We have been providing both gloves and safety goggles to our
students.
Latex or nitrile gloves are placed in the laboratory for those
students who
choose to use them. Less than 50% choose to do so.
Although students are supposedly required to review each experiment
in
advance and to look up information on the hazards and handling of each
chemical
they will use in the experiment, there is not uniform adherence to this,
nor do
all students do a satisfactory job. Therefore, at the beginning of
each
experiment, I review all the potentially hazardous chemicals that will
be used
during the experiment along with some reminders for the proper handling
of those
chemicals, what to do in the event of skin contact, and proper
disposal. If I believe that gloves are necessary for any procedure,
I will
require them, otherwise, it is the students' choice. However, at this
time, I
cannot say that all our laboratory instructors do the same - that will
be
changing in the near future.
We also supply safety goggles for students. They are stored
in a UV
safety goggle cabinet. Lens cleaner and soft tissue paper
(Kim-Wipes or
equivalent) are provided. Not every instructor turns on the UV
sterilization lamp after every lab. We do have student lab
aides,
but they do not always remember to turn on the sterilization lamp.
(Another
practice I intend to change.)
All these supplies have been paid for by laboratory fees. In
the
current economic climate, however, the current lab fees will not cover
the costs
of all these materials. We just replaced all the safety goggles
with new
ones in all our laboratories. We have made a decision that
starting in the
Fall semester, students must purchase their own safety goggles.
(Available in
the bookstore.) Should a student forget to bring their goggles to
the
laboratory, they can use those that we have available, but we will not
be
restocking those goggles in the future. As a result, our
current lab
fees will cover the other materials such as gloves, lens cleaner, and
tissues
along with normal breakage of glassware.
The local university has a student affiliate chapter of the ACS,
and they
sell safety goggles and laboratory notebooks to the students.
That's part
of their fund raising for the year. As a Community College, we do
not have
a student affiliate chapter and we have decided that we are not set-up
to go
into the goggle business, nor do we have the necessary security to
handle
the money involved.
If your lab fees do not cover the cost of gloves, breakage, and
other
consumables that are not covered by your departmental laboratory budget,
then
you should consider a modest increase in your lab fee.
David Katz
____________________________________________________________________
_____
David A.
Katz
Chemist, Educator, Expert Demonstrator, Science Communicator,
and
Consultant
Programs and workshops for teachers,
schools,
museums, and the public
133 N. Desert Stream Dr. * Tucson, AZ
85745-2277 * USA
voice/fax: (520) 624-2207 * email:
dakatz45**At_Symbol_Here**msn.com
Visit my web site:
http://www.chymist.com___________
______________________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010
4:32
PM
Subject: [DCHAS-L] GLOVES IN
STUDENT
LABS
As the staff of the Chemistry
& Biochemistry Teaching Labs, we have been asked to propose ideas
for
saving money, as budgets are only getting tighter over the next few
years. One
idea proposed is that we stop providing gloves ad lib. to students,
but have
them buy & bring their own. We currently supply either nitrile or
PVC
examination (thin, single-use) gloves in our labs.
Do you
provide/require gloves for student labs?
Sheila
--
Sheila M. Kennedy, CHO
Safety Coordinator
Chemistry &
Biochemistry Teaching Laboratories
University of California, San
Diego
(858) 534-0221