First aid

First aid should be an important component of any training program. First aid materials and facilities should be maintained in a near-by but isolated area, away from hazardous operations and materials. The specific type of first aid for various problems is generally indicated ontheMSDS. 

If the skin or clothing becomes contaminated with epoxy components, remove the contaminated clothing and wash the exposed area with soap and water for at least 15 mins. Seek medical attention immediately if irritation or other complications develop. If the eyes become contaminated, they should be washed out with copious quantities of clean water and medical advice should be sought. Eye wash facilities should be provided in areas of the work place where such accidents have a potential to happen. 

If respiratory distress is experienced, immediately remove the individual from the contaminated area to fresh air. If the person is not breathing, artificial respiration should be provided. Seek immediate medical attention. If breathing is difficult, transport the individual to a medical care facility for treatment, and if available, give the individual supplemental oxygen. 

If a chemical is accidentally ingested, seek immediate medical attention. If the victim is conscious, give water. Do not induce vomiting unless directed to do so by a physician or as 

First aiders trained by the Red Cross or St. John s Ambulance Brigade are no longer recognized unless their trainer had been approved by the HSE. 

All employers with 10 or more employees must, by 1 January 2004, have available a copy of the new accident book, form BI 510, in which an employee can record the fact of his/her injury. Copies of BI 520 are obtainable from HSE Books. 

The first-aid facilities to be provided are outhned in the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, with greater detail being given in an Approved Code of Practice and Guidance First aid at work , HSE publication L 74. The recommendations include  

A supply of tap or sterile bottled water for irrigating eyes should be available. Additional items that can be provided include  

Employers are given a certain amount of discretion in the facilities they provide. First-aid box suppliers can be helpful but watch the pushy 

First aid training is critical when dealing with accidents and must be required of all employees. Refresher training exercises should be available to employees on an annual basis. Attendance at these exercises as well as any safety meetings should be documented within the employee s personal file. 

In Great Britain the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations require an employer to provide such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances to enable first aid to be rendered to his employees if they are injured, or become ill, at work. An Approved Code of Practice gives more specific details on the number of first aid personnel and their training, and the type of equipment. 

A qualified first-aider, or nurse, should be called immediately to deal with any injury — however slight — incurred at work. 

Any person on the spot may have to act immediately to provide first aid treatment to prevent deterioration in the injured person s condition until assistance arrives. The aims are  

Check the situation for danger to rescuers, then act as follows  

Remove from danger, or remove the danger from the patient Give mouth-to-mouth/respiration Start cardiac compressions Stop bleeding 

If a concentrated acid (sulphuric, nitric, acetic, etc.) gets on your skin (hands, eyes, etc.), immediately wash the burnt spot with a strong stream of water for three to five minutes, after which apply a cotton wool bandage wetted with an alcohol solution of tannin or 

If splashes of an acid or alkali get into your eyes, immediately wash them with a great deal of water at room temperature, and then see a physician without delay. 

If you have burnt your skin with a hot object (glass, metals, etc.), first apply a bandage wetted with an alcohol solution of tannin or a potassium permanganate solution, and then a greasy bandage (an ointment for burns). 

When burnt by phosphorus, apply a bandage wetted with a 2% copper sulphate solution to the burnt spot. 

There is no evidence to suggest that acute exposure to carbon black may result in life threatening injury or illness. Carbon black is not a respiratory irritant and does not produce respiratory or dermal sensitization. 

Inhalation Short-term exposures above 3.5 mg m (total) may produce temporary discomfort to the upper respiratory tract that may result in coughing and wheezing. Removal from carbon black exposure normally is sufficient to cause symptoms to subside with no lasting effects. 

Skin Carbon black dust or powder may cause drying of the skin with repeated and prolonged contact Skin drying may also result from frequent washing of carbon black contaminated skin. 

Ingestion No adverse effects are expected from carbon black ingestion. 

The victim should be removed to an uncontaminated atmosphere (at ambient temperature) but must not be allowed to have unnecessary exertion (increased oxygen demand by the muscles can exaggerate the symptoms). Affected skin and eyes should be thoroughly washed with water and contaminated clothing must be removed [41,238,253,256,363,505,1318, 1404,1456,1893,ICI21-ICI241. 

