ABSTRACT
Good laboratory housekeeping comes from experience, but the following discussion is a helpful start. To begin, it is absolutely forbidden to smoke, eat, or drink in the laboratory. As a student, you should not be working unsupervised; this is because there are many potential safety hazards that you may not be aware of or trained to handle. When you attend the laboratory class, a trained supervisor or laboratory attendant will assist you, so if you have any concerns or questions, ask this person. While every eort is made to reduce the risk of accidents, from time to time accidents do occur in the laboratory. In the event of an accident, summon the laboratory supervisor immediately and inform the supervisor of the incident. If you are dealing with the incident and are incapacitated, please ensure that someone else informs the supervisor. Do not be afraid to report an accident or injury, however minor it may be. Once notied, the supervisor will coordinate any action that is required to resolve the situation. To minimize accidents and warn personnel about potential dangers, an internationally recognized set of standardized safety signs is used to communicate potential hazards. For example, Figures 4.1 illustrate some of the commonly encountered hazard-warning signs that are normally found in a laboratory.
