Chemistry Lab Skills: safe lab technique

01

Plan before you pour: hazard, risk and the hierarchy of controls

In simple words

Before you cross a busy road, you stop, look and decide how to cross safely. A lab works the same way. Before you touch anything, you ask: what could go wrong, how likely is it, and what can I change so it does not happen?

Before this course: Chemistry Concepts: bonding and reactions (course 15.4.2). You should know bonding, balanced equations, moles and molar mass, and the kitchen-lab rules and household hazard symbols from Chemistry Basics (course 15.4). Now you learn to work the way careful lab chemists do: plan first, measure well, and report honestly.

Key facts

Hazard is what could cause harm (for example, hot water, broken glass, a corrosive liquid). Risk is how likely harm is and how bad it would be, given how you actually do the work. You cannot always remove a hazard, but you can lower the risk.
The hierarchy of controls (NIOSH, the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), from most to least effective:

Level	What it means	Kitchen-lab example
1. Elimination	Remove the hazard completely	Skip a step that needs heat
2. Substitution	Swap in something safer	Use vinegar instead of any stronger acid
3. Engineering controls	Separate people from the hazard	Work on a tray; keep a window open
4. Administrative controls	Change how people work	Written steps, an adult present, no eating in the work area
5. Personal protective equipment	Gear you wear	Eye protection, closed shoes

PPE comes last on purpose. Glasses protect only if the higher levels have already made a splash unlikely.
A written risk assessment lists each step, its hazard, what could go wrong, the control you will use, and what to do if it happens anyway.
Workplaces have legal duties. If you work or study in a real lab, the law in your country puts safety duties on the employer and on you. See the box below.

In your country

Most workplaces are covered by provincial law. Ontario example: under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the employer must "take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker". Federally regulated workplaces are covered by Part II of the Canada Labour Code.
Source: Ontario, Guide to the OHSA, Part III duties of employers: www.ontario.ca/document/guide-occupational-health-and-safety-act/part-
Source: Canada Labour Code s. 124: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-124.html

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is enforced by OSHA. Employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm and follow OSHA standards; employees must follow the standards that apply to their own conduct.
Source: OSHA, Section 5 duties: www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/section5-duties

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act (RA 11058) requires employers to provide a workplace free from hazardous conditions, inform workers of hazards, give safety instructions and provide protective equipment. DOLE enforces the standards.
Source: RA 11058 text: lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2018/ra_11058_2018.html

The Work Safety Law (amended 2021) requires employers to strengthen safety management and improve working conditions; emergency management departments supervise work safety.
Source: Work Safety Law (MEM): www.mem.gov.cn/fw/flfgbz/fg/202107/t20210716_416558.shtml

The Industrial Safety and Health Act aims to secure workers' safety and health; employers must meet the minimum standards and also work to improve conditions. MHLW regulates it through Labour Bureaus and Labour Standards Inspection Offices.
Source: Industrial Safety and Health Act (English): www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/1926/en

The Occupational Safety and Health Act, regulated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, requires business owners to protect workers' safety and health and give them safety and health information.
Source: Occupational Safety and Health Act, English text (KLRI): elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=63609

Step by step

Choose the experiment you will do in Lesson 6 (the vinegar titration) and list every step on paper.
Next to each step, write the hazard (for example: "glass jar could break", "vinegar could splash in an eye").
Rate the risk for each step as low, medium or high, by asking how likely it is and how bad it would be.
For each medium or high risk, pick a control, starting at the top of the hierarchy (can you remove or swap the hazard before you reach for PPE?).
Write what you will do if it happens anyway (for example: "rinse the eye with clean running water", see Lesson 2).
Ask an adult or a teacher to read and sign your plan before you start.
Check: every step has a hazard, a risk rating, a control and an emergency action.

Watch on YouTube

Minimizing risks in the chemistry laboratoryAmerican Chemical Society · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Plan before you pour: hazard, risk and the hierarchy of controls

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host at a kitchen table with a notebook, glasses on] "Real chemists do the most important safety work before they pour anything."
[Text on screen: Hazard = what can hurt. Risk = how likely and how bad.] "A hazard is what could hurt you. Risk is how likely and how bad, the way you are doing it."
[Screen: pyramid: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, PPE] "Start at the top. Remove the hazard, swap it for something safer, separate it, change how you work. Goggles come last."
[Text on screen: Step, hazard, risk, control, emergency action] "Write it all down in five columns."
[Host] "Then ask someone to check your plan before you start."

Try it now

Write a full risk assessment table (step, hazard, risk, control, emergency action) for one experiment from course 15.4 or 15.4.2, such as the baking soda and vinegar balloon. Mark which level of the hierarchy each control belongs to.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Chemistry Lab Skills: safe lab technique" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Plan before you pour: hazard, risk and the hierarchy of controls".

What the lesson teaches:
- Hazard is what could cause harm (for example, hot water, broken glass, a corrosive liquid). Risk is how likely harm is and how bad it would be, given how you actually do the work. You cannot always remove a hazard, but you can lower the risk.
- The hierarchy of controls (NIOSH, the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), from most to least effective:
- Level - What it means - Kitchen-lab example
- 1. Elimination - Remove the hazard completely - Skip a step that needs heat
- 2. Substitution - Swap in something safer - Use vinegar instead of any stronger acid
- 3. Engineering controls - Separate people from the hazard - Work on a tray; keep a window open
- 4. Administrative controls - Change how people work - Written steps, an adult present, no eating in the work area

The exercise I'm working on:
Write a full risk assessment table (step, hazard, risk, control, emergency action) for one experiment from course 15.4 or 15.4.2, such as the baking soda and vinegar balloon. Mark which level of the hierarchy each control belongs to.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Plan before you pour: hazard, risk and the hierarchy of controls" from the course "Chemistry Lab Skills: safe lab technique".

Here's what the lesson says:
Before you cross a busy road, you stop, look and decide how to cross safely. A lab works the same way. Before you touch anything, you ask: what could go wrong, how likely is it, and what can I change so it does not happen?

The activity:
Write a full risk assessment table (step, hazard, risk, control, emergency action) for one experiment from course 15.4 or 15.4.2, such as the baking soda and vinegar balloon. Mark which level of the hierarchy each control belongs to.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

NIOSH (CDC), About hierarchy of controls: www.cdc.gov/niosh/hierarchy-of-controls/about/index.html

My notes

I learned this

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