Title: Ch. 8.3.1
Course: Lab Safety > Section: Day 5

Adapted from Laboratory Safety by Hill and Finster, 2010 John Wiley and Sons

Q: Why is is sometimes hard to detect unsafe conditions in a lab in which you regularly work?
- Unsafe conditions that have not yet caused an incident become accepted as "normal"
- Students are probably not trained to conduct "self-assessments" of lab safety
- Unsafe conditions are usually hard to detect
- Both (a) and (b)
A: Unsafe conditions that have not yet caused an incident become accepted as "normal"

Q: When entering a new lab, what circumstances make it easy to overlook unsafe conditions?
- Unsafe conditions and procedures might have been in place for years without incidents, and therefore considered "safe"
- The habits of current and former occupants often get transferred to new lab workers without much reflection on the safety of those habits.
- It may be uncomfortable for a new person to challenge preexisiting conditions that are "normal"
- All of the above
A: Unsafe conditions and procedures might have been in place for years without incidents, and therefore considered "safe"

Q: What is a good time period for conducting informal inspections of labs?
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Annually
A: Monthly

Q: The best way to conduct inspections is
- To use a checklist and have someone else who does not work in the lab accompany you
- To use a checklist and conduct the inspection alone
- To simply "walk through" the lab and see what doesn't "look right"
- To take pictures of all unsafe conditions
A: To use a checklist and have someone else who does not work in the lab accompany you