Chemical Hygiene Plan and Safety Manual - LP3003.6

Section III: General Chemical Safety

1.0 Outline

This section outlines all the basic safety precautions for working with chemicals in the laboratory It also outlines the protocols for chemical handling, storage and disposition The laboratory is responsible for controlling all types of chemicals and there is a rating system in place for chemical monitoring and handling

There are many types of chemical hazards that Purity personnel will encounter while working in the laboratory environment They include but are not limited to:

Acids

Bases

Flammables

Toxic

Corrosive Oxidizing Irritants

Non-Hazardous

2.0 Chemical Hazards:

2 1 Following OSHA requirements, all chemicals must now be labeled under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) This system includes nine classes, or types, of hazards Numerical categories designate the severity of the hazard, with 1 being the most severe Categories are usually not present on chemical labels, but are listed in section two of the standardized SDS Labels in accordance with this system include three standardized elements: symbols, signal words, and hazard statements

2 1 1 Symbols: Symbols, or hazard pictograms, represent the nine hazard classes Each contains a black and white illustration within a red diamond The table below illustrates the nine hazard symbols and lists their meanings

2 1 2 Signal Words: Two signal words are used to denote the severity of the hazard “Danger” is used for more severe hazards, and “Warning” for less severe ones If a substance is hazardous, one of these words will appear on the label below the hazard symbols

2.1.3 Hazard statements: Hazard statements are standardized phrases that describe the associated hazards in more detail. For example “Harmful if swallowed”.