Urdaneta City University | College of Arts and Sciences
LABORATORY SAFETY
GENERAL POLICIES
1. Strictly no lab gown, no goggles, no data notebook → NO
EXPERIMENT.
2. No visitors during lab hours unless it is an emergency.
3. No make-up experiment.
4. It is your responsibility to:
a. Maintain a clean locker, glassware, and work area.
b. Check that water outlets within the vicinity of your working
area are shut off when not in use.
c. Return floating equipment such as iron clamps, hotplates,
pipettes, etc. to their proper places.
d. Check that your locker is locked before leaving the room.
e. Finish all assigned task at least 30 minutes before the end of
the class period and devote the remaining time to cleaning your
glassware and work area.
f. Follow proper waste disposal.
g. Present the schematic diagram in your lab notebook for the day’s
scheduled experiment to your instructor prior to the actual experiment
day.
Duties of Monitors
Each student will be assigned experiment date(s) when (s)he will be the
“Monitor of the Day”. The following are the duties of the monitors:
1. Arrange the reagents for the day’s experiment properly in a
designated area.
2. Distribute all floating equipment.
3. Ensure that at the end of the lab period,
a. all electrical equipment are turned off and unplugged
(light, fan, fume hood).
b. all reagent bottles are capped.
c. all iron stands are returned to their proper places.
d. all tabletops are clean and dry, and sinks are free of
insoluble waste.
e. all lockers are secured.
LABORATORY SAFETY GUIDELINES
Preparing for laboratory work
To carry out safely and efficiently the laboratory experiments for this
General Chemistry course, you need to prepare a work plan before the
actual experiment. This work plan will require you to familiarize the
objectives, as well as the instructions and procedures of the experiment to
be carried out. You must also know what safety precautions to take when
doing an experiment. Should you have any questions regarding experiment
procedures, consult your laboratory instructor.
Prescribed Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE)
To ensure your personal safety in the laboratory, wear the prescribed
personnel protective equipment.
1. Laboratory safety goggles must be worn at all times anywhere in the
laboratory whenever experiments are being performed. DO NOT WEAR
CONTACT LENSES! Corrosive fumes and chemicals could get
underneath your contact lenses and into your eyes. Wearing contact lenses
would prevent effective breathing and flushing of the eyes in case of an
accident.
2. Closed shoes should always be worn in the laboratory as protection
against possible chemical spills and broken glass.
3. The prescribed laboratory gowns must be worn at all times when
experiments are being performed.
4. Protective face mask is recommended when handling chemicals in the
form of powder or in the presence of chemical fumes.
As an additional safety measure, long hair and loose clothing should be
properly secured to avoid interference in your work.
General Chemistry | Lecture Guide
Safety rules in the laboratory
Immediately report to your laboratory instructor:
1. any major spills, breakages, or accidents in the laboratory;
2. all physical injuries sustained in the laboratory (such as burns and cuts)
no matter how trivial they may seem; and
3. all “near-miss” incidents in the laboratory.
To help prevent laboratory accidents, you should observe the following
safety rules:
1. WEAR THE PRESCRIBED PPE. No student is allowed to enter the
laboratory and carry out experiments
without donning the complete PPE (safety goggles, laboratory gown,
closed shoes, face mask, as needed).
Also, avoid wearing jewelry in the laboratory.
2. KEEP FOOD, DRINKS, AND GUM OUT OF THE
LABORATORY. Most chemicals in the laboratory are poisonous. Eating,
drinking, and chewing gum in the laboratory are strictly prohibited.
3. NO SMOKING IN THE LABORATORY. Smoking is strictly
prohibited, as some of the laboratory chemicals are flammable. Flammable
chemicals like organic solvents must only be used under the fume hood.
4. NEVER WORK ALONE. Perform experiments only during the
scheduled laboratory period and only under the supervision of your
laboratory instructor.
5. DO NOT PERFORM UNAUTHORIZED EXPERIMENTS. Only
scheduled experiments must be carried out during your laboratory period.
Moreover, no additional experiment procedures or deviations from the
experiment procedures described in this manual, is allowed without the
permission of the laboratory instructor.
