ONLY those with proper goggles will be allowed in the lab! The bookstore sells goggles.

4. No eating/drinking/food/smoking: No food or drink is allowed in laboratories. You must leave these

things outside, or keep them in your closed backpacks. THIS INCLUDES PERSONAL WATER BOTTLES!

5. Housekeeping: You must clean up after yourselves. and make sure you clean up all spilled reagents. Never throw chemicals in the trash or into the broken glass box, and never pour them down the drain.

[INSTRUCTORS: you MUST make sure that all spilled reagents have been cleaned up BEFORE you leave your lab!!! Don’t forget to inspect the balances for spills. If you enter your lab and find spilled reagents, please notify the Safety Office immediately!]

If any water is spilled on the floor, it must be cleaned up immediately to prevent slip/fall injuries and damage to the rooms below/adjacent etc. There is a mop available in MLSC-302. If the water can’t be promptly cleaned up, the CNSM Safety Office and the Safety Cabinets on the 300 level of MLSC and the 200 level of PH2 all have inert absorbent available that can be spread to restore traction to wet floors. Prompt action is essential! Call x5-H-E-L-P for custodial help in cleaning up large spills.

6. Conduct: Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. Everyone must treat each other with respect. Visitors to the lab are not permitted. I, your instructor, am required to ask you to leave if you are behaving inappropriately, are disrupting class, or are refusing to promptly and fully comply with any CNSM Safety Policies. If you do not leave the class when asked, I may call the campus police (x54101, 562-985-4101, or via a hallway emergency blue or red phone). Police will then escort you from the class. I am required to report problems of this nature to the appropriate authority.

7. Reporting Accidents/Incidents: Please report all injuries, dangerous equipment failures, chemical spills etc. to me, and I will then document them on a standard CNSM Incident Report Form, available from the Safety Office, the Department Office and the Safety Office webpage. [Instructors should review the green CNSM “Injury Response Procedures” poster.] Injured students should go to the Student Health Center for medical evaluation. They may walk there with an escort or may be transported by University Police. Neither you nor I may clean up blood! The CNSM Safety Office will do that for us once notified.

8. Medical Costs: WARNING!!! The University does NOT reimburse students for treatment sought for illness or injury even when the student is injured IN CLASS! The treatment offered by the Student Health Center is minimal and subject to limited hours of operation. Reasonably-priced health insurance is available to students through the Student Health Center.

Please inform me if you think your health might be adversely impacted by any class activity, or if you think your state of health might adversely affect the ability of the class to perform the activity. I will make reasonable accommodation for you as necessary and when appropriate. You may be asked to consult your Doctor before proceeding with an activity.

Part II - Safety Equipment and Procedures

1. Safety shower: When working with hazardous materials that can injure the eyes or skin, a working emergency shower must be no more than “ten seconds” away. The path to the shower must be clear. The shower turns ON when the handle is pulled and will not turn off until the handle is pushed UP. The injured person must stay in the shower for 15 minutes minimum. Contaminated clothing must be removed. MOST SHOWERS HAVE NO DRAIN! Don’t worry about flooding the floor, the health of the person is more important. Never apply sodium bicarbonate or any other treatment to the injury – flush with water only!

2. Eyewash: The same rules apply as above. During the 15 minute flushing, the injured person should use her/his fingers to hold eyelids open and CNSM Safety should be called, and also 911 as necessary. Do not worry about flooding the floor. Inert absorbent is available in the Safety Cabinet to put on the wet floor.

3. Fire extinguishers: These are in the room or just down the hall in a box. They should only be used by trained people. DON’T BE A HERO. Evacuate the room and pull the fire alarm as appropriate.

4. Laboratory attire: Close-toed footwear must be worn at all times (all semester long, from the second day of class through the last day) in any lab class that will EVER use hazardous chemicals at any point during the year. The easiest way to ensure compliance with this rule is to store a spare pair of close-toed shoes in your locker. You must also wear a lab coat or apron in this lab if hazardous materials are used, in which case shoulders must be covered (no spaghetti strap-type tops). If you forget to wear close-toed shoes, you can purchase booties as a temporary measure at the bookstore for less than $1.00.

[INSTRUCTOR: If you wish, you may contact CNSM Safety for approval to reduce these restrictions e.g to obtain approval to allow sandal use on days of no hazardous materials use. You may also, if you wish, require your class to wear additional protection such as lab coats instead of aprons; covered arms and legs, socks etc.]

5. Emergency evacuation procedure & route: We must always keep the doors to the lab closed during the lab session, but we can still hear the alarms since they sound inside each lab. If the alarm sounds, or you are ordered out of the lab, remember to TAKE YOUR BACKPACK! Turn off Bunsen burners etc. if possible. EVERYONE MUST GET 200 FEET AWAY from the building – Do not bunch-up just outside the doorway!!! [INSTRUCTORS: tell the class which exit would be safest for them, and lead them out when the alarm sounds]

6. Emergency phone boxes: These are located on walls in the science building hallways and in elevators. Use them to speak directly to CSULB police, or dial 911 from a standard campus office or pay phone. Use cell phones only as a last resort as they may connect to Highway Patrol and thus slow down the response.

7. CNSM Safety Cabinet: [INSTRUCTORS: A supply of safety items is available to you to help make your class safe. Help yourself to the first-aid kit, safety labels/information, inert absorbent for spill/slip prevention, warning signs etc. that are kept in the cabinet -- but notify CNSM Safety if you do as we want to keep it stocked. Your building door key opens these cabinets, located near PH2-214 and in the MLSC 300 level hallway.]

