BE SAFE! PREVENT FIRES IN YOUR LAB!
DO NOT LEAVE WASTE CONTAINERS OPEN
How a lab fire typically starts:
You need three components to start a fire: Oxygen, Fuel, and Heat. The potential for lab fires a very real problem facing lab managers and chemists today; the only way to prevent the possibility of fire is to remove one or more components from the cycle.
Since one cannot remove oxygen from a lab, and sparks are accidental and therefore hard to predict, the simplest solution would be to remove the “fuel” component by preventing flammable chemical fumes from evaporating into the surrounding environment.
How? Avoid leaving waste containers open — don’t leave them open on a bench top, don’t leave them open in a fume hood!. ALWAYS cap and close a waste container except when you are pouring in waste.
OSHA and EPA regulations prohibit open waste containers, but even if you aren’t subject to regulation, the health and safety of lab personnel is at stake if you do not take this risk seriously. Chemical fumes can be both dangerous to the health of workers and highly flammable, a huge safety risk that can –and has — caused serious explosions and lab fires.