General Lab Rules
Prepare for each laboratory period by reading each exercise and becoming familiar with the principles and methods involved. By being familiar with the exercise you decrease the chances of an accident. Also, advance preparations allow you to use your time efficiently in the laboratory to complete the experiment within the given lab time.
Biology Laboratory Safety Rules
1. No food or drink is allowed in the lab at any time. Water bottles and coffee mugs can be left out in the hall.
2. Always wear lab coat and if necessary glasses when you work with chemicals, hot liquids, or other materials that could harm you.
3. Wear nitrile gloves while conducting molecular or chemistry in the laboratory.
4. Always wear closed toed shoes and long pants or a long skirt during labs to protect your legs and feet from spills.
5. Always alert your lab instructor to any spills on your skin or clothing. Hazardous chemical spills should be contained using the spill kit and disposed of in plastic bags.
6. Never taste or smell any chemicals.
7. Tie or pin long hair, scarves and headwear to avoid contact with flames or chemicals.
8. Broken glassware or sharp metal pieces should be placed in “sharps” boxes unless it is contaminated with body fluids or microorganisms. Spills and breaks are part of working in a laboratory. The main thing to remember is NOT TO HURRY. Working in haste usually results in accidents or mistakes. Remember: if you are in a hurry or are distracted – you should not be working in the lab.
If glass is broken, put on gloves and, using a paper towel, pick up large pieces of glass, placing them in the glass disposal container. Then contain the spill with paper towels, which should be placed in the biohazard waste bag for disposal, taking care to avoid injury by the smaller glass pieces. Using a clean paper towel, sweep the glass pieces into a dustpan and empty it into the glass disposal box. The floor or countertop and dustpan should be disinfected with 70% ethanol and a clean paper towel. If the culture is possibly pathogenic, follow the ethanol cleaning step with diluted Lysol and a clean paper towel.
9. Contaminated sharps should be placed in an appropriate labeled metal or glass container for sterilizing.
10. Organic fluids (e.g., ether, acetone, chloroform) or other volatile liquids should be used inside a fume hood.
11. Chemical waste should never be placed in a sink drain without permission. Please consult your TAs in all cases.
12. Smaller solid waste objects (pipette tips, etc.) should be placed in the small biohazard bags that are on each bench. Any trash that has not come into contact with the lab cultures (paper towel from hand washing, etc. can be thrown in the regular trashcans.
13. Media with microorganisms (i.e. bacteria, liquid or solid) should be placed in a red Biohazard bag or labeled autoclavable beakers for autoclaving sterilizing and disposal afterwards.
14. Begin lab work by disinfecting your work area. Saturate the area with a disinfectant (70% ethanol) using a paper towel and allow the area to dry. Repeat this procedure after you have finished your work to ensure that any material you have deposited on the work surface is properly disinfected. Be sure to note if there are any open flames in the area before applying a flammable disinfectant to the bench. Also spray a paper towel with 70% ethanol and wipe the barrels of micropipettors so they will be sanitized for the next user.
15. All culture material and chemicals should be properly labeled with your name, class, date, and experiment. Labeling is critical to avoid improper use or disposal of material. Label glass test tubes with labeling tape – do not write with marker directly on glass tubes.
When disposing, remove tape from glassware that will be washed. It is not necessary to remove tape from items that will be disposed. Make a note of how stored samples are labeled. If using colored stickers for samples, putting a duplicate sticker (labeled identically), with additional descriptive annotations, in the laboratory notebook is convenient.
16. After the laboratory session, observe good hygiene by washing your hands before leaving the laboratory.
17. Guests and visitors in the laboratory are to be accompanied at all times by a registered student who is taking Biol 303. The safety of guests is the responsibility of the host student.
In the event of any accident or injury report immediately to available staff so that prompt and proper action can be taken. IN THE CASE OF BODILY INJURY PROCEED TO THE HEALTH CENTER OR CALL 911. THE RAVE GUARDIAN APP CAN ALSO BE USED IN EMERGENCIES. CLOSE THE LAB DOOR AND POST A SIGN ON THE DOOR WARNING OF THE SPILL OR BREAKAGE THAT HAS NOT BEEN CLEANED UP.
