Lab Safety Introduction

The faculty and staff at SUNY Geneseo involved in teaching undergraduate chemistry consider safety in the laboratory to be a top priority. Awareness, attitude, and knowledge are all required to ensure a safe environment for yourself and others in the lab. Here, you will find a number of resources that will help you to understand the kinds of hazards present in a lab setting, how the presence of those hazards is communicated, and what measures you can take to protect yourself.

We've broken it down for you in detail within the following pages:

The General Lab Safety and the Chemical Safety information pertains specifically to the Chemistry teaching labs, and resources which students in these labs may find useful. This information should be regarded as supplementary to the Department of Chemistry's safety policy, and not as a substitute!

If you are a Geneseo student enrolled in a chemistry lab class, please follow this link to the Chemistry Laboratory Safety Rules page. The LSR page contains the Chemistry Department's official policy on student safety in the lab.

Among other resources, we also offer you the following:

It is strongly recommended that you read the "Right to Know" Safety Information for Undergraduate Students. This document will give you specific laboratory safety instructions to be observed while in class. You are responsible for knowing the contents of this document. If you fail to comply with the instructions listed therein, you may find yourself subject to disciplinary action, up to and including ejection from the class.