Safety of Undergraduate Students

Laboratory training is an essential component of the education of a chemistry student. However, the use and handling of laboratory chemicals creates a potentially hazardous situation for the students in the lab. The Chemistry Department at Villanova is committed to maintaining a safe laboratory environment for its faculty and students. All laboratories comply with current OSHA regulations. All are equipped with eyewash stations and safety showers in the event of chemical exposure. The Department employs a full time safety officer who monitors laboratory safety, identifying and correcting potentially hazardous situations as they arise.

On the first day of all introductory Chemistry laboratory courses, students are required to watch a safety video that describes practices essential for safety in the Chemistry laboratory. After its presentation, the faculty review the concepts and practices presented in the video with the students. Students confirm their participation in the safety presentation and understanding of the material by signing our Student Safety Agreement.

Safe laboratory practices are reinforced during each semester. Undergraduate students are carefully monitored by faculty and teaching assistants to insure that safe laboratory practices are followed. Safe laboratory practices are reviewed at the beginning of each semester for more advanced courses, highlight potentially hazardous situations unique to each course.

Safety of Teaching Assistants and Graduate Students

Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants receive more extensive training in laboratory safety. In particular, they are trained to respond to chemical incidents such as chemical spills, skin exposure to irritants, and similar events that may occur in the instructional laboratories. Teaching Assistants receive periodic refresher training and sign statements demonstrating attendance and understanding of chemical safety training.

Chemical Waste Disposal Procedures

Chemical waste should be collected and stored in approved containers. Waste contained must be labeled with specific waste labels available from the Chemistry Storeroom or the Department Chemical Hygiene Officer. Labels should be completed in permanent marker. The following items should be clearly indicated on the label.

• The name of the laboratory (either the responsible faculty member, room number, or course number of the instructional laboratory.
• The date when the first waste was added to the bottle.
• The identity of all chemicals in the waste bottle. For example, the label “Halogenated Waste” is insufficient. A more appropriate label would be “Halogenated Waste – chloroform, methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride”.

Whenever possible, wastes should be segregated from one another. There are some exceptions: halogenated solvents can be combined, as can nonhalogenated solvents. If you have any questions, check with the Chemical Hygiene Officer.

By law, chemical waste must be removed from Villanova University every six months. When several filled bottles of laboratory waste have accumulated, they can be removed by contacting either the Chemical Hygiene Officer or the Chemistry Storeroom.

Ordering Chemicals

The Department order form can be downloaded from this site. To complete the form, follow these directions:

• Right click on the order form and save it to your local computer. Fill out the downloaded form, do not fill it out from your web browser.
• Fill out required fields in the order form electronically. You may wish to save the order with a different name on your computer or print a copy for future reference.
• Using a villanova.edu email address, send the completed pdf order form to Steven Berlin or Kofi Asinor.
• Completed order forms will only be processed if received from a faculty member's Villanova University email address or through a signed hardcopy.
• Students can either fill out the order form and request a signature from their faculty mentor or forward the electronic order form to their faculty mentor for electronic submission.