ABSTRACT

In most laboratories, where undergraduate and postgraduate students of science, medicine and biomedical science will be working on their research project there will be compounds, chemicals, organisms and equipment that could cause him/her serious harm or even death. Safety is therefore a very serious issue and should underlie everything that does in the laboratory. It is students' responsibility to make sure that they understands fully all of the hazards involved in students work, and those of the people working around them. Every lab poses different hazards to the inexperienced researcher, depending on the nature of the work that is being undertaken there. Specific hazards such as radioactive materials are subject to very strict guidelines. Hazard symbols are visual signs usually seen on the outside of containers, which show one what hazard is associated with the contents. They are pictorial, and so even if one cannot read the associated text, students has a fair idea of the risks.