Report all incidents or exposures to TA's or professors.

Right to Know

Your instructors, TA's, and employers are legally required to inform you of chemical, biological or radiation safety hazards in the classroom or workplace. See the "Right to Know Workplace Notice" (one should be posted in the classroom/workplace, and there is one in your lab manual). You should never do procedures in the lab until you are adequately informed about safety issues, and prepared to do them safely!

Your teachers should explicitly inform you of any unusual safety hazards at the beginning of each class meeting. If they forget, ask!

Fire

• If you are on fire, stop, drop, and roll. Do not run to the water shower because running fans the flames.
• Close the door to the fire area.
• Activate the building alarm system. Know the alarm locations.
• Dial 911 and report the location of the fire. Know the locations of phones: in the small room between the teaching labs, and in any nearby research lab.
• Know the locations of fire extinguishers, the different types, when and how to use them. UMass EH&S (www.umass.edu/safety) offers periodic fire extinguisher training sessions.

Lab Common Sense for Hazmats (Hazardous Materials)

• No eating or drinking in the lab.
• Keep your hands away from your face and eyes.
• Lab benches and equipment may have been contaminated by earlier classes. Colored stains in and around sinks may be carcinogens.
• Put knapsacks and coats on the metal shelves, not on lab benches.
• Wear gloves, lab coats and goggles when handling toxic chemicals or biohazards. Know where goggles and gloves are available.
• Chemical and biological hazards do not go in the wastebaskets! Know where to dispose of waste. Glass goes in special "Glass" boxes. If unsure how to dispose of something safely, ask your teachers!

Toxic Chemicals

• Know how to use an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), and where to get them (the class website, www.bio.umass.edu/immunology/mic542hp.html). Chemical suppliers are required to provide MSDS.
• Distinguish acute toxicity (LD₅₀) from chronic toxicity (carcinogenicity).

Chemical Spills

• Alert persons nearby.
• Evacuate the area and close the door.
• Contact EH&S at 5-2682 (if closed, UMass police 911). Be prepared to provide the identity, amount, and location of the spill.

 

Injury

• If serious, call 911.
• University Health Services, 549-2671, is located in a separate building behind Morrill.