Accident laboratory

Abbe refractometer, 1033 Absorption bands, 1134, 1135, 1136 intensity of, 1135, 1138 Abstracting journals, 1126, 1127 Accidents, laboratory, 1130 Acetal, 320, 327 Acetaldehyde, 319,324 Acetals, 320, 1061 ... 

Housekeeping has an important role in preventing laboratory accidents. Laboratories must be kept in a neat, orderly condition. Maintenance of a clean and orderly workspace is indicative of job interest, personal pride, and safety mindedness and the training in orderliness is translated into a methodical approach to other lines of endeavor. Good housekeeping in the laboratory is the responsibility of all people working in that laboratory. 

Because of these accidents laboratory studies were made at Hanford [Wl] and Savannah River [Cll, N5] to determine the conditions under which nitric acid solutions possibly containing TBP could be safely evaporated. Wagner [Wl] reported that a red oil formed by extended refluxing of a concentrated aqueous solution of uranyl nitrate, nitric acid, and TBP decomposed autocatalytically when heated to 150°C. Nichols [N5] found that a mixture of... 

If students are carefully trained in accurate work, accidents in the laboratory should be of very rare occurrence. Since, however, they can never be entirely eliminated, it is hoped that the First Aid directions given in the Appendix will prove of value, particularly to the junior staff of laboratories, who by virtue of their duties as demonstrators are frequently the first to be called upon to help injured students. 

Finally, the student should familiarise himself with the contents of the Section in the Appendix upon Laboratory Accidents, with the position of the fire extinguisher, buckets of sand, first aid cabinet, and the fireproof blanket. 

A valuable report, oontaining many references to cognate literature, is given In The Origins and Prevention oj Laboratory Accidents, 1949 (Royal Institute of Chemistry, London, W.C. 1). See also Guide for Safety in the Chemical Laboratory, 1966 (Van Nostrand Macmillan). 

H. W. Bertini, Descriptions of S elected Accidents That Have Occurred at Nuclear Reactor Facilities, Report ORNL/NSIC-176, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Term., Apr. 1980. 

Rodgers, S. J., Udaveak, R. J. and Mausteller, J. W. In International Symposium of Fission Product Release and Transport under Accident Conditions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA, 1965, pp. 1204 1215. 

Restrepo, L. F., et al., 1996, Accident Phenomenology and Consequence Methodology Evaluation Fire Working Group, Draft Report, Sandia National Laboratory, April. 

Professional organizations, such as the American Chemical Society, have published information on safety. Professional journals often carry safety articles, including stories about laboratory accidents of types not formerly experienced. 

It should be noted that non-compliance with safety rules would be held strongly against a laboratory should there be a lawsuit as a result of an accident. 

When comparing different cabinets, there are a few clues as to which ones provide the best value. First of all, a manufacturer of laboratory furniture should have data on the chemical resistance of finishes used. Even though nobody expects to splash reagents over the fronts of the cabinets, accidents do happen. Resistance data should be compared to a list of chemicals to be handled in the laboratory. A costly finish with outstanding resistance may not be needed in all cases. 

A suitably sized ring binder with a sturdy cover is recommended, preferably covered with plastic. This procedure manual must be kept where aU who use it will have easy access to it. More than one copy may be needed in a large laboratory. Just in case an accident should take place, an extra copy must be kept in a safe spot. For durability and protection from spills each page can be inserted in a vinyl sheet protector. No pages must ever be borrowed from the book even on a temporary basis. 

With carbon dioxide in the solid state the mixture detonates on impact. Therefore, with graphite, carbon dioxide cannot be used as an extinguishing agent for potassium fires. The slow reaction of potassium with gaseous carbon dioxide at ambient temperature gave rise to an accident. Potassium was stored in an aluminium container in a laboratory in contact with carbon dioxide the formation of potassium carbonate caused the corrosion of the container, which caused potassium to combust on contact with air. 

Apart from chromium and chromium (II) salts, which are reducing, the table of accidents involving chromium derivatives is mainly one of very reactive oxidants. The effect of this dangerous property is worsened by the fact that the cited substances are commonly used, not only in industry (especially in sur ce treatment) but also in analysis, research and training laboratories. 

It is used to make oxygen in laboratories. One has to heat a mixture of manganese dioxide and an alkaline chlorate. This reaction, which is known for not being dangerous and often used in lectures, gives rise to anhydrous manganese dichloride which reacts explosively with potassium or zinc. Detonation of the mixture is known to have led to several accidents. 

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