6. NEVER REMOVE CHEMICALS FROM THE LABORATORY
AND STOCKROOM. The chemicals are properties of the Chemical
Laboratory, Urdaneta City University. Improper handling and misuse of
these chemicals could pose great health and environmental hazard.
7. NO LOITERING IN THE LABORATORY. Do not play games or
engage in horseplay in the laboratory.
Concentrate on performing your experiment.
8. DO NOT LEAVE AN ON-GOING EXPERIMENT SET-UP
UNATTENDED.
9. READ THE LABELS. Carefully read the labels of chemical reagent
containers – check the formula and the concentration.
10. HANDLE ALL CHEMICALS WITH EXTREME CAUTION.
Know the hazards associated with the chemicals as well as their physical
and chemical properties. Examine the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
and know where to find specific information on the hazards, toxicology,
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immediate first aid, and correct disposal of the substance listed on the
MSDS.
a. Most chemicals are corrosive. Exercise caution when
handling concentrated acids and ammonia. Concentrated acids
must only be used under the fume hood.
b. Treat all chemicals as potentially dangerous. In case of a
chemical spillage, immediately take off any contaminated
clothing and wash off spilled chemicals on the skin or eyes with
copious running water for at least 15 minutes. Consult a
physician if needed.
c. Take extra care in handling chemicals in the form of fine dust
or powder. It is recommended that you wear a mask to avoid
inhalation of these chemicals. If these dusts or powders come into
contact with the eyes, wash with copious running water continuously
for at least 15 minutes. Consult a physician if needed.
11. BE ORDERLY AND DISPOSE LABORATORY WASTES
PROPERLY. Observe cleanliness and orderliness when working in the
laboratory. Follow the general guidelines for “Cleanliness in the
Laboratory” and the “Proper Laboratory Waste Disposal” described
below. Some specific laboratory waste disposal procedures are also
described at the end of each experiment
Cleanliness in the laboratory
Cleanliness in the laboratory is a must. Arrange all the materials needed for
the experiment on your tabletop so you can perform the experiment
smoothly. During experimentation, the following should be observed:
1. Avoid contaminating the reagents.
2. Practice the habit of rinsing droppers and rods immediately after use.
3. Refrain from accumulating dirty glassware. Use waiting times (e.g.
while heating solutions) to clean glassware.
4. Always wash or wipe off dirt from reagent bottles.
5. Clean up spills immediately even if it is only water.
6. Wash your hands thoroughly before leaving the laboratory and dry them
on a clean towel.
Proper Waste Disposal
Safety as well as environmental considerations dictates that students should
be conscious of proper waste disposal.
Always throw laboratory wastes in their respective waste containers.
1. INORGANIC WASTES. Dispose acids and bases into acid waste
container and base waste container, respectively, to prevent clogging of
sinks or premature corrosion of pipes. Excess and waste potassium
permanganate (KMnO4) should also be thrown into inorganic waste
containers since this is a powerful oxidant that may corrode sink pipes.
2. ORGANIC WASTES. Dispose organic wastes into halogenated organic
waste containers or non-halogenated organic waste container.
3. SOLID WASTES. All solids used in experiment procedures (filtration,
chromatography, etc.) should be disposed into contaminated solid waste
containers. Other solid wastes should be disposed into the trash bin available
inside the laboratory.
4. BROKEN GLASSWARE. All broken glassware including capillary tubes
used in experimental procedures such as melting point determination,
chromatography, etc. should be disposed in broken glassware container.
Fire safety
Most chemicals used in the General Chemistry laboratory are non-flammable.
However, there are solvents such as ethanol, methanol, and acetone that are
flammable. Hence, chemical fire can also occur. There is also a small risk of
electrical fire. If a fire should occur, the first thing to do is to remain calm.
Call the attention of your instructor and leave the laboratory. All laboratory
rooms are equipped with a fire extinguisher. Other safety precautions in case
of a fire are given below.
1. Fires in small containers can be extinguished by inverting a small beaker or
any other similar equipment over the burning container. Alternatively, cover
the burning container with soaking wet towels. Never use dry towels.
2. Remove any flammable material such as reagent bottles with flammable
chemical from the area of the fire.
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3. In case of a person inhaling smoke or toxic fumes, transfer him/her to a
well-ventilated area.
4. In case your clothing should catch on fire, use the safety shower.

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