The Schools need an attitude adjustment. Just as Organic Chemistry is a profession, so are Industrial Hygiene and Safety. These subjects should be regarded the same respect.
From: Samuella B. Sigmann <sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**APPSTATE.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Sent: Sat, Nov 7, 2015 4:31 pm
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] NSTA Urges Science Educators to Halt the Use of Methanol-Based Flame Tests on Open Laboratory Desks
What amount of safety do ACS accredited
programs actually require?
There is still no course requirement. It is assumed that the
appropriate level of knowledge, skill, and attitude about chemical
hygiene that is needed to pursue a career in chemical industry or
academia will be acquired piecemeal in their laboratory work
throughout the course of their undergraduate studies.
What about requiring more safety education
and training in order for a chemistry program/degree to be ACS
accredited?
Good luck. Chemical hygiene is not regarded as a curriculum item on
the level of organic, inorganic, pchem, etc. by the CPT.
Additionally, there is currently very little flexibility in the
course work for the undergraduate degree - I think ours has 1 or 2
elective hours. That would be a start, but often for the various
concentrations the electives have to be outside the major. I have
been teaching a chemical safety course for for about 8 years, but is
very hard to populate because of the tight curriculum. That being
said - I have 10 students registered for this course next spring -
an all time record!
The better option for now is to incorporate higher level information
and risk assessment it into some of our other existing courses (much
as the CPT envisions I guess). We use Intro to research (junior
course) and Senior research (capstone course). Of course all the
lab courses do the normal safety activities.
Sammye
Sent from my iPhone
From: roberth_hill <roberth_hill**At_Symbol_Here**MINDSPRING.COM>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Sent: Fri, Nov 6, 2015 6:42 pm
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] NSTA Urges Science
Educators to Halt the Use of Methanol-Based Flame
Tests on Open Laboratory Desks
-------- Original message --------
From: Rita Kay Calhoun <r.calhoun**At_Symbol_Here**MOREHEADSTATE.EDU>
Date: 11/06/2015 3:55 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] NSTA Urges Science
Educators to Halt the Use of Methanol-Based
Flame Tests on Open Laboratory Desks
I disagree that the question is why did the
teacher do the demo. The question was why was
the teacher so stupid as to pour a flammable
liquid onto a flame. Anyone over the age of 6
should know that this is dangerous. I
sometimes wonder if the recent increase in the
apparent lack of "common sense" (yes, I said
common sense because it is common sense to be
wary of flames) is an unexpected result of the
fear of even minor dangers that has resulted
in many schools only doing experiments that a
kindergartener could do. In order to be able
to cross a street safely, you actually have to
practice crossing a street safely. Rather
than throwing the baby out with the bathwater,
perhaps we should learn/teach how to bathe the
baby without drowning it.
Kay
-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**med.cornell.edu]
On Behalf Of Frankie Wood-Black
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2015 3:07 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] NSTA Urges Science
Educators to Halt the Use of Methanol-Based
Flame Tests on Open Laboratory Desks
A question for the group and maybe to a wider
audience. After the last set of announcements
and the CSB alert, my question is related to
why this teacher chose to do it. One reason
may have been that they felt they could do it
because they had numerous times. The other is
that they were unaware of the recommendations
NOT to do this particular demonstration
anymore. SO - my question is - is there an
avenue that we should be using to inform
teachers about the hazards of this experiment
that have not been utilized previously - and
if so - what would it be????
******************************************************************************
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post