Important General Chemistry Lab Policies and Procedures

THE LABORATORY TA BENCH WASTE HOODS Balance Room Reagent Cart **Note** Lab may be mirror image of the shown diagram (Horizontal orientation is flipped.) Reagent Cart Fire Blanket/ Extinguisher Entrance/Exit TA BENCH Safety Shower 25TH Student Hood Entrance/Exit

GOGGLE POLICY Safety Goggles must be put on BEFORE entering the laboratory. Safety Goggles should only be removed AFTER exiting the laboratory. As a result, there should never be a moment where anyone is in the laboratory and does not have approved safety goggles on. **Note** Sight Savers are available in the lab and on the window supply cart in the event of foggy goggles. The sight saver tissue should be applied to the goggles outside of the laboratory space and allowed to dry. One sight saver should last the whole period. If a student is to forget their goggles, they must purchase a new pair at CE 180 with a credit/debit card. They will not be permitted to enter the laboratory prior to having goggles on. This will result in lost time for that day’s experiment. This policy is enforced and monitored at all times regardless of what one is doing in the laboratory space.

Food and Drink Policy No food or drink of any kind is allowed to be out in the laboratory. All water bottles must be stored away in a bag prior to entering the lab. If a student needs to eat or drink during the lab period. They are allowed to do so out in the hallway.

Lab Attire Policy LONG Pants (at least to the ankle) are required in the Laboratory. Capris, shorts, and knee high joggers are not permitted. CLOSE TOED SHOES are required in the Laboratory. Cut-off t-shirts and sleeveless tops are NOT PERMITTED in the laboratory. If a student’s attire violates any of these criteria, they will not be permitted to enter the laboratory. This will result in lost time for that day’s experiment.

Every student must adhere to, and be in agreement with, the goggle policy, food/drink policy, and attire policy before they are permitted to enter the laboratory!!! **Note** Safety Policies are fully enforced on the first day of labs. Goggles should be passed out in the hallway, and TA’s should be monitoring the entrance to the lab to ensure compliance.

Personal Item Policy Personal items i.e. bookbags and coats must be stored on the hooks alongside the balance room or in the cubby space directly underneath each fume hood. No items are permitted on the floor of the aisle ways or on the bench tops.

Lab Gloves Policy Lab Gloves will be available to use every experiment. Their usage is never required but in some labs it is STRONGLY RECCOMENDED. The Gloves are located above the distilled water tap in between the two side hoods. If one is wearing gloves, they should always remove at least one before opening doors, or touching any other object that is outside of the laboratory. When wearing gloves treat them as if they are contaminated. Do not touch or scratch other parts of your body with a gloved hand.

Fume Hoods and Locker Items Fume Hoods must be turned on by TA after the video, prior to the start of each experiment that requires their use. **Note** Rubber bulbs for disposable pipettes are NOT DISPOSABLE! Please return to proper locker after use

LOCKER ITEMS Locker items are any of the items that are found in the four labeled drawers at each fume hood. It is the responsibility of the student to maintain the items in the lockers at their station. This includes cleaning any dirty glassware prior to starting an experiment, as well as, cleaning the glassware before returning them to the lockers. Locker items must be cleaned thoroughly with soap and water at the end of the lab period before returning them to the drawers.

Broken Locker Items Any Locker Item that is broken during the course of the experiment should be disposed of in the plastic bin labeled BROKEN GLASSWARE. Students must notify their TA prior to disposing locker items. The TA will keep track of these incidences, and repeated offenses in regards to breaking locker items, will result in a lab penalty .

DISPOSABLE GLASSWARE Disposable Glassware consists of the items listed below. These items should be discarded in the plastic bin labeled DISPOSABLE GLASSWARE after being used. These items will be found in the front of the lab as in the picture below. Only take the required amount of disposable glassware items in order to minimize glass waste. These items are NEVER to be put back in the lockers.

