Safety Training
As part of our institution's guidelines, it is mandatory for every student to take the Safety Course organized by the department's Safety Committee. The course is held by Mr. Niels Buerckert, the biosafety officer at D-BSSE. In addition, all team members received the standard lab training from our supervisors.
The topics taught ranged from personal protection such as appropriate clothing (see Figure 2) when working in the lab, which includes wearing a lab coat, gloves (see Figure 3), goggles (see Figure 1), no contact lenses, long trousers and appropriate shoes, to general lab rules like no food and drinks (also no storage in lab fridges) and no smoking. Further topics included maintenance of a clean workspace, correct labeling and storage of chemicals and biological substances, and instructions on transportation of chemicals and solvents in the building (not in the passenger elevator but in the freight elevator and the usage of correct chemical container in a bucket).
We were also instructed to take extra measures when working with flammable substances (especially ethanol) and people with long hair were instructed to tie their hair back when working with a flame. We also received detailed instructions on handling substances with known dangers such as acids, bases, methanol, ethidium bromide, ethers, or ethanol, and the use of safety tools such as eye shower and fume hoods were introduced.
Furthermore we were instructed how to react in case of emergencies such as fire or accidents. We discussed different scenarios and correct behavior. Important phone numbers and contact persons were introduced. We learnt how to treat people with minor injuries such as cuts or burns. The importance of seeing a physician after an incident was emphasized.
Towards the end of the lecture, a detailed explanation for the correct liquid and solid waste disposal was given. To enrich the lecture photographic examples of bad lab safety were shown and in an active process the mistakes were elaborated and improvements suggested.
You can find out more about ETH safety guidelines in this file.