Science Laboratory Safety, Part 2

[Music] this high school teacher has found that a study of biology can be one of the most rewarding adventures in a student's career and that the biology laboratory is a place of learning where the student must be most careful for here the student is working with animals bacteria chemicals and equipment which must be carefully and properly handled if accidents are to be avoided [Music] in stressing these points the teacher tries to make the students aware of her concern for their safety and the vital role they must play to minimize or eliminate the possibility of an accident the four years that a student spends in high school involves a series of maturing experiences that move him from the adolescent and place his feet solidly on the road that will require with each forward step the acceptance of more and more responsibility in the area of safety in the science lab careful instructions of the teacher will make this responsibility easier to bear [Music] who me i'm an accident just looking for a place to happen and i bet i can find a place right here in this biology laboratory [Music] these students will need this electric heater for their chlorophyll extraction experiment since it would be very dangerous to eat the alcohol over the open flames of a bunsen burner and for the handling of the chemicals such as bases acids and preservatives they must use this rubber apron to protect their clothing and safety glasses for their eyes in this experiment on insects the students will use these toxic materials and one strategic point that they must remember is that they handle these materials in such a way so as not to breathe any of the vapors that may be coming out of the container or bottle for the examination of blood specimens during this experiment the students will be bending glass tubing and then threading it through rubber stoppers they will need this asbestos pad to lay the hot tubing on and they will need this toweling to protect their hands if tubing should break while they are threading it through the stoppers they must also have this lubricant for the glass tubing to reduce the danger of breakage when threading the rubber stoppers in studying blood types these students will use these hemalettes which come sealed in a sterilized package the sealed package is especially important since a broken seal could cause the hemolytic to become contaminated before use in preparing the students for this microbiology experiment the teacher has carefully instructed them about the disposal of petri culture dishes after the experiment they must be put back in the autoclave before they are cleaned or before disposing of the materials in them in this experiment they will also need this rubber bulb for the pipetting of liquids since pipetting should never be done by mouth since i'm an accident looking for a place to happen i'll bet i could change these experiments around just a little so they would be a perfect place for an accident thing that bugs me is that these laboratories are getting safer all the time the teachers are giving better safety instructions and then there are these safety symbols that constantly remind the students of the potential hazards of the laboratory electric shock is often associated with frayed cords water safety is important in field trips some lab materials are poison [Music] goggles are a must for the protection of the eyes and face experiments involving gas must be done in a well ventilated area fire can start from improper use of the bunsen burner the animal tooth claw and stinger illustrate the danger from improper handling of laboratory animals thorny and poisonous plants can be a potential hazard hands must be adequately protected the apron is a must when handling chemicals this symbolic explosion illustrates the danger of broken glassware and in some advanced laboratory work there may be a radiation hazard the students from this lab are out in the field gathering materials for the experiments that the teachers have set up and even on a field trip there are certain hazards which the students and teacher must be aware of the sun can on a hot day be a hazard to some students and they must wear suitable clothing to protect them from the rays [Music] clothing is particularly important on a field trip it must be adequate to protect the feet legs arms and other parts of the student's body from the plants insects and thorns that they might encounter during certain seasons poison ivy can be a hazard in that some students are particularly allergic to it a bee or wasp sting can have a devastating effect on a student who is particularly allergic to it this type of student should carry medication prescribed by his physician so that it will be available when needed this experiment looks like a good place for an accident [Music] if i can get the students to use the open flame of this bunsen burner instead of the electric heater to heat their alcohol that would create a hazardous situation here i'll just put these safety glasses and apron in this drawer so they will probably handle their chemicals without them and oh how that acid does eat through clothing and skin if they can't find this rubber pipetting bulb they may try to pipette by mouth and that could really mess them up and now i'll just move this etherizing bottle over here near the edge of the table where they may inhale the poisonous fumes if they open the bottle here or they may knock it off the table and break it and that would really be a mess and dangerous too if they can't find this asbestos pad they will probably hold the glass they have bent in their hands and touch it at the bin just because it looks cool then they'll really get a surprise [Music] and if i hide this towel they may try to thread the tubing through the rubber stopper without protecting their hands then i'll put this lubricant where they probably won't find it without the towel and lubricant there's a good chance the glass will break in their hands what a mess that will make and for these sealed i'll just break the seal a little and contaminate the blade which could cause an infection i'll bet they won't catch this one [Music] here come the students from that field trip so i better scram before they catch me in here an apron and safety glasses must be used when handling chemicals such as acids bases stains etc [Music] a rubber pipetting bulb must be used for pipetting all liquids the student must not breathe the ether fumes from this can this bottle must be placed where it can't get accidentally knocked over or broken on the floor and where the toxic fumes it gives off won't be breathed by the student in threading a rubber stopper a lubricant on the tube and a toweling to protect the hands in case the tube breaks must be used [Music] the seal on a himalayan package must not be broken before it is used [Music] shucks these teachers have really given good safety instructions to their students and it looks like the students absorbed every word that was said about safety in the biology lab i'll be glad when i grow up to be a responsible student instead of just an accident looking for a place to happen [Music]