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School Safety: The Lab, Why do teachers and students have responsibilities?

It seems everywhere you look today someone is protesting being held accountable. Lobbyists are crawling all over Washington enticing our government representatives to pass laws creating immunity against liability. You might want to know what immunity against liability is all about. Well, it’s about someone getting a get out of jail free card against any wrongdoing they might do. Another way of looking this is it’s a category of people asking for the right not to be held accountable if in the future they do something wrong. For a list of those asking for freedom from responsibility follow these links: Texas, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a national well orchestrated clearinghouse, and even lawyers are lobbying for their clients to get a free-get-out-of-jail card.  It’s all very shameful and discouraging to well behaved and well intentioned citizens.

And that was my point with yesterday’s and today’s posts about school safety and the responsibilities of students and teachers. Students can’t look to teachers and say it’s all your fault, nor teachers to students. Administrators can’t put full blame on either of those two. What makes America work is that everyone has a certain responsibility to society. Even jurors have a responsibility. That doesn’t mean jurors get to turn everyone away from the courthouse without compensation by saying that’s just the way it is, why should the Plaintiff get money? Doing so is just another way of giving the wrongdoer immunity from responsibility.

If you want to know what I’m talking about consider this. What if your teenage son approached you just before heading out with the family car on a Friday night and asked this question; “Mom and Dad, before I leave the house I’d like you to tell me it’s alright if I don’t make curfew, smash up the car, drink even though I’m underage, give liquor to all of my underage friends and use your credit card.” Would you do it? Would you agree to allow him freedom from being held accountable?

Of course you wouldn’t and as parents we all know why. If we did this otherwise good son would see no boundaries to what he could do with his friends. He’d allow himself to be led astray. He’d do everything he wanted to do even though he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. We all need boundaries. We all need that line in the sand we just don’t cross. We all need to know even if we disagree, that the boundaries are there for a reason and if we cross them we will get in trouble; we will be held accountable.

That’s what duty is about in a tort. A duty is the first necessary element that needs to be proven. Duty is the line in the sand that we weren’t supposed to breach and if we did we are to be held accountable.

And that is what these two posts are able. It’s about being held accountable for crossing the line in the sand.  I’m not picking on teachers and students. Trust me I could write a similar post for lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, nurses, clerks and judges. My point is that just ignoring the do’s and don’ts that make up our responsibility in the lab won’t change the rules; that line in the sand will still be there and if we, you, breach it you will likely be held responsible. So today when you look at the teacher’s responsibilities don’t forget to go back and review the student’s responsibilities because those are equally important.  And each has a duty to each other and to other students that may be injured when either crosses that line in the sand.

As a lawyer, a parent and a citizen I support bright line responsibilities rather than granting people a free pass to be irresponsible. I don’t support tort reform that grants blanket immunity to corporate America because it weakens our system and the American way of life. I can’t understand why I should support corporate freedom from responsibilities while working people continue to do the right thing and follow the rules?  America will remain strong so long as everyone has lines in the sand and they are held accountable. Special interests support special rights for a select few. That is wrong for one and for all of us.

 

School Safety: The Lab, What are the teacher’s responsibilities?

Teachers just know that today I’m not picking on you. I do realize you have a tough job babysitting all those kids raised on participation trophies. I know what happens. They show up to class with arms outstretched, hands raised and say, “What? What’s your problem? I showed up!” meaning okay so my homework isn’t done and I didn’t read today’s lesson. Its okay with my parents so what’s with you getting mad? You know I showed up! So where is my trophy? Yeah that’s what ten years of coaching soccer taught me.

Today we continue our series on school safety and will list the lab teacher’s responsibilities when running the lab class in order to protect themselves, the school staff and the students. Yesterday we explored student responsibilities and today we explore yours. Also today we will discuss why each has a list of responsibilities and why that is necessary to creating a good and safe learning environment. (School Safety: How to Avoid Accidents and Injury in the School Laboratory and Megan’s Experiments in Education.

I’m using NIOSH’s list of each. I like the format and simplicity they’ve chosen.  There are six areas of responsibilities to focus on and if you do you should stay out of any lawsuits.

