Report On Technical Memo On Laboratory Safety

Chemicals have hazardous characteristics. These characteristics are; toxic, flammable, explosive and reactive. Hazard characteristics illustrate the chemical and physical aspects that have the ability of causing damage to individuals, environment and also property. Chemicals are usually hazardous, and similarly also the chemical processes and equipment. Accidents usually occur in the laboratory, and it illustrates events occurrences that generate unintended death, property damage and injury. Laboratory incidences illustrate the containment loss, of materials and resultant energy. Consequences illustrate the analysis of expected effects of the incident; for instance, lung failure or cancer. Scenario illustrates the events description, which causes accidents. Risk entails the analysis of human injury, economic decline and negative environmental effects, due to incidence likelihood and injury magnitude.
The accident takes place through three processes. These processes are; initiation, propagation and termination. Safety programs aims at reducing the initiation and propagation stages, and then maximizing termination step. Accidents generally have several causes. If safety systems are adopted to hinder accident, then accidents can be effectively prevented. Majority of accidents are caused because of inadequate control on energy and material; for instance, chemical spill illustrates inadequate material control. Toxicology illustrates the effects of toxicants on organisms. Industrial hygiene is aimed at hindering the entry of toxins. Toxicants include; physical agents like radiation, and chemical agents. The ceiling limit illustrates the level of toxin concentration that must not be exceeded, even through instantaneous exposure. Fires and explosions are another accident causes in the laboratory. Fire illustrates a flame generated through exothermic radiation. Explosion illustrates higher pressure energy release. Fire and explosion has adverse effects; for instance, interruption of processes, injuries, and property damage. The knowledge required to minimize the hazards include; material properties, fire and explosion nature, and measures of minimizing hazardous. The fire triangle has three key components; ignition source, oxidant and fuel. The triangle is applicable to flammable materials; such as, dusts, vapors, liquids and gases. The oxidant is not necessarily oxygen, it may include chlorine. The fuels are many and they include; gases like propane, liquids like gasoline, and solids like wood dusts. Ignition sources include; sparks, static electricity and heat. Fires and explosions are hindered through removing one aspect of the fire triangle.
The combustion behavior of majority of the hydrocarbons is visible smoke and fire. Carbon disulphide on the other hand illustrates high levels of heat release. Most of the solid substances are highly flammable if they are ground into powder form; for instance, powdered sugar or sawdust. Dust particles are very explosive if their size is less than 400 micron. The dusts are ignited through friction and hot surfaces. Fires and explosion due to dusts are minimized by housekeeping, like using a vacuum cleaner to remove the dusts.
Industrial hygiene illustrates concerns on conditions at the workplace; like addressing radiation and toxic vapor challenges. Four issues ensure workplace hygiene; anticipation, identification, evaluation and control. Anticipation describes the probability of hazard existence. Identification illustrates visible workplace exposures. Evaluation entails the level of exposure. Control describes the minimization of the levels of hazards to appropriate levels. Industrial hygiene is ensured through several personal protective equipments. The sound meter is applied in ensuring appropriate sound levels. A normal work environment must not have sound levels exceeding 90dba. Thus, hearing protection should be utilized, and the noise areas should be identified through signs. Other noise control devices include; earplugs and ear muffs. Adequate ventilation should be provided at the work environment. Ventilation removes air contaminants. The ventilation hoods ensure adequate air supply at work places. The alarm sounds, if the air flow is minimal. The safety showers are used in cleaning the chemical spills. Water should flow continuously in regulated manner. The ventilation system utilizes negative pressure so as to insure minimal contaminant leakage. Eye protection is ensured through wearing safety goggles and the safety glasses that are rated as ANSI Z87.
Various people have the responsibility of ensuring safety of the laboratory. The students have major responsibilities. They must ensure that their actions are conducted in a safe manner and environment. The students are required to participate in all safety meetings and training sessions. They must adhere to appropriate and safe work procedures. The students should notice any hazardous situation and report accordingly, and also always wear personal protective equipments. Safety is a critical factor that is considered in employment processes. The faculty and staff members also have major safety responsibilities. They should integrate effectively the environmental, health and safety safeguards in the daily student processes. They should provide adequate safety information to the students and staffs. They are expected to analyze procedures and equipment for hazards, and then illustrate appropriate precautions. The Chemical Hygiene Officer is the safety technical resource person. He/she is responsible for the periodic review of the safety manual. The officer also organizes safety meetings with the safety committee.
Chemical handling should follow safety steps. The first step entails understanding the chemical properties that are hazardous. The second step illustrates identifying the quantities of the chemical to be purchased. The third step entails keeping track on the acquired chemicals. Effective storage of the chemical is the fourth step. Fifthly, the chemical should be handled in an appropriate manner. Adequate measures should be adopted to safely dispose the chemicals. Finally, safety measures should be adopted in case of chemical spillage. The hazardous communication is aimed at informing exposed employees on the hazardous properties of the chemicals. It is used in businesses that use chemicals in the production processes. Hazard communication program illustrates a document that has: container label, staff training, hazardous chemicals information, and illustrates non-routine tasks that are hazardous. The program also addresses three critical issues. These issues are; staff training on identification and application of hazardous chemicals at the workplace, maintaining safety sheets, and appropriately labeling the pipes and containers.