I will not let students wear skin tight pants of any kind. The whole reason for long pants is to keep dripped or spilled chemicals off the skin, and skin tight
pants hold them against the skin, absolutely insuring that it will cause a problem if it is a dangerous corrosive substance. So in our lab, they are prohibited, just as open shoes, and holes in the pants, and any other attire that leaves the skin likely to
be injured from a spill or splash. Likewise I require crew necklines, and long sleeves for corrosives, and tied hair, lab coats, goggles, gloves, and the whole nine yards. I start the semester with a couple of graphic demos of what strong acid can do, (for
example: acid in the eye using petri dishes with eyes drawn on them and egg white in them, add strong acid, watch result) and they donŐt fight more than once. The one time they show up inappropriately dressed and arenŐt allowed to stay for the experiment,
is the last time it happens in that section. I also insist they show up on time, since the safety reminders each week are given at the start of the lab period, so if they are late, they arenŐt safe, and cannot stay. Enforcing it once is all it takes. (They
write on their lab evals that they donŐt feel scared because they know Meg is keeping them safe.)
Meg
Meg Osterby
Lead Chemistry Instructor
Western Technical College
400 7th St. N.
LaCrosse, WI 54601
osterbym@westerntc.edu
608-789-4714
"It's better to be careful 100 times, than to be killed once."
Mark Twain
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L@PRINCETON.EDU]
On Behalf Of Tambasco, Aniello
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 8:48 AM
To: DCHAS-L@PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Lab PPE Question
Hi all-
I need help with a lab concern about proper lab PPE. I had a question about yoga/ spandex pants. Some of our undergraduate students use these pants and their ankles are exposed because they wear low cut socks and sneakers. Is there anything in the PPE
language from OSHA, that these pants are prohibited? Thank you in advance for your time.
Aniello Tambasco
Lab technician and Assistant
Wilkes University
Wilkes-Barre PA 18766
--- This e-mail is from DCHAS-L, the e-mail list of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety. For more information about the list, contact the Divisional secretary at
secretary@dchas.org
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post