Experiment 1: Good Laboratory Practices
Laboratory Safety
Safety in the Laboratory Should always is in your mind. Throughout this manual Safety
recommendations are given, below are some general consideration that anyone in a
laboratory should know.
• General laboratory safety precaution.
1. Follow all instructions carefully. Use special care when you see the word CAUTION in
your laboratory instructions. Follow the safety instructions given by your teacher.
2. Determine the location of Fire Extinguishers, Chemical safety showers and Eye washers,
Chemical Spill Kits, and alternative exit routes for lab evacuation.
3. Remember that smoking, eating, or drinking in the lab room is totally prohibited.
4. Wear lab aprons when working with chemicals, hot material, or preserved specimens.
5. Wear safety goggles when using dangerous chemicals, hot liquids, or burners.
6. Any chemicals spilled on the hands or other parts of the skin should be washed off
immediately with a plenty of running water.
7. If you have an open skin wound, be sure that it is covered with a water proof bandage.
8. Never work alone in the laboratory.
9. Keep your work area clean & dry.
10. Turn of all electrical equipment, water, and gas when it is not in use, especially at the end
of the laboratory period.
11. Tie back long hair.
12. Report all chemicals spills or fluids to your instructor immediately for proper clean up.
• Special precautions for working with heat or fire:
1. Never leave a lighted Bunsen burner of hot object unattended. When an object is removed
from the heat & left to cool, it should be placed where it is shielded from contact.
2. Inflammable liquid bottles should not be left open, not dispensed near a naked flame, hot
electric element or electric motor.
3. Use test tube holders to handle hot laboratory equipments.
4. When you are heating something in a container such as a test tube, always point the open
end of the container away from yourself & others.
5. Use only Pyrex glassware’s for heating.
6. Allow hot materials to cool before moving them from your lab station.
7. Make sure that Bunsen burner hoses fit tightly.
• Special precautions for working with chemicals
1. Never taste or touch substances in the laboratory without specific instructions.
2. Never smell substances in the laboratory without specific instructions.
3. Use materials only from containers that are properly labeled.
4. Wash your hand after working with chemicals.
2. Never use broken or chipped glassware.
3. Make sure that all glassware’s are clean before you using it.
4. Do not pick up broken glass with your bare hands. Use a pan and a brush.
5. If a Mercury thermometer breaks, do not touch the mercury. Notify your teacher
immediately.
6. Do not aim the mirror of your microscope directly at the sun. Direct sun light can damage
the eyes.
7. Use care handling all sharp equipments, such as scalpels and dissecting needles.
• Special precautions for working with live or preserved specimens.
1. If live animals are used treat them gently. Follow instructions for their proper care.
2. Always wash your hands after working with live or preserved organisms.
3. Specimens for dissection should be properly Mounted and supported. Do not try to cut a
specimen while holding it in the air.
4. Do not open Petri dishes containing live cultures unless you are directed to do so.
5. Detergents (detol 5 – 10%) should be used to sterilize and clean benches, glassware and
equipment.
6. Safety cabinet should be used while working with microbes.
7. Lab coats should be worn during the work in the lab.
8. Disposable items should be collected and autoclaved.
First Aid
1. Injuries: bleeding should be reduced using bandages; the wound should be cleaned with
iodine alcohol mixture, and wrapped with sterile bandage.
2. Acid and fire burns: body burns must be washed immediately with tap water. Eye burns
must be washed using eye washer, special cream for burns can be used.
3. Poisoning: if any toxic chemical is swallowed, the mouth must be sensed with water, in
case of acid, milk is drunk, in case of alkaline, diluted acetic acid (vinegar) can be used.
4. Skin contamination requires washing with water and removal of contaminated clothing, if
the contaminant is insoluble in water remove with soap and water.
5. Do not add water to acid. Instead, dilute the acid by adding it to water.
6. Mix heat generating chemicals slowly.
• Special precautions for working with electrical equipment.
1. Make sure the area under & around the electrical equipment is dry.
2. Never touch electrical equipment with wet hands.
3. Make sure the area surrounding the electrical equipment is free of flammable materials.
4. Turn off all power switches before plugging an appliance into an outlet.
• Special Precaution for working with Glassware’s and other laboratory equipments.
1. Become familiar with the names and appearance of all the laboratory equipments you will
use.
