How to minimise health and safety hazards in a school science lab

Science labs in schools provide the ideal environment for practical learning. However, along with their benefits, there are also a number of health and safety hazards that need to be considered.

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Ensure students are supervised at all times

One of the most important rules for ensuring student safety within a science lab is ensuring that they are not allowed to enter without permission. And when students are in a lab, a staff member should always be present.

With a wide range of potentially dangerous equipment and chemicals present in science labs, there are many hazards and risks that can cause serious harm. As a result, labs should be locked when not in use and staff should supervise students at all times.

No eating or drinking

Another way to minimise health and safety hazards is to ensure that there is no eating or drinking in the lab. Not only is the risk of chemical spills a danger, but there is also a microbiological risk. Eating contaminated food poses a severe health risk.

Drinking in a lab can also be dangerous due to spillages. Some lab equipment can become damaged from a spillage. There is also the possibility of mixing chemical bottles with a drinking bottle resulting in a severe health risk.

Dress appropriately

Students wearing goggles, gloves, and an apron during science practical

Ensuring that staff and students are dressed appropriately for practical science experiments is another way to minimise health and safety hazards. Lab coats should be provided to protect clothing, loose clothing should be tucked away, and gloves should be worn to protect hands if necessary.

Long hair should be tied back and ties tucked away to prevent a fire hazard or exposure to chemicals. Closed shoes should be worn to minimise harm in the event of dropping equipment. Safety goggles or glasses should also be worn at all times during practical exercises to protect the eyes.

Ensure a tidy practical workspace

One of the best ways to minimise health and safety hazards in a school science lab is to ensure a tidy practical workspace. To ensure a safe working space during practical activities, bags and coats should be stored safely out of the way to remove trip and fall hazards.

Stools should also be tucked underneath the workbench and students should stand at all times during practical activities.

Never run inside a lab

Given the number of risks in a science lab, it’s vital that students carefully walk around. This will help to minimise the risk of falls, trips, or slip hazards. It also prevents students from bumping into other students or equipment.

Bunsen burner safety

A student using a Bunsen burner

Bunsen burners are a popular piece of equipment in a school science lab. However, they also come with some health and safety risks (such as burn or fire risk). When using Bunsen burners, proper safety should be followed.

A blue flame should only be used during an experiment, and when not in use, should either be set to the yellow safety flame or switched off. Just like any other science equipment, the Bunsen burner should also not be left unattended at any time.

Regularly test electrical equipment

Just the same as chemicals can pose a health and safety risk in school science labs, so too can electrical equipment. Not only is it required that all electrical equipment is regularly tested for safety, but any electrical equipment should be checked before usage.

Checking the wires to ensure they aren’t loose or frayed will ensure safety while operating the equipment. All liquids should also be kept well away from electrical equipment. How often electrical equipment is tested depends on the type of equipment.

Keep an up-to-date risk assessment

A risk assessment

Risk assessments are a vital planning tool to help you identify potential health and safety risks in a lab, how likely they are to occur, and how to minimise such risks. Keeping an up-to-date risk assessment is just one method you can use to control risks in school science labs.

Not only is conducting a risk assessment a legal requirement, but it also allows your school to ensure proper processes are in place to minimise risks and deal with them should they arise. Risk assessments are living documents, meaning they need to be regularly updated to suit the daily activities of the science department.

The most important elements that should be included in a risk assessment are:

  • What the hazard is, e.g. chemical spillage
  • How people might be harmed by the hazard, e.g. skin corrosion
  • What processes do you have in place to control the risk, e.g. eye wash stations, cleaning equipment on hand, etc.

Students should also be encouraged to tell staff as soon as an accident happens. Otherwise, other students could be in danger of immediate risk. This can range from broken glass to chemical spillages.

Provide relevant training

Students during practical work in a science lab

Another way you can minimise the health and safety hazards in school science labs is by providing relevant training to teaching staff. Staff should be properly trained in health and safety, safely using lab equipment, and dealing with hazards.

By properly training staff, they can instruct students how to safely use equipment. As a result, there will be lower risk when students use lab equipment. You can find more details on science training for staff on the CLEAPPS website.

Check out more information about our current science technician training course.

Given the many health and safety hazards in a school science lab, appropriate methods must be taken to minimise such hazards. Whether properly instructing students or keeping practical areas tidy, there are many methods you can use to minimise such health and safety risks.

Check out these guidelines for designing a safe and collaborative school science lab