1.      Upkeep of Laboratory and Equipment

2.      Recordkeeping

3.      Safety and Emergency Procedures

4.      Maintenance of Chemicals

5.      Preparing for Laboratory Activities

6.      Ensuring Appropriate Laboratory Conduct

 

Each area is important to some aspect of safety in the lab. Safety isn’t just about what is done before there is an accident. It’s also about what to do following an accident. And it’s about being able to prove you’ve been following these simple rules. I’ll quote NIOSH and if you follow the link it will take you to the site where they are listed along with a PDF version you can save to your computer, print and post in the class or use as a handout at the beginning of the school year.  

 

What Are the Teacher’s Responsibilities?

Teachers and teacher-aides should lead by example and wear personal protective equipment; follow and enforce safety rules, procedures, and practices; and demonstrate safety behavior and promote a culture of safety. They should be proactive in every aspect of laboratory safety, making safety a priority. The following is a checklist for teachers highlighting essential information for working in the high school laboratory. This is a general safety checklist and should be periodically re-evaluated for updates.

Upkeep of Laboratory and Equipment

• Conduct regular inspections of safety and first aid equipment as often as requested by the administration. Record the inspection date and the inspector’s initials on the attached equipment inspection tag.
• Notify the administration in writing if a hazardous or possibly hazardous condition (e.g., malfunctioning safety equipment or chemical hazard) is identified in the laboratory and follow through on the status.
• Never use defective equipment.

Recordkeeping

• Keep organized records on safety training of staff for as long as required by the school system.
• Keep records of all laboratory incidents for as long as required by the school system.

Safety and Emergency Procedures

• Educate students on the location and use of all safety and emergency equipment prior to laboratory activity.
• Identify safety procedures to follow in the event of an emergency/accident. Provide students with verbal and written safety procedures to follow in the event of an emergency/accident.
• Know the location of and how to use the cut-off switches and valves for the water, gas, and electricity in the laboratory.
• Know the location of and how to use all safety and emergency equipment (i.e., safety shower, eyewash, first-aid kit, fire blanket, fire extinguishers and mercury spill kits).
• Keep a list of emergency phone numbers near the phone.
• Conduct appropriate safety and evacuation drills on a regular basis.
• Explain in detail to students the consequences of violating safety rules and procedures.

Maintenance of Chemicals

• Perform regular inventory inspections of chemicals.
• Update the chemical inventory at least annually, or as requested by the administration. Provide a copy of the chemical inventory to the local emergency responders (i.e., fire department).
• Do not store food and drink with any chemicals.
• If possible, keep all chemicals in their original containers.
• Make sure all chemicals and reagents are labeled.
• Do not store chemicals on the lab bench, on the floor, or in the laboratory chemical hood.
• Ensure chemicals not in use are stored in a locked facility with limited access.
• Know the storage, handling, and disposal requirements for each chemical used.
• Make certain chemicals are disposed of properly. Consult the label and the Material Safety Data Sheet for disposal information and always follow appropriate chemical disposal regulations.

Preparing for Laboratory Activities

• Before each activity in the laboratory, weigh the potential risk factors against the educational value.
• Have an understanding of all the potential hazards of the materials, the process, and the equipment involved in every laboratory activity.
• Inspect all equipment/apparatus in the laboratory before use.
• Before entering the laboratory, instruct students on all laboratory procedures that will be conducted.
• Discuss all safety concerns and potential hazards related to the laboratory work that students will be performing before starting the work. Document in lesson plan book.

Ensuring Appropriate Laboratory Conduct

• Be a model for good safety conduct for students to follow.
• Make sure students are wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (i.e., chemical splash goggles, laboratory aprons or coats, and gloves).
• Enforce all safety rules and procedures at all times.
• Never leave students unsupervised in the laboratory.
• Never allow unauthorized visitors to enter the laboratory.
• Never allow students to take chemicals out of the laboratory.
• Never permit smoking, food, beverages, or gum in the laboratory.

Links:  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-107/

 

PDF Version: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-107/pdfs/2007-107.pdf

 

As a lawyer, a parent and a citizen I support bright line responsibilities rather than granting people a free pass to be irresponsible. I don’t support tort reform that grants blanket immunity to corporate America because it weakens our system and the American way of life. I can’t understand why I should support corporate freedom from responsibilities while working people continue to do the right thing and follow the rules?  America will remain strong so long as everyone has lines in the sand and they are held accountable. Special interests support special rights for a select few. That is wrong for one and for all of us.