Lab safety

Safety considerations and real cases

Destroyed Coleman’s lab after an explosion and fire at Ohio State (April 8th).

Chem&Eng News, 2005, 83, 34-35

Laboratory Safety is a very critical aspect of science. Protocols, practices and regulatory issues regarding research are routinely trained and addressed in the private sector, but unfortunately they continue being underestimated in most academic labs. The most serious accidents usually are related to unexpected explosions during a chemical reaction. Although everybody can make mistakes, these accidents usually occur by a lack of knowledge on the hazards associated to specific chemicals and reactions. There is limitless documentation available on Internet that aims to minimize these hazards and explain how should we behave in the case of an emergency in the lab caused by a personal injury, an explosion or a fire.

Herein, we want to emphasize the importance of this theme by listing examples of dangerous procedures that everybody should keep in mind. As a commitment, we will schedule in our group lab safety/learning reports and consequent actions aiming to avoid accidents, as well as to identify and use emergency equipment and protective gear.

Next you can find a compilation of a series of «stories» you should ALWAYS (no excuses) keep in mind during your daily work in the lab.

· Lithium Aluminum Hydride and Tetrahydrofuran Explosion

· Bursting Chemical Container

· Chemical Container Failure Due to Over-pressurization

· Aqueous Hydrogen Peroxide and Acetic Anhydride Explosion

· Diazomethane Explosion (Org. Proc. Res. Dev. 2008, 12, 1285)

· Texas Tech Laboratory Explosion

· Lab explosion due to domestic fridge

· Failure to Manually Purge Hazardous Gases

· Thermal decomposition and explsion of azides

· Chemical Solution Preparation Explosion

· Unintended Overpressurization of Sealed Vial Results in Rupture