Professional Expectations and Teacher Liability

Federal & State Regulations School Policies Professional Expectations

 Overview of Regulations: OSHA  Professional Expectations & Teacher Liability  Best Practices for the Laboratory  Reducing/Sharing Liability  Teaching Strategies  Departmental Safety

 Occupational Safety and Health Administration  Protects faculty and staff, not students.  Safety guidelines are pertinent for everyone!  Two regulations:  HAZCOM  “Lab Standard”

 Scope and Application (all science teachers)  Exposure Limits  Chemical Hygiene Plan and Operating Procedures  Employee Training  Hazard Identification  Establishes minimum requirements for effective safety program.

 Teachers are trained and licensed professionals.  Teachers are responsible for determining if the lab is safe for students (not administrators).  Teachers are to have taken every possible action to prevent an accident from occurring.  Teachers should adhere to the prudent safety practices acceptable in the profession.

 Duty of Care: Teachers are to protect students from unreasonable risk or harm.  Science teachers are responsible for all employees that come in contact with laboratory hazards in their classrooms and laboratories.  Professional Expectations: NSTA, ACS, and other content area organizations

 Chemicals should not be stored in classrooms except when being used.  You are responsible for your room even when you aren’t in it.  A teacher and school district were successfully sued when a janitor let two students into a classroom.  Substitute teachers: should remove chemicals and avoid labs without prior arrangements.  You are responsible for faculty and staff that may enter your classroom.

Strategies for Student Safety and Teacher Liability

 Safety should be the commitment of every student and teacher.  If it might happen, it will eventually happen.  Shared Liability – from department (and CHP)  Establish a pattern of safety within your classroom!

 Good: Provide a safety test that students must pass regarding the training.  Better: Safety test and safety drills as part of the training.  Best: Continue to review and perform drills throughout the year.

 Safety Contracts/Agreements are not enforceable.  Safety Acknowledgement Document: Places student and parent on notice of the inherent risks in the lab and warns of dangers.  If parent refuses to sign, establish a record (e- mail or phone log) and sign and date form with a note.

 Good: Maintain signed safety forms for the entire year.  Best: Maintain signed safety forms for the time the student is enrolled in the school.  The statute of limitations for negligence in most states is 3 years.

 Good: Provide safety test that all students must pass.  Better: All students pass with 90%.  Best: All students pass with 90% and safety questions are included on tests/quizzes throughout the year.

 Every lab should have a lesson plan.  Lesson plans are legal documents. Take advantage of this!  Good: Note that “relevant safety info was reviewed”  Best: Note the exact safety information reviewed and include a copy of MSDS for all chemicals.

 Consider the following:  Have students research MSDS information to find chemical concerns. Review these together.  Have students draw flow charts of the lab procedure. This forces them to read in more detail and to visualize the experiment (literacy strategy!)

Status and Future Goals

 December meeting: Safety Protocols  Safety Topics  Safety Resources on P drive in Science Folder

 Organization of Equipment  Chemical Inventory and Tracking  New Safety Equipment  Acid Cabinet  Labeling System (new label maker!)

 Chemical Inventory: ~2/3 completed  Storeroom Organization: Solutions Equipment  Equipment:  Pipet holder and pipetters  Mercury-free barometer  Stock Solutions: 3M HCl & NaOH

 Fall 2009:  Complete storeroom inventory  Acid cabinet and safety equipment  Spring 2010:  Inventory management protocols  Complete chemical inventory  Finish database  Fall 2010: Digital MSDS library  Spring 2011: Completion of Chemical Hygiene Plan  Fall 2011: Implement CHP

 Check the new P drive for new resources soon.  Flinn Scientific – MSDS search  NSTA – position statements and books  ACS – several free articles and publications

 American Chemical Society. Chemical Safety for Teachers and Their Supervisors. Washington, D.C. American Chemical Society,  Roy, Kenneth. “Safer Science Seminar.” Indianapolis,  Roy, Kenneth. The NSTA Ready-Reference Guide to Safer Science. Arlington: NSTA Press, 2007.