STORE ROOM WINDOW / SUPPY CART In the event, that a needed material is not in the laboratory. The student may retrieve the desired material from either the store room window or the supply cart outside the store room window. Locker items will have to be obtained from the prep-lab workers at the store room window. Disposable items such as matches, weigh boats, medicine droppers, test tubes etc. will be available on the supply cart Store room window Supply Cart

REAGENT CART/CHEMICAL POLICY All chemicals needed for an experiment will be on the reagent cart at the front of the lab. Always make sure to carefully read labels to ensure the correct reagent and concentration is being obtained. Always check the first page of the procedure for the amount of a reagent that is needed for the entire experiment. Choose an appropriate piece of glassware to dispense reagent into based on this amount. Always cap reagents after use. NEVER put an instrument into a stock solution to dispense. This will cause CONTAMINATION! NEVER add unused reagents back to the stock solution. This will cause CONTAMINATION! Stock solutions are one way bottles. You may pour the reagent out of them to use for the experiment, but never back in. If too much is obtained by accident, share some with a classmate. Otherwise, it has to be discarded in the appropriate waste container.

Waste Disposal Every experiment will have different waste procedures, so it is important to always make sure that you are disposing of chemical waste in the proper location. During this semester, there will be two categories of waste; Metal Salts (Inorganic) and Organic. The waste beakers will always be located in the side fume hoods. The RED taped waste beakers are for Organic Waste, while the White taped waste beakers are for the metals salts waste. These beakers should only be used for their specified type of waste. NO MIXING!! Always notify your TA when waste beaker is about ¾ full, so that they can neutralize and dispose before the waste beaker is overflowing. Students never will neutralize their waste. Individual waste beakers (from locker) will be kept at your station during the course of the experiment, if they become more than ½ full, dispose of waste periodically throughout the lab period, signing the waste disposal form each time. Students individual waste beakers are never to be left in the side hoods. They are to be rinsed/washed several times into the class waste beaker before being cleaned in the sink and returned to the drawers.

Waste Disposal During some experiments, the TA will have to neutralize the class waste beakers several times, so it is important to notify your TA as soon as you see they are getting full. Student waste beakers are never to be left in the side hoods. If the class waste beaker is getting too full to add waste, the TA needs to be notified.

Cleaning Individual Waste Beakers Detergent to refill soap wash bottle Water wash bottle Soap wash bottle A water wash bottle is available in every drawer labeled ‘Metal and Misc.’ to help ensure that as much chemical waste as possible is rinsed off of the student waste beaker. After initially emptying your individual waste, a few water rinses should be performed, and also emptied into the class waste beaker. After this has been done several times and there is not visible residue on the student waste beaker, a soap detergent wash bottle may be used to finish cleaning the glassware in the sink, before it is returned to the locker.

Disposing Waste and Cleaning Glassware Flowchart Student waste beaker from locker ORGANIC INORGANIC **Note** During the water rinses it is important to remove as much residue as possible with as little water as possible. This ensures that the amount of waste generated is reasonable and not too dilute. Repeat water rinses until very little to no residue remains on the waste beaker each time adding the rinse to the correct class waste beaker **Note** The Soap wash bottle will be on the bench tops of each row

Waste Disposal Organic Class Waste Beakers TA must label yellow tag on red container after disposing of organic class waste Students should always sign waste disposal form upon adding waste to the class waste beakers. The TA must return this waste form to the store room window upon completion of the lab Organic Class Waste Beakers Metal Salts Class Waste Beakers

Balance Rooms The balance room is to be cleaned after each use. A brush and dust pan are available to sweep up any spilled solids. The method of creating a mess and cleaning at the end is NOT ACCEPTABLE and is also poor laboratory technique. The TA’s will monitor the condition of the balance room periodically and make the class aware of any maintenance issues that arise. If the balance room is being utilized by two classes please remain on the side of the balance room closest to your lab space, so that each lab has an adequate number of balances.

The Laboratory is a space that should be respected and maintained at all times. It is also a place with set policies and procedures. If you are ever unsure of something please do not hesitate to ask. That is what your TA and lab supervisors are here for. Always check required amounts of chemicals and materials before obtaining an item. Wasting resources is poor laboratory technique! In order to maximize your learning experience in the laboratory it is important to follow the stated policies so that you are working in a safe and clean environment. Lastly, the stated policies are critical to learning proper lab technique. This is a teaching point of the course, and will be enforced and monitored at all times during a lab period. Violations in regards to these policies can result in a point deduction from the lab portion of the course I am looking forward to working with all of you this semester in the LAB.