> >I'm looking to see if anyone has developed control bands for differing levels of undergraduate work (i.e. freshman chem vs. organic, etc.). I'm trying to start a dialogue about intentionally designing safety into laboratory experiments and I'd like to start with a discussion about what materials and methods our department feels are appropriate for each of our undergraduate introductory, general and organic chemistry laboratories.
I've reviewed a fair number of institutional control banding schemes (see
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__dchas.org_2016_05_04_control-2Dbanding-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlaboratory_&d=DQIFAg&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=xuwi-J34iT-e6_fY7ByWR-RkfFfje7UjaCLgCGHZvFE&s=bXNm3cjf4nkLXDWsKrKqBdTqK7d7D8lDgpHPRxrUJK8&e= for a sample)
and haven't seen any that are that fine-grained. "Teaching labs" tend to be lumped together to distinguish them from research settings.
However, I think that you're correct that there are some interesting educational opportunities in approaching teaching labs in this way, particularly in terms of the safety training provided at the different levels. For example, with general chemistry students I tend to focus on GHS and emergency response (R and P in the RAMP model) in the safety presentations I do, while for organic and upper level courses, I discuss Hazard Assessment and Management tools (A and M). The tools I discuss for undergrads are lab ventilation (fume hoods, chemical storage and general ventilation), personal protective equipment, and waste disposal systems.
This begins to break down a bit when first year students are recruited into the research labs, as I have begun to see happen here, but this approach has helped me structure the content into more manageable bites.
Let me know if you have any questions about this.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Keene State College
ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu
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