Splashes of isocyanate on the skin of the worker or on his clothes should receive immediate attention. 

Eyes—wash out with copious amounts of clean water. 

Contamination of clothing—remove all contaminated clothing, wash the skin preferably under a shower with soap and water wash the contaminated clothing in decontaminant liquid (a solution of ammonia (8%) and detergent (2%) in water) for 24 h followed by normal laundry. 

Inhalation—remove patient to uncontaminated area, administer oxygen if needed. Keep patient at rest. 

Ingestion—give large quantities of water to drink to reduce the concentration. If vomiting occurs, more water should be drunk. Keep the patient at rest. Do not induce vomiting. Possible delayed effects seek medical attention. 

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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. 

The notes on First Aid have been based on the memorandum Safeguards in the Laboratory compiled by the Science Masters. Association and the Association of Women Science Teachers. This report has, however, been considerably modified and amplified for our purpose, and we are greatly indebted to Dr. F. B. Parsons, M.D., for very kindly supervising our final draft and thus ensuring its medical accuracy. 

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 First Aid Box or Cupboard should be kept in a readily accessible position in the laboratory and should contain the following articles clearly labelled ... 

One fireproof blanket— tlus is best stored in a special container just outside the First Aid Cupboard. 

A Laboratory Emergency Chart, which should be hung in a prominent position near the First Aid Box, is obtainable from the Fisher Scientific Company. 

In all cases the patient should see a doctor. If the accident appears serious, medical aid should be summoned immediately while first aid is apphed. 

Aerosol products are hermetically sealed, ensuring that the contents caimot leak, spill, or be contaminated. The packages can be considered to be tamper-proof. They deUver the product in an efficient manner generating Httie waste, often to sites of difficult access. By control of particle size, spray pattern, and volume deUvered per second, the product can be appHed directiy without contact by the user. For example, use of aerosol pesticides can minimize user exposure and aerosol first-aid products can soothe without applying painful pressure to a wound. Spray contact lens solutions can be appHed directiy and aerosol lubricants (qv) can be used on machinery in operation. Some preparations, such as stable foams, can only be packaged as aerosols. 

If caustic soda should come in contact with the eyes, they should be flooded immediately and for at least 15 min, keeping the eyeflds apart. If caustic comes in contact with skin or clothing, washing with water must be started immediately to prevent a chemical bum. The reader is advised to consult all the safety and first-aid techniques before handling (79). 

The salt is packaged ia 45-kg multiwaH bags or fiber dmms of 45, 170, or 181 kg. It is available ia both powdered and granular forms with densities of 1.04 and 1.44 g/cm (65 and 90 lb/fT), respectively. Only the powdered grade is authorized by and registered with the EPA for use ia pesticide formulations, with the further proviso that it must be tinted blue or green, or otherwise discolored. The word poison appears on all labels together with first-aid information. 

Oxygen inhalators are used as a first-aid measure for a long Hst of emergencies, including heart attacks and suffocation, and as a result are carried routinely by rescue squads. Oxygen—helium mixtures have proved beneficial in asthmatic attacks, because these permit more rapid flow of gas into congested areas of the respiratory system. 

Open areas around the operating units of a plant act as buffers to the surrounding community. Sufficient clearance should be allowed so that, if tall stmctures coUapse, other on-site buildings or equipment, or off-site properties are not affected. Adequate roadways providing entry to the plant are extremely important, and multiple entries and exits are advisable. An overcrowded plant can lead to damage or shutdown of adjacent units and may impede the movement of vehicles and materials in case of emergency (85). Another consideration is community fire-fighting assistance, first aid, and medical facihties. 

PPO and EOPO copolymers are low hazard—low vapor pressure hquids. Contact with skin, eyes, or inhalation cause irritation. There are no known acute or chronic affects associated with polyols. First aid for contact with polyols involves washing the affected area with water. The flash point of PPO is greater than 93°C. 

