Following the detection of a strange odor, a lab occupant investigated further and discovered spilled chemicals reacting with a metal shelf.
Learn more about this incident, including lessons learned, here.
Author: Brandon Feole
Incident Report: Waste Container Rupture
Following nearly two months of being used for waste collection, an aluminum diethyl bottle ruptured releasing it’s contents and leaving a white, odorless solid residue.
Learn more about this incident, including lessons learned, here.
Gloving Safety Note
Are the gloves in your lab the best choice for your work? Do you know the conditions under which the gloves should be used or the factors that determine what glove is best? To learn how to answer these questions and many more relating to this critical piece of PPE, check out this safety note on gloving.
Introduction to Standard Operating Procedures Safety Note
Clear and communicative Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are a critical part of any safe lab environment. Learn how to write and read SOPs with this introductory safety note.
Stanford Chemical Storage System
Proper chemical storage is a critical feature of a safe lab environment. Store only compatible chemicals together so that no unintended and potentially dangerous reactions occur. The Stanford Chemical Storage system is based upon the idea of storage groups: groups of chemicals that will not react violently if mixed together.
Stanford Chemical Storage Groups are built-in for many chemicals in the BioRAFT inventory system.
Checkout this PDF to explore the system and each storage group.
ANSI Z136.5 and Z136.8 Update
The American National Standard Institute’s (ANSI) Z136 series is the leading set of safety standards regarding the usage of lasers. The most important of these standards to JHU are Z136.5 and Z136.8 which cover the safe use of lasers in educational institutions and research, development, or testing, respectively. This year, both standards have been updated, with the following changes:
- Demos and teaching experiments should use visible rather than invisible lasers whenever possible.
- All current laser warning signs must be brought up to modern standards.
- The Laser Safety Advocate must review all laser demonstration safety plans.
- Laser project review forms will now include the following topics:
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- Recorded room interlock checks to ensure that all entry controls work as expected biennially.
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- On-the-job training to provide information about best practices to help ensure that all researchers are trained to the same level and that experiments will be repeatable.
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- Barrier testing – includes details on procedures and other recommended information
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- A structured self-review process.
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- Improved risk assessment protocols.
Guidance for safe laser usage can be found here.
For any questions about this update, please contact Laser Safety Advocate Niel Leon at 913-302-8500 or [email protected].
Guidance for safe laser usage can be found here.
For any questions about this update, please contact LSA Mr. Niel Leon at 913-302-8500 or [email protected].
Incident Report: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pressure Vessel Failure
On February 7, 2020, a pressure vessel failure event occurred at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory resulting in an explosion and serious damage to a laboratory drying oven.
Learn more about this incident, including lessons learned, here.
Quality Data for Safer Experiments
It is well understood that, especially in our digital era, proper collection and distribution of data is paramount for good science. This concept is especially important for data concerning safety analysis such as risk assessments and lessons learned reports.
The following video released by the American Chemical Society (ACS) provides a fantastic introduction to this topic and contributes to our motto that safe science is good science.
For further resources, visit the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety’s Quality Data for Safer Experiments page.
Lab Safety Note Index
To allow for more efficient and user-friendly access to our series of Safety Notes and Blog Posts, we have introduced the Lab Safety Note Index.
This page features all our content separated into four categories (Close Calls and Incidents, “Don’t Do This”, Safety Education, and Pointers and Resources) and condensed for easy browsing.
Periodic Table of the Elements of Safety
The American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Health and Safety has recently partnered with the Princeton University Department of Environmental Health and Safety to publish an updated version of the Periodic Table of the Elements of Safety.
This interactive table, available to download in various sizes and formats, highlights some of the main hazard categories, risk assessment techniques, PPE, the Hierarchy of Controls, and other interesting information such as Safety Martyrs and Heroes. We encourage you to check out and share this valuable resource.