Introduction
The chemical laboratory or the facility is the
place for handling and investigation of the chemicals which can provide the safe
for the environment for its workers and to the public. These laboratory
employees are the employed faculty, the staff, and the students who are working
in the setting of laboratory wherein the biological materials and hazardous
chemicals are being used. As part of the mandatory orientations, the students
and the faculty as well must have the proper training for safety. The formal
education in safety for the laboratory workers and to the advance students must
be an ample activity for satisfying the regulatory requirements that can tends
to the sub ordinate in the relevant safety issues. The employers also need to
provide the effective training and information regarding the hazardous chemicals
for the respective work area for coming into their initial task. This training
and information are covering for the categories of hazards which are commonly
carcinogenicity and flammability or for the specific chemicals which must always
be available with the aide of the material sheet of safety data or by labels
(National Research Council, 1995, p.17).
Importance of Effective Training
The training standards are the major reason
thing that will point out for informing the trainees and the public that must
reach this standard and for the assurance of consistent and uniform
implementation. The first objective of the safety training is the appreciation
for the personal responsibility of safety and to everyone from the senior
management and the new employees. There must also be responsibility on the
safety training and safety for the employees as well as the rest of the
management. This can also built to the consciousness of the trainees on the
climate of safety and in return they will act safely (Wallace, 1995, 17).
Accordingly, for the safety training, some of the importance includes the
teaching for the ways in order to avoid the accidents. This also includes the
reduction of negligence for handling and operation. Apart from that, this can
also alleviate the accidental rates. Showing the correct processes for the
operations is also part of the objectives of the safety training. This also
needs to increase the skills of the supervisors and workers and can meet the
legal requirements (Goetsch, 2008).
Taking the example of Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSAH), they had been demonstrated the leadership role for
the development and promotion of the health and safety training with the aide of
the conferences and presence as well as the seminars that can focus primarily on
the topics which includes the security of homeland and ergonomics. These
educational centers are serving the public with the prevention and avoidance of
the unhealthful and unsafe working and specialize to the subject matter of to
expertise that is the foundation of the needs of regional industry. This only
signifies that they have the standard for the employer who is responsible for
providing its employees the trainings and information so that they have the
assurance for the knowledgeable in the hazardous chemicals that are present in
their work (US Department of Labor, 2008). For the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA), the required specific legal requirements in the
particular operations of mining are highly depend on the commodity which is
being mined. This has also the requirements that the miners need to be trained
and this is compulsory. It is also important to determine who will be the
trainer and the subject areas that it covers. This is also requires the
certification which the trainees needs to complete and keep the requirements
(Mine Safety Training Inc, 2008).
Needs for the Improvement of Training
Informative, interesting, and vital safety
training are not ready happening. For avoiding the accidents like what happened
in the University of Georgia, it is only important to have to have the best
training sessions which must be interactive, well-planned and well organize.
Furthermore, the university must have the working days in its students to be
everyday so that they will be fully equipped on the training which should not be
done on late night. In the course of the work proper there must be properly
training on the holding, cleaning, and storing of the chemicals. In this regard,
there must also be an ample training when the chemicals are left. The management
must also be informed on not to put objects or any things that are vulnerable to
the chemical explosions.
With the aide of the concepts taken from the
book, the graduate students must have the training before entering to work indie
the laboratory. These students also must attend the general session to be given
by the department for receiving more specific training from their supervisor.
The training sessions must also have elements of OSAH in meeting its standards,
resources, references, materials, and sheets. For the training to employees, the
graduate who are most likely to discover or witness the incident that involve
the hazardous materials spill and clean up must have be properly trained and
must have the wide knowledge on the identification and recognition of the
dangerous substances for the emergency purposes as well as the notification for
the authorities. Before entering into the laboratory, the graduates must have
the wide information regarding the basic and risk hazard techniques and
assessment, the use of the equipments for the personal protections, containment
of chemical spills and its basic control, and the basic decontamination of the
procedures as well as the notification for the appropriate authorities. The
graduate also must have the broad experience with regards to the cleaning up of
the incidental chemical spills. They must be informative on the development of
the spill control personal and materials protective equipment. These people also
need to have the knowledge on the procedures of dangerous waste disposal as well
as the hands on session for cleaning up the chemical spills (Goetsch, 2008).
In general, all of the employees that are
working in the hazardous chemical laboratory need to receive the proper training
so that they will possess the great deal of knowledge regarding the possible
hazards in the chemicals that they are using and to determine the proper
handling for the said chemicals. They must also have the proper background
regarding the OSHA and its standards and the different sources of the chemical
safety information which are commonly available for the students and to the
employees. The health and the physical hazards of the chemical must have on
their head before taking the step in laboratory. The first aid is also important
for the graduates in the chemical exposures as well as handling the compressed
gasses and flammable liquids (Ibid).
Despite of the incident that had happened, they
are still circumstances wherein the students had done that alleviated the impact
of the chemical spill. During their work and the chemical had spilled, the
Isoamyl Nitrite had cleaned up and taken from the floor inside and at the front
of the refrigerator though they have not got them all. This incident only
implies that the bigger impact might have been experience if they will not clean
up this part.
The role of Safety Director
In my personal opinion, the safety director has
the huge role to play in the incident. He must be the responsible for the safety
and management of the place. He must also act and spend much of his time in
potential conflict that are arises in the safety standards. The safety director
is the one responsible for the promotions of the safe working and the safety
systems in the wide range of environment. The safety director is the one that is
accountable for the monitoring of any prevention programs and the other factors
that had concerns on the hazardous materials which includes the resistance of
the objects in the infectious and fatal agents. He must also be the one that
needs to cope up in the procedures and policies of the undesirable chemicals,
the radiological and biological dangers. He must also be informative and
knowledgeable on all aspect of the safety of its place. Upon appointing the
position to be the health and safety director, he must be motivated that its
role is ensuring the safety and health of the organization inside the
organization so that the procedures and systems will retained to be effective
and relevant. In general, it is only important that the role of the safety
director must not detract the other director’s responsibilities for the specific
areas of the health and safety risk management or responsibilities of the safety
for the entire board. This means that despite the fact that safety director is
not only the director, he is primarily there for ensuring to the organization
that it take sits duties as well as put its place in the program of risk
management so that they effectively monitor, improve, and review the safety and
health conditions and standards.
Bibliography
Goetsch. L., D.(2008). Occupational Safety
and Health, for Technologists, Engineers, and Managers (5th ed.)
Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey.
MSHA Training 2008, Mines and Safety Training
Inc., viewed 26, June, 2006,
http://www.mshahelp.com/msha-training/newindex.cfm?CFID=32471&CFTOKEN=93251846&jsessionid=f030fe9b35724fe197741a247a54b78583b3.
National Research Council 1995, Prudent
Practices in Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of Chemicals, National
Academies Press, Washington.
Training Requirements in OSHA Construction
Industry Standards and Training Guideline 2008, US Department of Labor, viewed
26, June, 2006,
http://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/osha2254.html.
Wallace, I 1995, Developing Effective Safety
Systems, Institution of Chemical Engineers, United Kingdom.
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