XN000022-1981-09-14 — Page 2

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1981

MEASURES TO ENSURE SAFETY IN SCHOOL LABORATORIES

******

SUPERVISORS, SCHOOL HEADS, SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LABORATORY TECHNICIANS ARE URGED TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO SAFETY IN SCHOOL LABORATORIES.

IF A SCIENCE LABORATORY IS USED AS A CLASSROOM FOR NON-SCIENCE LESSONS DUE TO FLOATING ARRANGEMENTS, THE TEACHER INVOLVED SHOULD SEE TO IT THAT THE STUDENTS DO NOT ENTER THE LABORATORY UNLESS HE IS PRESENT AND THAT THEY DO NOT DISTURB OR REMOVE ANY OF THE SCIENCE MATERIALS IN THE LABORATORY.

EVERY LABORATORY SHOULD BE EQUIPPED WITH AT LEAST ONE APPROPRIATE FIRE EXTINGUISHER WHICH IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE, A FIRE BLANKET AND A BUCKET OF SAND, AN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAID.

HE ALSO SUGGESTED THAT ALL SCIENCE TEACHERS SHOULD CONDUCT AT LEAST ONE LESSON ON THE GENERAL ASPECTS OF LABORATORY SAFETY WITH EACH CLASS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.

PAST RECORDS REVEALED THAT ACCIDENTS IN SCHOOL LABORATOR IES WERE MOSTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREPARATION AND BURNING OF HYDROGEN, MIXING WATER WITH CONCENTRATED SULPHURIC ACID, MIXING CONCENTRATED ACIDS WITH POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE GRINDING OR WARMING A MIXTURE OF AN OXIDISING AGENT WITH CARBON OR SULPHUR, PREPARATION OF CHLORINE AND HYDROGEN SULPHIDE, AND HANDLING OF BROMINE.

+SCIENCE TEACHERS, LABORATORY STAFF AND STUDENTS ARE THEREFORE STRONGLY ADVISED TO EXERCISE SPECIAL CARE AND TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS WHEN PERFORMING THESE EXPERIMENTS, + THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

THE ATTENTION OF SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LABORATORY TECHNICIANS IS ALSO DRAWN TO THE USE OF BENZENE, WHICH IS A SUSPECTED CARCINOGEN.

+CARCINOGENS CAN ENTER THE BODY NOT ONLY BY INGESTION, BUT ALSO BY INHALATION AND SKIN ABSORPTION. IN GENERAL, EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL CARCINOGENS ARE LONG-TERM AND INSIDIOUS, RATHER THAN IMMEDIATE AND OBVIOUS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

+BASED ON SAFETY GROUNDS, THE STORAGE ISSUE AND USE OF CORROSIVE, POISONOUS AND CARCINOGENIC SUBSTANCES SUCH AS BROMINE, CONCENTRATED ACIDS AND ALKALIS, AND BENZENE SHOULD ALWAYS BE SUPERVISED BY THE SENIOR SCIENCE TEACHERS OF SCHOOLS.+ HE ADDED.

/AN OUTLINE