Resources - Safety Info

The STAO Safety Committee firmly believes that:

• THE BASICS OF SCIENCE LAB SAFETY ARE ATTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE AND COMMON SENSE.
• STUDENT EXPERIMENTATION IS CENTRAL TO MODERN SCIENCE EDUCATION AND MAKES THE LEVEL OF RISK HIGHER THAN IN MOST OTHER SUBJECT DISCIPLINES.
• WHEN STUDENTS ARE ENGAGED IN POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES THE TEACHER MUST ENSURE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE POTENTIAL DANGERS.
• STUDENTS' ATTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE, AND COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO SCIENCE IS A REFLECTION OF THEIR TEACHER'S.
• NO LESSON IS SO IMPORTANT AND NO TASK SO URGENT THAT WE CANNOT TAKE TIME TO TEACH SCIENCE SAFELY.
• HAZARDOUS EXPERIMENTS SHOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE REMOVED FROM THE CURRICULUM (THERE MAY BE NONE LEFT!) BUT THEY SHOULD BE MADE MORE SAFE SO THAT RISK IS REDUCED.
• THE OPPORTUNITY TO INSTRUCT STUDENTS ON THE PROPER USE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS USUALLY OUTWEIGHS BY FAR THE FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY WE GAIN BY BANNING THEM.
• INFORMED SCIENCE TEACHERS SHOULD DECIDE WHICH CHEMICALS HAVE ASSOCIATED RISKS THAT ARE SO GREAT THAT THEY OUTWEIGH THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE CHEMICAL'S USE.