Safety The First Step to Field & Lab Work
Safety Objectives
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List and personalize essential laboratory and field safety procedures.
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Distinguish between laboratory and field work.
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List essential considerations in planning field work.
Laboratory and field work begins with safety, and that is where we are starting in this section.
Laboratory Work
When you think of laboratory work, what do you think of?
Reminder: a photo of paper ephemera is a cue to access past experiences and knowledge.
Common responses we’ve heard include:
equipment: beakers, bunsen burners, scales, microscopes.
furniture: lab benches, stools, hoods, safety showers.
specimens: dissected animals, fossils, tanks.
Unfortunately, the people described are often sterotypically similar, possibly due to only a few well-know scientists like Einstein, Newton, or Darwin.
Science is richer with diverse perspectives. There are many ways to participate in science: helping your kids with their science homework, working in a community garden, or voting on science-related issues.
We hope everyone will feel included in the scientific endeavor.
Laboratories are settings where you can control variables (like light, temperature, and noise) and have easy access to needed equipment.
These are home-made perfumes in vials. Safety procedures can be used for a variety of tasks beyond this course.
You can use a kitchen, bathroom, or even a corner is a closet. The key is to not leave any potential safety hazards behind. For example, not leaving animal wastes in your fridge.
In our case, we have a one-room house. Not a one-bedroom house, a studio, it’s like the book “Little House on the Prairie” without the loft. So we have a small cargo container for our animals and making teaching videos. Yes, we have labs on campus, but we want to demonstrate that scientific inquiry does not require a typical university setting.
Cargo Container
The cargo container is weather-proof and largely sound-proof. Mark installed electrical, heating, and cooling and there is a hose bib for water outside.
Work Space
Having a space where you can leave your study and teaching materials out saves time and a lot of frustration.
Before any laboratory or field work,
safety comes first.
We will be looking at safety from different perspectives throughout this guide.
In one of this week’s two media pieces, you will be building a field kit that you can use in this course and/or when we leave pandemic isolation. One of the components will be a safety checklist.
Include in your safety checklist:
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Safety procedures for both the laboratory (indoors) and field (outdoors).
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Personalized procedures for your location and equipment available. For example, if you use electrical equipment near water in your bathroom, that probably needs a line in your checklist.
This is Lesley’s checklist. Some of the things are personal based on past experiences.
You can adopt any procedures/ideas that seem appropriate for your use. You are designing a checklist for your own locations, situations, and personal behaviors.
Your safety checklist can have headers, or a different organization. Whatever makes it most effective for use. If you want to add a covid protocol, this is the place.
- Avoid potentially hazardous situations, even if it means missing a photo or video opportunity.
- Consider the safety of other people and animals at all times, especially our cats.
- Clean up work spaces, don’t leave any potentially dangerous materials behind.
- Communicate any safety concerns to Mark or whoever else may be involved.
- Follow safety directions on signs, in activities, and on product labels.
- Carry a safety kit everywhere, all the time.
- Wasp sting? Immediately take benadryl and prednisone. Epipen if necessary.
- Seek medical assistance if at all unsure about treatment.
- Wear gloves when needed; wash hands frequently.
- Wear a mask, especially while working around potential rodent feces.
- Wear protective footwear and clothing, including sun hats and long sleeves.
- Watch loose hair and clothing around animals, chemicals, and flames.
- Wear safety goggles or other protective eyewear when working with chemicals or walking along trails with low-lying branches.
- Take breaks, avoid over-exertion and use cane even if feeling great.
- Avoid “playing” with animals to reduce chance of unintentional injury (to me and/or the animals).
- It should be obvious, but don’t taste or smell without care to reduce hazard.
- Don’t eat or drink around chemicals, animals, or waste products.
- Add new safety procedures when needed.
We recommend carrying a safety kit at all times when completing lab and field work in this course. Pre-made kits are inexpensive and readily available; the materials in this video cost less than $20 and last a long time.
Since you will be observing and potentially interacting with animals in this course, consider safety concerns of working with potentially unpredictable organisms.
In our case, most injuries come accidentally playing with our Bengal cats. We’ll have more on their genetics and behaviors in an upcoming guide. All scratches need to be be cleaned and treated as needed, so we include cleaning wipes in our home safety kit.
Field Work
Field work is the term used for research outside of the laboratory or library. This means leaving the controlled and convenient lab setting for the unpredictable complexity of nature.
In the field, new variables can be found, and hypotheses can be tested in real-world conditions.
Let’s start with an overview of field work considerations.
Field Work
Effective planning includes:
- Selection of locations that provide information (data) on research organisms
- Minimal cost in fuel and equipment wear and tear
- A schedule of tasks to be completed
- A materials list, including necessary field kits
- Safety considerations specific to the location
In planning for this course, we selected locations with a combination of animals in their natural habitats and captive animals in zoos, safaris, and rehabilitation centers.
You will be studying animals on location
Start thinking about where you can find animals, large or small, close to the location(s) you will be in during this course. These locations can be indoors and outdoors. A variety of locations and animals may provide better data, but are not required. Further information on site selection will be provided in the next module.
If you are unable to get outdoors due to the pandemic, don’t worry. We will have alternative (and fun!) assignments available for you as well.
While conducting field work, pay special attention to traffic. People often see what they expect to see, and a driver may not expect to see you along a road.
Note: there is a dead animal at the end of this video.
Follow posted signs and directions
We don’t always have all of the information about a location. Assume warnings are posted for a reason.
Preparation, practice, and following directions works for all forms of safety.
The next section expands on field work with an overview of habitats where animals are found.
Check your knowledge. Can you:
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list and personalize essential laboratory and field safety procedures?
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distinguish between laboratory and field work?
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list essential considerations in planning field work?
Go back to the Research Guide Overview
Go forward to the Field Work Page
Research Lecture Guide Contents
The material from this guide and corresponding lecture is assessed on the weekly quiz.
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Module 1 Overview
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