Safety Story

I’m clumsy and things go bad whenever I’m around. One time, I accidentally pushed a glass shelf and every single one of them fell and we payed a total of 5,000 dollars for the damages. So in the morning, I do my morning routine, as usual, ate breakfast, took a bath, and got dressed.

I went to school and took my science class with Mr. Duvall, he taught us about ethical dilemmas in science. It was really interesting and all ears are listening to Mr. Duvall. The one that caught my attention is about “Human-animal hybrids” this are experiments involving animal embryos and human stem cells. However, this violates human dignity and blur the line between species.

We also learned on how to use some laboratory equipment after doing the experiment. I only remembered a few like a microscope which was for seeing things that can’t be seen with a naked eye, or an Erlenmeyer flask that had a flat bottom with a tapered neck, the opening was used for pouring solutions and may be closed with a stopper in order to store samples, one was also the beaker, a simple “container” which is used for heating and stirring liquids, also a test tube which was used to hold, mix, and heat chemical experiments, a test tube rack that used to hold upright multiple test tubes at the same time and finally the most memorable one for me, the funnel which is used to avoid leaking when transferring solutions.

It was time to do some chemistry and after mixing and observing the tubes, two of my classmates from different groups got their hair on fire due to leaking of a dangerous liquid from a cracked tube that has a flame symbol on it. I know that if there’s a fire symbol it can cause fire like what’s happening right now. One of them soaked their jacket with water and hugged their group mate with it while the other group grabbed a fire extinguisher and aimed it directly which some of it got in the victim’s eyes. Honestly, we can’t think straight when we are panicking, try your best to remain calm and think of solutions for your problem. Some of us should’ve ran and ask for help but we just stood there shocked on what’s happening. The other group who used a jacket to hug the victim with wet jacket had the best solution because harmful chemicals might gain access to your body when a fire extinguisher is used when you’re not ready or not in proper position. They both went to the clinic after that and we informed the teacher who just left us for a moment while the incident happened.

So we left the room, I was the last one that got out. I smelled something burning, since I was the last one in the classroom, I checked it out by my own and lucky me it was coming from my desk. Apparently while the whole hair burning happened someone dropped a harmful substance that has a flame symbol again and it caused a small fire that’s spreading fast than I expected. I had to make a choice to use the showers or to use a fire extinguisher, I remembered what my teacher said, to use the showers only when the fire is huge, so I did used the showers. We went back to our classroom and Mr. Duvall thought us more about safety and he discussed about the WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) which is the one I mentioned earlier about the flammable symbol. If there’s a flame symbol it means its flammable, these materials are products that can ignite easily and burn rapidly. Handle it with care and never return unused product to the original container even if it does not appear to be contaminated. The vapors from flammable liquids are usually heavier than air and will accumulate near the ground. He told us about a symbol that has a skull in it which is called acute toxicity. Be careful with this because these products are fatal, toxic or harmful. Always read the label and be sure to understand it carefully to be safe. Avoid generating or releasing toxic product into the air because that will affect the air you breathe in.

Luckily, I listened the days when he was discussing about safety guidelines that I didn’t expect that I’ll do this day and stopped the fire from spreading and etc. Don’t panic at all costs and think wisely, use your common sense at all times. 

fire extinguisher: its located close to the door in room 202

fire blanket: hanging on a cabinet close to the eye wash station

broken glass bucket: top of the counter, in a bucket with a label that says “broken glass”

emergency shut off: left side of the door in room 202

eye wash station: located close to the fire blanket, in a colored green box like

“sharps” bin: top of the counter beside the broken glass bucket. In a red container

safety glasses: back of the classroom in a box with a label “safety glasses”

fume hood: in room 201, designed to limit exposure to hazardous or toxic fumes

emergency shower: in room 201, the the thing that you just pull

fire alarm pull: top of the stairs

first aid attendant (name): Mr Colombo