CHEMISTRY LAB- 5 S

1. SAFETY

2. SUPPORT FROM THE FACULTY

3. SANITATION

4. SERVICING

5. SUPRIORITY OF CHEMICALS

SAFETY

Safety in any laboratory is of utmost importance for

students as well as the faculty . Lack of safety can lead to

many accidents causing a lot of harm to the institution as

well as the people in there.

That is why we decided to check out our chemistry lab for

the safety measures undertaken by them. This is what we

saw!

SUPPORT FROM THE FACULTY Support from the faculty plays an very important role in the

proper and efficient working of any lab. Lab faculty have

many important jobs to be handled and some of them are

giving proper information to the students about the

experiments and the chemicals , providing them proper

equipments , helping the students to carry of the

experiments and take readings and maintaining proper

cleanliness of the lab. But the scenario of the support given

by the faculty in our chemistry lab is shocking!

SanitationSanitation i.e. cleanliness is an important aspect related to

laboratory management.

It is important to maintain clean equipments, instruments

and ensure that the experiments are carried out in a clean

environment.

In the case of a college chemistry laboratory, proper disposal

of chemical wastes and old chemicals is of utmost importance

as these can be detrimental to health.

Also, care should be taken regarding the method disposal of

waste, nature of the waste generated (corrosive, polluting,

inflammable, toxic/poisonous).

Storage of chemicals must be done in appropriate places.

Servicing of Equipments

Different equipments used in the laboratory need

maintenance(i.e. servicing) on a regular basis. Proper servicing

ensures safety as well as efficiency of the equipment. Irregular or

no servicing can lower the efficiency and accuracy of machine. It

also becomes unsafe for use. For example, an instrument made of

iron needs to be protected from rusting by using anti-rust paints

and the joints need to be well lubricated to reduce friction and

heat dissipation, without which the life of the instrument is

reduced. In case of an electronic equipment, ensuring that it is in

proper working condition and giving correct readings is important.

SUPRIORITY OF CHEMICALS It covers the quality and purity of chemicals in the lab and

preserve the same. We must test chemicals at a regular interval of time as

specified by the manufacturing source to monitor their purity. They should be store at specified temperature and condition to maintain their purity.

They should be stored in proper container and form ex. Chloroform should be preserved away from direct sunlight in a ambered colour bottle.

As the image suggest, half of the bottles don’t have caps so they can interact with surrounding atmosphere.

PROBLEMS CAUSED DUE TO LACK OF

SAFETY The only safety measures in case of fire were 1 fire extinguisher

and a bucket full of mud. To make the situation worst , there

were many gas cylinders present there which could turn a small

fire into explosion !

Even the faculty members did not use proper gloves to handle

hot equipments which can lead to many injuries.

All the chemicals used in labs were kept in dusty old shelves

with no proper manufacturing dates on them , no distinction

between old and new chemicals and no special care for the toxic

chemicals. Thus , if any bottles break and the chemicals mix

producing harmful gas there is a chance of serious chemical

poisoning leading to many hospital cases.

PROBLEMS CAUSED DUE TO LACK OF

SUPPORT FROM THE FACULTY We have been doing chemistry experiments for a year now with no

proper support from the faculty . Due to lack of attention from the

faculty many accidents can take place which could been easily

stopped if proper attention is given .

The interaction between the lab faculty and the students is through

the notice boards which are in a very bad state because of which

many students are not well informed about their practicals and thus

this results in the delay of practical experiments.

The lack of communication between the faculty and students may

miscommunication between them causing many problems in the

management of labs!

MAGNITUDE OF PROBLEMS-SANITATIONAs per our observation in our college chemistry lab, we found the following problems related to sanitation-•The chemical wastes generated in an experiment is thrown into the sink. This can lead to serious problems of water pollution. Also, the precipitates obtained can cause choking of drainage pipelines.•Broken glass pieces and other chemical residues are thrown into the dustbins. This can cause soil pollution as the solid wastes are dumped in the fields of the dumping grounds. If set ablaze, they can cause air pollution.•These wastes can affect the animals in the vicinity.The adjacent picture taken by us in our chemistry laboratory shows poor sanitary management wherein the chemicals are disposed into the laboratory sink directly. The unclean vicinity can also be seen.

MAGNITUDE OF PROBLEMS-SERVICING

As per our observation in our college chemistry lab, we found the following problems related to servicing of equipments-

•The instruments are not serviced, only the dust settled over them are cleaned.

•Also, the ratio of number of equipments available to the number of students is very low.

•The chances of erroneous readings is more when the equipments are defective and not maintained properly.

The adjoining pictures clicked by us at the chemistry laboratory shows poorly managed analytical equipments.

MAGNITUDE OF PROBLEM-SUPRIORITY OF CHEMICALS

Due to improper storage condition, chemicals

degrade or may react with surrounding. By use of

such chemicals may lead to parasitic reactions which

can lead to explosion or evolution of poisonous gas.

Due to presence of impurity in chemical, we cannot

get accurate result.

Chemicals of inferior quality when comes in contact

with equipments may lead to their corrosion or decay.

If the chemicals are expensive and are required in

large amount, they affect the economy of lab.

RECOMMENDATION AND POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATIONS

There should be atleast to fire extinguisher in each lab and atleast three bucket of mud.

It is necessary to wear disposable boots and gloves for faculty working with chemicals and equipments.

There should be provision of mask for faculty as well as student to avoid inhalation of harmful gases.

Explosive objects such as LPG gas cylinders, kerosene or diesel should not be stored in large quantity

All chemicals should be stored at specified temperature and conditions. They must stored in proper container and farm.

They should be labeled properly and should be placed in easily accessible manner.

There should be proper interaction between student and faculty ex. Provision of proper notice boards.

It is important to maintain clean equipments and ensure that the experiments are carried out in a clean environment.

All instruments should be serviced at regular interval of time to avoid erroneous readings.

Provision for proper disposal of solid chemical wastes like corrosion resistant dustbins.

Provision for the treatment of hazardous wastes to make them less pollution causing by denaturing them and making them biodegradable.

The faulty equipments must be repaired, if possible , else, replaced. It is important to provide proper ventilation i.e. exhaust fans, windows

etc. should be provided. All bottles should have proper caps to avoid interaction between

chemical and surrounding environment. There should be provision of sufficient equipments and chemicals. All chemical waste like precipitates, corrosive liquid, metal hydroxide

should not be discarded in sink or dustbin directly. They should be treated first using green chemistry & then disposed.

Chemical tests should be performed at regular interval of time to check the purity of chemicals.

LESSON LEARNED BY TEAM

1. Management:

Waste Management : We learned that many problems could arise

because of improper disposal of waste and so we should not throw

chemical solid waste in sink as it could cause blockage and corrosion in

the pipelines.

Resource Management : We very well know that “Prevention is

better than cure” and that’s why we should not waste chemicals and

store them in proper condition , in suitable containers . Thus we

understand the economic use of chemicals.

2. Self Discipline: We understood that a teacher’s job is not

easy and so , if we maintain self discipline and understand our

responsibility while working in the lab then it could reduce a lot of

problems .

3. Safety:

We are well aware of “Small drops of water make mighty

ocean” and that’s why it is important to take small

precautions as even a stray spark can lead into a

destructive explosion!

4.Gathering information:

For the past so many years we were doing theory based

projects in which we used to copy - paste the content

available on the internet . But this project gave us a chance

to interact with the people involved in this system , we

could understand and relate to their problems . It was the

first time we felt that we were a part of something big!