From: K Roy <safesci**At_Symbol_Here**sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Food accommodations in the laboratory
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2019 19:30:53 +0000
Reply-To: K Roy <safesci**At_Symbol_Here**SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Message-ID: 646088400.17400277.1554492653189**At_Symbol_Here**mail.yahoo.com
In-Reply-To


Bottomline is - food should not be eaten in any lab by any occupant - by students or employees/volunteers!  This is clearly stated as a faux pas in legal safety standards and better professional safety practices.

I do mock-OSHA inspections of laboratories and also serve as an expert witness in law suits for parents whose child has been injured in school science labs.  In inspection I noticed a small table in back of a chem. lab at a high school with a sign on it - "Chemical Free - Only Eat Food At This Table!"   I asked the teacher if he ever heard of the term "cross contamination?"  I noticed book bags on the lab desk tops.  The same book bags were then brought over to the "Chemical Free" table.  First of all - book bags don't belong on lab desks..  Secondly - any chemical residue is then dragged over to the - oh wait a minute - the "Chemical Free - Only Eat At This Table!"  No matter how you have the lab cleaned - it never forgets the hazardous chemicals used previously.

If a student for medical reasons (under direction of a school nurse or private physician) needs to eat during a lab period - fine - have them leave the lab and eat elsewhere that is approved and supervised - then return.  Science teachers, their supervisors and building administrators have too much liability exposure should a student be exposed to the products of cross contamination while eating in the lab.  More importantly - the student could become seriously ill!

Hope this helps -

Dr. Ken

Kenneth R. Roy, Ph.D.
Chief Safety Compliance Adviser
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA);
Safety Compliance Officer
National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA);
Safety Committee Member
International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE);
Director of Environmental Health & Chemical Safety/Chemical Hygiene Officer
Glastonbury Public Schools (CT);
Safesci**At_Symbol_Here**sbcglobal.net



On Friday, April 5, 2019, 2:50:05 PM EDT, Amanda MacPherson <amacpherson**At_Symbol_Here**YCP.EDU> wrote:



This is a question posed by one of the biology faculty at our school.  What is the best way to manage a student with an accommodation for food or beverage in the lab? We have recently had a student with an accommodation to be able to chew gum in one of our labs (in this case an anatomy lab).  We were able to work around it in this case, but have ongoing questions about managing these lab situations.  Has anyone else addressed similar situations?

Thank you,

Amanda
--
Amanda MacPherson
Chemistry Laboratory Coordinator
Physical Sciences Department
York College of Pennsylvania
441 Country Club Road
York, PA 17403
--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.