Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 08:55:08 -0600
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: "Osterby, Meg" <OsterbyM**At_Symbol_Here**WESTERNTC.EDU>
Subject: Re: GLOVES IN STUDENT LABS
In-Reply-To: <BLU104-DS196473E24612171BAED938C5370**At_Symbol_Here**phx.gbl>

We also require students to buy their own goggles and have a uv goggle cabinet ava ilable that they can rent other goggles from us for 50 cents a lab period.& nbsp; Many choose not to buy their own, and simply rent every week.  I haven't figured out a  way to stop that prac tice entirely, but I do discourage it.  We also are a technical colleg e and for some reason I can't fathom, the lab fees the students pay do not come to us but go into the general college fund from which we are given an budget.  Our budget is adaquate to keep us stocked with the chemicals we use and is enough to purchase gloves, which I realize is unusual.  The local UW system college has a student affil iate group that handles google sales.  It is their main fund-raiser for the year.  We do not have  a chemi stry major per se, so we do not have an affiliate group at our school.
 
The students wear nitrile , unpowdered, gloves that we provide for any acid or base at or above 3 M.& nbsp; Less than that they are encouraged to wash their hands after handling the chemical, but I, too, notice more carelessness when the students are gloved up.  The students are also taught to was h their hands when they remove the goggles.   We have dental hygi ene and clinical lab tech students in the bioorganic chemistry course, and they all feel better in gloves since they routinely use them in their other lab classes and clinicals.  I generally don't allow these students to wear gloves unless a hazard exists in their experi ment for that day for which the gloves would protect them.  After all, nitrile gloves are expensive and we don't want to have to buy more than are necessary for the actual hazards encount ered.
 
I don't think there is an y one practice that is good for all schools.  Each of us must find a p rocedure that works with their particular group of students.  Here's m y 2 cents worth.
 
Meg Osterby,
Western Technical College ,
LaCrosse WI

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [DCHA S-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of DAVID KATZ [dakatz45**At_Symbol_Here**MSN.COM]
Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:24 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] GLOVES IN STUDENT LABS

We have been providing both gloves and safety goggles to our students.
 
Latex or nitrile gloves are placed in the laboratory for those student s 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 che mical they will use in the experiment, there is not uniform adherence to th is, nor do all students do a satisfactory job.  Therefore, at the beginning of each experiment, I review all th e potentially hazardous chemicals that will be used during the experiment a long with some reminders for the proper handling of those chemicals, what t o do  in the event of skin contact, and proper disposal. If I believe that gloves are necessary for any proce dure, 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-Wi pes 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 steriliz ation 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 goggle s 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.)  Shou ld 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 t hey sell safety goggles and laboratory notebooks to the students.  Tha t'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 involv ed.  
 
If your lab fees do not cover the cost of gloves, breakage, and other consumables that are not covered by your departmental laboratory budget, th en you should consider a modest increase in your lab fee.
 
David Katz
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  David A. Katz         & nbsp;   
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----- 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 i deas for saving money, as budgets are only getting tighter over the next fe w years. One idea proposed is that we stop providing gloves ad lib. to stud ents, but have them buy & bring their own. We currently supply either nitrile or PVC examination (thin, single-u se) 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

 

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