How dangerous is the chemical laboratory?

The causes of most safety accidents in laboratories can be summarized into two types: natural disasters and man-made disasters. In addition to the irresistible factors of manpower, lack of safety awareness and irregular experimental operations have become the main factors in the occurrence of major safety accidents.

It is said that in every wave of people who study chemistry, one or two people will be selected by the god of death. They either wandered out of the corpse without protection, or died in a room and fooled around. With a heart of regret, the god of death harvested their lives in order to alert the people around them, and do chemistry carefully and carefully throughout their lives. And all we can do is to avoid death’s sickle carefully.

Of course, students majoring in chemistry think it’s not that serious! As long as you protect them properly and follow the experimental specifications, you can still walk out of the laboratory safely under normal circumstances.

The first point to be explained is that the protective methods of modern chemical research are already very advanced. The vast majority of practitioners will not encounter too many safety accidents, and the bricklayers working in ordinary laboratories are also quite safe. But there are always some people who don’t take personal safety seriously…

The dangers encountered in chemical experiments can be roughly divided into the following categories:

1. The experiment operation is not cautious and not standardized
2. Wrong handling method when encountering danger
3. Failure to fully understand the potential hazards before conducting the experiment
4. Failure to promptly and effectively treat after injury/poisoning
5. Safety-related equipment is unqualified

Excluding all kinds of cheating accidents and force majeure effects, these dangers are simply one sentence: carelessness!

Effective storage method

Common laboratory conditions

1. Safety related equipment is unqualified

I won’t say much, just think about it with my knees to know how serious this matter is.

The fire ignited and found that the fire extinguisher was out of pressure

Concentrated sulfuric acid splashed on the body and found that the shower was blocked

The lye splashed in the eyes and found that the eyewash was no longer water

I sucked hydrogen cyanide into my lungs and found that the fume hood was out of wind

Regardless of the fact that these equipment is usually like a display, regular inspections are very cumbersome, but when you need it, the emergency function of these things should not be underestimated.

In accordance with the requirements of safety regulations, adequate preparation, proper storage, regular inspections, and timely update of safety-related equipment

2. The experiment operation is not cautious and not standardized

This is the problem that occurs most often, and it is also the most easily overlooked problem in normal times.

I usually don’t pay attention to doing experiments. I don’t think it’s a problem if I ignore any step. Why should I be so nervous and waste time, so I frequently dig my grave afterwards.

The most dangerous things always happen when you feel safe. Do not relax your vigilance at any time, nor lower your operating standards because of your proficiency.

3. Wrong handling method when encountering danger

The fire is spreading, toxic gases are beginning to leak, a series of explosions are about to occur, DUTY IS CALLING!

But at this extremely tense moment, there are always some children who are dumbfounded and pretending to be innocent to show that they are cute.

There were also some children who met without fear and went forward no matter what the danger was. They took a basin and poured them on the burning ether, and then looked at the ashes in a daze, pretending to be innocent, to show that they were cute.

Ask you to open a small business chat in the safety education class! Ask you to draw Ultraman on the experimental operating rules!

Usually study the safety regulations carefully, calm down when encountering problems, and then judge whether to run away in time or solve them on the spot, and how to solve them if they are solved.

You must not learn to walk through the scene in normal times, and you must not panic when it comes to incidents.

4. Failure to fully understand the potential hazards before conducting the experiment

Under normal circumstances, chemical experiments are not very dangerous. Because if the experiment to be done is potentially dangerous, the experimenter will definitely be fully prepared and protected, a set of equipment is coded on the body, all dangerous instruments are checked clearly, and the operation is cautious.

but!!!

If you didn’t know that you were joking about life before doing the experiment, and you started to make nitroglycerin and the like shirtless, then hehehehe.

My teacher often said that there is no danger in asking people who really understand chemistry to do chemistry. Of course this is a bit absolute, no matter who does it, there is still danger. But if you can foresee the potential danger, you can prepare to stop before you die, the problem is not big~

The chemical knowledge base must be solid, and the possible dangers in the process must be fully estimated in the experimental design stage and relevant protections must be done in advance.

5. Failure to promptly and effectively treat after injury/poisoning

Don’t think that you can just find a hospital for chemical prevention and treatment, or the condition may get worse!

If there is a problem, you should find a special chemical prevention and treatment hospital for treatment. No matter how far away and troublesome it is, it is better than regretting that the treatment is delayed for a lifetime.

You must remember the address and telephone number of the chemical occupational disease prevention center in the city where you work! Because most of you are injured by chemicals at work, except for the chemical occupational disease prevention center, other medical institutions may not be able to quickly diagnose!

The least popular person or behavior

1. Wear rubber gloves and press the elevator button to open the door.
2. The lab coat is not often washed. When the apron is worn, sometimes the lab coat is not worn. There are slippers and sandals.
3. Two people share a fume hood, but do different types of experiments.
4. The fume hood is cluttered and crowded, and it is often forgotten to pull it down.
5. There are too many reagents in the laboratory, and many are placed on the reagent rack and there are many glass bottles.
6. The laboratory and office are combined into one (this leads to more slots).
7. Drug control is not strict enough. And there are often so many people in the laboratory who are more grieving, and sometimes they really worry that they can’t think about it and drag the people around them into the water. The dangerous reaction seems to be undeclared, so just do it if you want to.
8. The boss accepts horizontal projects, and these projects often have large-scale responses. How many times these reactions should be magnified is often decided by tapping the forehead. There is no risk assessment for the amplification reaction.

Information for chemical workers

The first article for chemical workers:

You must know where the fire extinguisher is in your workplace, what type, and where the safe passage is and whether it is unblocked.

The second note for chemical workers:

Regardless of whether you are in a laboratory or a factory, you must pay attention to personal protection. Don’t bear with shoes/trousers/clothes. Throw them away. Life is always more important than those outside!