As reliable as your biosafety cabinet Malaysia are, the safety of lab chemicals still depends on your own hands. You are more responsible in keeping the lab from burning, exploding or melting thanks to spilled or splashed chemicals. Your workmates must also do the same, and they must already be briefed about safety measures prior to working in their first days in the lab.
Below are the several methods you must utilize in order to maintain the safety of your chemicals and your lab.
Labels
It doesn’t matter how many chemicals you can recognize just by looking at them. You must still label your bottles and furniture for you and your workmate’s sake. They must be clear as day, warning handlers of the risks of flames, corrosion, poison, and any other chemically harmful properties.
Both words and logos must match together according to their significance. A black skull and crossbones equates to poison, a fire equates to flammable, and so on. If you don’t happen to know the exact dangers of chemicals, read them up online to avoid mislabelling them.
Besides warnings, you must also label them with the correct names so you can already tell which is which by looking at the bottles. As many bottles are of the same color or texture, you can never really tell whether this one bottle stores a certain chemical or a completely different one.
Wear protection
As long as you are working in the lab, you must wear adequate personal protection 24/7. Lab coats, gloves and eye protection such as goggles or glasses are your minimum apparels to wear if you are not dealing with chemicals that are dangerous enough to require additional protection.
Advanced protections include but are not limited to gas masks, full body hazmat suits, and thicker gloves. Your lab should also have a fume hood to protect yourself and the area from dangerous fumes when working behind its glass.
Make sure that you have enough gear to equip all of your other co-workers, and keep some spares too in case that apparel must be discarded due to damage or contact from chemicals, fumes or biological agents. For furniture, include emergency showers and eyewash stations since you must immediately wash a chemical off your skin or eyes upon contact.
Don’t be curious
Curiosity is sometimes irresistible. It feels like an itch that you want to scratch, and you can’t help but get drawn to it. Do not let curiosity get the better of you. Never intentionally smell, taste or touch chemicals even while wearing protective gear.
You must also monitor your mates so none of them feel stupid enough to harm themselves with their materials in an experiment. Give their hands a slap if you see one looking like they are about to risk their lives for a taste or sniff.
Anyone caught putting themselves or everybody else in harm’s way should be suspended or fired from your lab. Remember that no matter how many safety equipment and furniture you have, your lab is still vulnerable to human errors.