From: "Latimer, Lee"Date: August 11, 2009 9:08:22 PM EDT Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] 2 Re: [DCHAS-L] Glove use in academic teaching labs Rebecca and Pat, This is a worthwhile discussion. While indeed early experiments do use common household chemicals like salt for their components, the student is building skills as well as understanding. I would like to see them respect rather than fear what they work with and encounter. I believe that building good techniques will allow them to fear their materials less and handle them with respectful confidence. A part of good lab technique is good PPE. While the choice of latex vs nitrile gloves can come with understanding of the materials to be encountered, to wear gloves/Z87 safety glasses/labcoats or not is a very different judgment to me. I won=92t argue that salt solutions for density determinations and similar materials need gloves. It is the technique development and habits that are at the root of the desire on my part. As they move on to cleansers in the home, strippers for furniture, oil changes and garden treatments, many will make a judgment about the need for gloves and glasses that will be based on their experience. I hope that when they are in a lab that they know what is standard for lab situations and have practiced it since they first took labs so that when they become my colleagues, I know they have safety ingrained to their thoughts and I won=92t have to take them to a hospital because they didn=92t think they needed PPE. I find it amazing that we have PH.D. synthetic chemists coming to work in industrial labs who think from the lack of enforcement PPE in their academic training that personal glasses are safety glasses, that lab coats are a maybe item and that gloves are only for when something is hot, cold or sticky. So I=92m in favor of improving the traditions of teaching technique, and reminding people that is an experiment because we don=92t know the outcome absolutely (Murphy=92s Law does happen). We appreciate the efforts you make in teaching understanding, judgment and technique. Lee
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