Laboratory Safety/Using Emergency Equipment

1. Know where all the emergency equipments are located.
2. To use the shower/eyewash, simply pull down the chain. For a special station designed only for eyewash, there is usually a foot petal you stand on to activate it. An uninjured neighbor should assist the person to the shower/eyewash.
3. To use the fire blanket, completely cover the flames with the blanket until fire goes out. Obviously, the fire should be small enough to be covered by the blanket. Otherwise, use the fire extinguisher. Use the fire blanket to cover someone who just used the shower since their cloth would be wet and partially burned.
4. Before using the fire extinguisher, you should know what class of fire extinguisher it is. There are three main classes with class A being suitable for regular combustible fires such as plastics or rubber, class B being suitable for oil based fires such as gasoline and

class C being suitable for electrical fires. DO NOT USE CLASS A EXTINGUISHER FOR ELECTRICAL FIRES.Class A extinguisher is made up of high pressure water so there is a risk of electrical shock. Pull off the metal safety pin and aim at the base of the fire, not at the flame itself. You should be trying to put out the source of the fire, which is much more effective.

Kennedy, Shelia, and John Palmer. Chemistry Lab Safety Manual. UCSD, 2010. eBook.