
Safety Moment Monday 12/4/23

Safety is a team effort… Make sure you’re doing your part!
Even the most experienced chemists should always remember to be CAUTIOUS
Stay Safe!
From time to time, chemists are required to become builders. Sometimes an apparatus needs a little tweak or maybe you’re building something entirely new. I’ve done some metal cutting, drilling, driving (of screws), and sanding in the lab… but I don’t remember having any safety training about those things. Today’s SMM is designed to give you a brief overview of some helpful safety precautions when working with power tools. Did you know that there are many shop situations where gloves can be quite dangerous? For example, a glove won’t protect your hand from a table saw, but it can definitely get snagged and pull your hand into the blade. A ring seems very low-profile, but, if you’re not squeamish, you can read a whole host of stories about removed or destroyed fingers caused by a ring getting caught. It’s easy to become distracted by stabilizing a workpiece and forget to focus on the dangerous tool you are operating. It only takes a moment to be injured when working with power tools, so take a moment to look up the best safety practices before you use one.
Here are a few OSHA documents about shop safety. You probably won’t be using many of these tools, but a lot of the safety practices apply. I would recommend YouTube or Google for specific tools.
https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/osha3157.pdf
https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/osha3080.pdf
Power tools are no joke and need to be taken seriously!
As chemists, we know that the chemical properties of nanoparticles and other nanomaterials can be significantly different than those of bulk materials. Please take safety seriously around nanomaterials!
UT is BIG – find where you belong!
BSL-4 labs contain very rare, and often life-threatening agents that have no vaccines or treatments
BSL-3 are for exotic agents that poses a serious or even lethal risk to researchers!
BSL-2 labs pose a moderate hazard to researchers – certain tissue cultures like hepatitis are pathogenic and infectious.