Scope on Safety: What Is Your First Aid Policy?

Journal Article | December 2003

Would you know what to do if one of your students had an accident with a chemical that resulted in contact with the skin? What would you do if a student spilled boiling water on his or her hands? These are the types of…

Scope on Safety: Chemicals: What's In? What's Out?

Journal Article | October 2004

Chemistry should be fun and exciting, but much preparation and skill are needed by the teacher and students in working with chemicals. Unfortunately, accidents do happen and things can blow up, but you can help prevent…

Scope on Safety: Trash Talk: How to Compost Safely

Journal Article | September 2011

This column shares safety information for your classroom. In this month’s issue the author discusses safe composting.

Scope on Safety: Bloodborne pathogens—Be prepared, be protected

Journal Article | August 2007

Malaria, Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr syndrome, meningitis, syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS—what do all of these diseases have in common? These belong to a group of over 100 microorganisms categorized as bloodborne…

Scope on Safety: Small Microbes Pose Big Problems

Journal Article | December 2012

This column shares safety information for your classroom. This month’s issue discusses health risks from using harmful microbes in the lab.

Scope on Safety: It's hard saying goodbye to an old flame

Journal Article | August 2004

Given the concerns about alcohol lamps and the relatively high frequency of accidents, are there any viable alternatives for heat sources? Yes! Depending on the amount and consistency of heat needed for middle school…

Scope on Safety: Yes, you need a Chemical Hygiene Officer

Journal Article | March 2009

The Chemical Hygiene Officer's (CHO) role is absolutely critical in fostering and ensuring both chemical hygiene practices and the chemical hygiene plan. OSHA defines the Chemical Hygiene Officer as an “employee who is…

Safer Science: Safety Acknowledgment Form for Earth and Space Science

Journal Article | October 2015

This column provides best safety practices for the science classroom and laboratory. This month’s issue discusses why Earth and space science teachers need to include guidelines specific to their discipline when…

Scope on Safety: Negligence—Some things you can’t afford to ignore

Journal Article | August 2010

Governmental immunity statutes may not shield science teachers from lawsuits if the teachers fail to take appropriate safety measures in the face of known hazards or dangers in the laboratory. The lesson then seems…

Building Models to Better Understand the Importance of Cost Versus Safety in Engineering

Journal Article | October 2010

While some disasters involving engineered structures are due to events in nature (e.g., tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes), others may be caused by inadequate materials, design flaws, and poor maintenance. These…

Scope on Safety: Should we pull the plug on wireless computer networks?

Journal Article | February 2008

Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity, is a type of wireless local area network (WLAN). Two or more computers form the network using radio frequency (RF) signals. The safety of these networks, however, has come under scrutiny in…