Duhok polytechnic university

Technical college of health / shekhan

Medical lab technology
First stage

General chemistry

General Laboratory Safety and

equipment
Lab 1
 Personal Safety

• Always wear laboratory coat in the laboratory.

• Appropriate gloves should be worn as needed.

• Remove your gloves before using instruments,

telephone, and leaving the laboratory

• Appropriate shoes should be worn in the laboratory.

• Long hair must be tied back

 Laboratory hygiene

• Never eat, drink or smoke in a laboratory

• Never apply cosmetics

• Never touch your face, mouth or eyes

• Always wash your hands before you

leave and especially before eating
 Chemical Safety

1. Never mix chemicals together unless you are told to do so.

2. Never taste any chemicals (you should never taste
anything in the lab).

3. Wash your hands after handling hazardous

chemicals.
 Heating Safety

1. Use tongs and/or protective gloves to handle hot objects.

2. Always point the top ends of test tubes that are being
heated away from people.

3. When heating a test tube, move it around slowly over

the flame to distribute the heat evenly.
 First Aid
• For ALL chemical splashes, wash with plenty of water for
10 minutes.
 Laboratory Equipment

• Never use any laboratory

equipment unless you are
trained
 Balance
Used for measuring mass
Erlenmeyer Flask

Used to hold and mix chemicals. The small neck is to

facilitate mixing without spilling
• Beaker
• Used to hold, mix, and heat liquids.

• Graduated Cylinder

• Used to measure a precise volume of

a liquid
• Test Tube
• Used to hold and mix liquids

• Test Tube Clamp

• Used to hold a test tube,
particularly when hot

• Test Tube Rack

• Used to hold several test tubes at
one time
• Volumetric Flask
• Used to prepare solutions to an
accurate volume.

• Stirring Rod
• Used for stirring and mixing.
• Watch Glass
• Used to hold solids while they are being
weighed or to cover a beaker.

• Funnel
• Used for moving liquids from one
container to another. Also used for
filtration
• Spatula
Spatulas are for scooping solid chemicals. They are
typically used to scoop a chemical out of its original
container onto a weigh boat so that it can be weighed on
a balance
• Wash bottle
• Used to rinse pieces of glassware and
to add small quantities of water

• Ring Stand
• Used to hold or clamp laboratory
glassware and other equipment in
place, so it does not fall down or come
apart
• Burette
• Used for dispensing an accurate
volume of a liquid.

• Dropper
• Used for dispensing liquids drop-by-drop.
• Pipettes
• There are a large variety of pipettes designed to
accomplish specific goals. However, they are all for
measuring an exact volume of liquid and placing it into
another container
• Tongs and forceps are for grabbing
things that should not be touched by
hand. Some tongs are specially made to
hold beakers, others to hold test tubes,
and so on. There are also general tongs.

• Forceps are used to grab small things

like solid chemicals that are broken into
chunks, so they can be safely handled
and added to containers
• Litmus paper