Over 68 aerosol products containing isopropyl alcohol solvent have been reported (145). Aerosol formulations include hair sprays (146), floor detergents (147), shoe poHshes (148), insecticides (149,150), bum ointments (151), window cleaners, waxes and poHshes, paints, automotive products (eg, windshield deicer), insect repellents, flea and tick spray, air refreshers, disinfectants, veterinary wound and pinkeye spray, first-aid spray, foot fungicide, and fabric-wrinMe remover (152) (see Aerosols). 

The adopted values for TWAs for airborne vanadium, including oxide and metal dusts of vanadium, is 0.5 mg/m the values for fumes of vanadium compounds is 0.05 mg/m. These limits are for normal 8-h workday and 40-h work-week exposures. The short-term exposure limit (STEL) is 1.5 mg/m for dusts (25). A description of health ha2ards, including symptoms, first aid, and organ involvement, personal protection, and respirator use has beenpubhshed (26). 

Vinyl acetate has moderate acute toxicity if ingested. The LD q for oral ingestion in rats is 2.9 g/kg body weight for absorption through the skin, the LD q in rats is more than 5 mL/kg in 24 h. First-aid procedures to be followed in the event of overexposure to vinyl acetate are as foUow ... 

Repeated exposure of skin to Hquid tetrachloroethylene may defat the skin causing dermatitis. When frequent or prolonged contact is likely, gloves of Viton, nitrile mbber, or neoprene should be used, discarding them when they begin to deteriorate. Tetrachloroethylene can cause significant discomfort if splashed in the eyes. Although no serious injury results, it can cause transient, reversible corneal injury. If contact with skin or eyes occurs, foUow standard first-aid practices. 

Inhalation. The threshold limit value of HCN is 4.7 ppm. This is defined as the maximum average safe exposure limit for a 15-min period by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Exposure to 20 ppm of HCN in air causes slight warning symptoms after several hours 50 ppm causes disturbances within an hour 100 ppm is dangerous for exposures of 30 to 60 min and 300 ppm can be rapidly fatal unless prompt, effective first aid is adininistered. There is always a small concentration of cyanide (0.02 to 0.04 mg/L) in the blood, and the body has a mechanism for continuous removal of small amounts, such as from smoking, by converting it to thiocyanate, which is discharged in the urine. 

Ingestion. Ingestion, unless prompt first aid or medical treatment is given, is rapidly fatal 1 mg of cyanide per kilogram of body weight can be fatal. Immediate and repeated adininistration of emetics and regurgitation (if the victim is conscious), followed or accompanied by the first aid and medical treatments described below should be carried out. If the victim is unconscious, stomach lavage should be performed by a physician or trained personnel. 

Notify a physician immediately. A suggested procedure for physicians or nurses is intravenous administration of 0.3 g (10 mL of a 3% solution) of sodium nitrite at the rate of 2.5 mL/min followed by 12.5 g (50 mL of a 25% solution) of sodium thiosulfate at the same rate. Watch the patient for 24 to 48 h, especially in cases of ingestion or skin absorption. If symptoms reappear, repeat the injections in half the original amounts. These solutions should be kept readily available. In some cases, first aid personnel have been trained to use the intravenous medication subject to government regulations. 

Laboratory work with hydrogen cyanide should be carried out only in a well-ventilated fume hood. Special safety equipment such as air masks, face masks, plastic aprons, and mbber gloves should be used. A chemical proof suit should be available for emergency. Where hydrogen cyanide is handled inside a building, suitable ventilation must be provided. The people involved should be thoroughly trained in first aid. 

The most important rule when working with hydrogen cyanide is never to work alone. This appHes especially to sampling and opening lines and equipment. A second person must be in view at all times about 9 to 10 m away, must be equipped to make a rescue, and must be trained in first aid for hydrogen cyanide exposure. 

During operation the plant is in the hands of the operating personnel. They should be properly trained and familiar with the inst lation. Very often, accidents are caused by an improper practice, such as making an attempt to repair when proper preparation is not made. Operators shoiild be trained in first-aid procedures and how to respond to emergencies. 

Safety procedures for lockout, tank entry, hot work permits, and excavation written First aid and medical assistance available First-aid kits, blankets, stretchers, antidotes, and resusci-tators on hand... 

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