Hi Ben,

 

May I bring your sulfuric acid scenario a bit more close to home?

 

Let's say it's a 100 mL beaker of sulfuric. Spilling said beaker inside the hood requires a straight forward spill response. However, if you were to trip while carrying it, the spill response procedure gets a bit more complicated.

 

Let's say it's a 4L bottle that falls on the floor. Knowing whether or not you need to evacuate the lab and come back in with a respirator will depend on the size of the room/the exhaust capability of the room. If you clean it yourself, do you have a kit that addresses a 4L acid spill?

 

Let's say you work at a university that has TAs teaching the undergrad lab courses by themselves. Think about the student who trips carrying 100mL of sulfuric and splashes 1 or more classmates. Is your well-meaning TA adequately trained to deal with the situation until help arrives? Is there anything posted in the lab to help your TA navigate the situation?

 

The SDS can't account for all scenarios nor levels of spill response training. We all should take the time to use the LCSS, SDS, Lessons Learned, and other information to write SOPs. I have also found it beneficial to include a safety section in my experiment procedures. While experienced staff members may find this section unnecessary and even patronizing, inexperienced staff tends to find it valuable for one simple reasonÉ they don't know what they're doing, yet.

 

Of course, all of your effort is futile without training. Nobody has the knowledge to appropriately respond to all the different hazmat scenarios without proper training. Even people with basic spill response training will make the mistake of walking thru the spill as they rush to lay down absorbent pads (witnessed).

 

As chemists, we might be eager to write an experiment procedure that teaches students how to create a chromatography column out of a 100mL burette. Unfortunately, we are not necessarily eager to write a procedure on what to do if your 4ft tall student accidentally tips the set-up while trying to pour solvent into the burette. I don't know if my prof had a written spill response SOP for that undergrad experiment, but I do recall he proactively approached my bubbly classmate to discretely offer her a step stool. Would your well-meaning TA have the foresight to offer a step stool or do you need to suggest it in an SOP?

 

SoÉ Santa's list it is. ;)