RISK ASSESSMENT EcoSolve High School

Making hydrogen
Written by: Phillip Cris p Commenced on: 20 Feb 2018 Expires: 20 May 2019

Classes for which experiment is required

Teacher: Phillip Cris p (training code 1) Year Group: 10 Room Period Date
611 3 Thu 1/3/18
Items to be prepared by laboratory technician (training code 2)
8 groups of
2 x magnes ium ribbon, 2 cm
1 x 2M hydrochloric acid, bottle, 50 mL

Procedure or reference, including variations

Science World 7, p.52
Cork to be us ed to trap hydrogen gas prior to "popping".

Equipment to be used
box of matches
Potential hazards Standard handling procedures
Box burns violently if ignited. Keep dry. Us ed matches s hould never be returned to the
box. Count boxes out and in.

cork

test tube, small (~75 x 8 mm), borosilicate ("pyrex")

Potential hazards Standard handling procedures
Breakage of tes t tubes . Cuts from chipped tes t-tube Ins pect and dis card any damaged tes t tubes . Sweep up
rims . Small tes t tubes more likely to eject material broken glas s with brus h and dus tpan; do not us e
during exothermic reactions . fingers .

wooden splint
Potential hazards Standard handling procedures
When lit, it acts as an ignition s ource; may caus e burns . Extinguis h all tapers with water before dis pos al.
Pos s ibility of s plinters , es pecially if damaged.

Chemicals to be used and produced

hydrochloric acid 3-8 M (10-25% wt/wt) HCl(aq)
CAS : 7647-01-0
Clas s : nc PG: none Us ers : 7-12 Training: 1-5

GHS data:
Caus es s erious eye irritation
WARNING
Caus es s kin irritation

Potential hazards Standard handling procedures

Irritates eyes , lungs and s kin. Avoid inhalation of vapour or s kin contact.

hydrogen, gas generated during experiment H2

CAS : 1333-74-0
Clas s : 2.1 PG: none Us ers : 7-12* Training: 1,2,5*

GHS data:

DANGER Extremely flammable gas

Potential hazards Standard handling procedures

EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE GAS. Forms dangerous ly
explos ive mixtures with air. Not toxic, but can act as
as phyxiant; hydrogen/air mixture in lungs can explode if
ignited. Detonation ("popping") of s mall volume of
hydrogen/air mixture in s turdy tes t tube by ignition with
DO NOT GENERATE HYDROGEN IN A CLOSED CONTAINER
SINCE THE CONTAINER MAY EXPLODE. Generate hydrogen
only in s mall volumes (<1 mL). Detonate hydrogen/air
mixtures only in s mall undamaged tes t tubes (<8 cm; <5
mL). Us e boros ilicate ("pyrex") tes t tubes ; do not us e
 match or wooden taper is generally s afe; breakage of thin-walled s oda glas s tes t tubes . Protect agains t flying
tes t tube is pos s ible. broken glas s from breakage of tes t tubes .

magnesium, ribbon Mg
UN: 1869 CAS : 7439-95-4
Clas s : 4.1 PG: III Us ers : 7-12* Training: 1-5

GHS data:

DANGER In contact with water releas es flammable gas es which may ignite s pontaneous ly

Potential hazards Standard handling procedures

Burns with white-hot flame; UV radiation emitted from Keep containers tightly s ealed to prevent corros ion.
flame may caus e eye damage; do not allow s tudents to
view flame from clos e dis tance. Reaction with ethanol
may be violent after a long induction period. Reactions of
magnes ium with dichromate s alts , nitrate s alts , s ulfur,
phos phorus or halogenated s olvents can be dangerous ly
violent. Reaction of magnes ium with s ilica (s and) to form
s ilicon may be dangerous ly exothermic if the s ilica is not
completely dry. Do not us e magnes ium as an alternative
to aluminium in the thermite reaction; the reaction is
dangerous ly explos ive. Magnes ium ribbon can, however,
be us ed as a fus e for the thermite reaction.

Knowledge
I have read and unders tood the potential hazards and s tandard handling procedures of all the equipment, chemicals
and biological items , including living organis ms .
I have read and unders tood the (Material) Safety Data Sheets for all chemicals us ed and produced.
I have copies of the (Material) Safety Data Sheets of all the chemicals available in or near the laboratory.

Risk assessment
I have cons idered the ris ks of:
fire breakage of equipment electrical s hock radiation
explos ion cuts from equipment es cape of pathogens was te dis pos al
chemicals in eyes s harp objects heavy lifting inappropriate behaviour
inhalation of gas /dus t rotating equipment s lipping, tripping, falling allergies
chemicals on s kin vibration and nois e falling objects s pecial needs
runaway reaction pres s ure heat and cold other ris ks
Certification by Teacher
I have as s es s ed the ris ks as s ociated with performing this experiment in the clas s room on the bas is of likelihood and
cons equences us ing the School's ris k matrix, according to International Organization for Standardization Standard ISO
31000:2009.

I cons ider the inherent level of ris k (ris k level without control meas ures ) to be:
Low ris k Medium risk High ris k Extreme ris k

Control meas ures :

Hold tes t tube away from body when popping.
Explain pos s ibility of tes t tube breakage and importance of s afety glas s es .
Ens ure s tudents check tes t tubes for s igns of damage before popping.
Additional meas ures : s afety glas s es

With the s pecified control meas ures in place, I have found that all the ris ks are "low ris k". Ris ks will therefore be
managed by routine procedures in the clas s room, in combination with the s pecified control meas ures .
Name: Signature: Date:

Certification by Laboratory Technician

I have as s es s ed the ris ks as s ociated with preparing the equipment, chemicals and and biological items , including living
organis ms , for this experiment and s ubs equently cleaning up after the experiment and dis pos ing of was tes , on the bas is
of likelihood and cons equences us ing the School's ris k matrix, according to International Organization for Standardization
Standard ISO 31000:2009.

I cons ider the inherent level of ris k (ris k level without control meas ures ) to be:
Low risk Medium ris k High ris k Extreme ris k

Ris ks will therefore be managed by routine procedures in the laboratory.

Name: Signature: Date:

Monitoring and review

This ris k as s es s ment will be monitored us ing comments below and will be reviewed within 15 months from the date of
certification.

Attach further pages as required