Our effort to make sure students have some hazard information under their belts before beginning took the form of requiring a table of materials in the pre-lab
report that included a column for hazards (from the SDS, available through the university on-line database) and a column for quantity expected to be used. I added this last to emphasize that Risk is a product of hazard and exposure - if you're exposed to less,
your risk is less, even though the hazard remains the same.
In our intro. O-CHEM class, this became a huge task for some experiments that had lots of possible unknowns and lots of reagents. The instructor is experimenting
with providing the table as a template. In the early experiments, most or all of the information will be provided. Then the student takes over & provides more (or all) of the information, building competency, we hope.
This still doesn't address the question of interpreting the hazard information to decide about ventilation, PPE, etc., as most of those decisions are made for
lower division undergrads.
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
On Behalf Of ILPI Support
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 9:56 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] "Read the SDS"
Reading the SDS is never sufficient. Understanding it is key. So the instruction should be changed to "use the SDS to determine whether this material presents new or unusual hazards and what precautions should be taken" etc.
If you pair the "determine" with a control banding approach based on the hazard classification and risk/hazard phrases, that gives one a framework on what to do next. For example, if you have hazards in class 1 (the highest, versus NFPA
where that's low) - then stop - do a full risk assessment etc.
That does seem like something one could reduce to a flow chart or simple JavaScript wizard, so I'm curious to see what the collective wisdom of the list comes up with as resources.
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Safety Emporium - Lab & Safety Supplies featuring brand names
Fax: (856) 553-6154, PO Box 1003, Blackwood, NJ 08012
I'm a little frustrated after reviewing yet another teaching lab procedure that barely mentions any safety aspects of the work being described, but include the equivalent of "of course, everyone who does this
should read the SDS". Advice this generic feels like a CYA disclaimer rather than anything designed to be helpful for the reader.
While I recognize that a complete documented risk assessment is necessary for many lab situations, I wonder if anyone has developed guidance for how one can convert "read the SDS" to decisions about how much ventilation is needed, personal protective equipment
requirements, etc. for fairly simple chemistries being offered to beginning chemists?
Thanks for any thoughts on this.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859
ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu
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