8. Chemical and/or biological hoods: These hoods are used to protect people when lab work may produce harmful or bad-smelling/smoky emissions. Gas masks, respirators or dust masks are usually not allowed for protection on campus. To use the hood for protection, the glass sash MUST be at or below the sash "stop" catch. If arrow stickers are in place, the sash MUST be at or lower than those arrow markers. Never put your head inside the fume hood when chemicals are present. Don't use the interior of the hood as a writing desk! Report defective/alarming hoods to CNSM Safety promptly. A effective/suspect hood may not be used for protection.

Part III - Chemical and Equipment Hazards

INSTRUCTORS: You are required to know which chemicals will be used in your lab and the appropriate use/handling/disposal procedures. Ask the course coordinator if necessary.

1. Chemical storage and incompatibilities: Always return chemicals to their proper place, and store them compatibly! Hazardous liquids must be stored in secondary containers such as trays or buckets but remember to store incompatibles in separate trays. Separate acids from bases, oxidizers from organic materials such as combustibles/flammables/reducing agents etc. It is CRITICAL that you all remember that nitric acid will react violently with organic materials such as acetic acid! Always use a “bottle carrier” or other secondary containment carrier when transporting any chemicals to or from the lab.

Also watch out for flammable materials such as alcohols, acetone, ethers etc. and keep them away from ignition sources. NEVER store them in standard refrigerator/freezers! These are ignition sources (door opens, light comes on, spilled flammable ignites). If you must keep your flammables cold, store them ONLY in special “Flame-rated” refrigerators. Read the labels on the refrigerator so you know what kind it is! If you open a bottle of ether, don’t forget to write the “opened” date on it as old ether may form explosive compounds.

2. Chemical Wastes: Most labs have several, DIFFERENT waste containers. You MUST make sure you know which container is the correct one for your waste! Ask me if you’re not sure! Otherwise you could cause a fire, explosion or some other unwanted chemical reaction. Containers must not be overfilled. It is everyone’s responsibility to NOTIFY CNSM SAFETY WHEN A CONTAINER IS ¾ FULL. They will then replace the container with an empty one. Waste containers must be kept closed when not in use. Remember, DO NOT FILL A WASTE JUG MORE THAN ¾ FULL!!!

ONE LAST TIME: WATCH OUT! DO NOT FILL A WASTE JUG MORE THAN ¾ FULL!!

[INSTRUCTORS: You are required to close any open waste containers at the end of your lab session]

3. Acids and Bases: Watch out for these corrosives as they can cause severe burns and blindness. Never mix acids and bases in a common waste container, or it may blow up! Use caution when adding concentrated acids or bases to a solution. "Do what you ought'er, add acid to water". Neutralize tiny acid spills/drips (NOT injuries) with bicarbonate solution.

4. Toxins: Many of the reagents used in the lab are toxic poisons. Ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact must be avoided. Even small amounts of some chemicals can kill immediately. We Instructors will provide specific safety/handling warnings as these materials are introduced into each lab exercise.

5. Carcinogens: Some chemicals may be classified as carcinogenic (capable of causing cancer) in addition to the other hazardous properties (e.g. Benzene is a flammable liquid, is toxic, but also can induce leukemia with extended exposure).

6. Radioactive materials typically are not used in these classes.

7. Biohazards: Some classes use pathogenic agents; all microbial waste and contaminated items, including waste contaminated with E. coli, must be collected and autoclaved prior to disposal. Items contaminated with human blood/blood products must be collected in specific RED containers.

[INSTRUCTORS: contact CNSM Safety if your class will use human products of any kind.]

8. Scientific glassware: If glass tubing or a thermometer must be inserted in a rubber stopper or cork, LUBRICATE IT so it goes in easily. If you don’t it may break off and cut you!

9. Handling and reporting of chemical spills: We will call CNSM Safety before cleaning up significant spills or spills which we do not feel capable of addressing safely. Once remediated, I will report the spill on the CNSM Incident Form. Call 911 and/or pull the fire alarm if necessary to address a spill that may impact others in the building.

10. Broken glass and other sharp items: Broken glass must be cleaned up promptly, but NEVER put sharp items in the regular trash!! Put them in the special “Broken Glass” box. When full, tape shut and place in the hallway. Do not overfill and do not let the box get wet or too heavy. If the broken glass is contaminated with a hazardous material, package and label it as hazardous waste. Needles must be discarded into approved needle boxes [ INSTRUCTORS: You must follow the CNSM Safety Office Needle Handling Policy”(on their website) when using needles.]

11. Water reactive (also air-reactive) chemicals are especially dangerous. You will be alerted and given special instruction if such materials are introduced into the lab.

12. Oxidizing chemicals (such as hydrogen peroxide, and many chemicals whose names end in “ate”) are especially dangerous and may ignite or form explosive compounds on contact with organic materials such as flammables, combustibles, or other reducing materials, OR reducing agents such as metals etc. Oxidizers may not be mixed with or stored beside these materials. You will be alerted and given special instruction if oxidizers are to be handled. Remember, watch out for nitric acid, it is a very strong oxidizer and may react violently with organic materials such as acetic acid!

13. Reproductive Hazards: Some common chemicals, once in the body, target male and/or female reproductive systems or developing fetuses. As in the case of the toxic and carcinogenic chemicals, it is imperative that everyone in the lab strive to avoid exposure to the chemicals through use of the fume hood, gloves etc. Some low level exposures may be unavoidable. Anyone with concerns about chemical exposures associated with this lab can take the list of the chemicals associated with this lab to their medical doctor to consider if participation is appropriate.