Chemical Hygiene Plan - Queensborough Community College ...

egistration form and return it to your EHSO. LASER safety reviews, control recommendations,
and medical monitoring are also available upon request.
For additional information regarding LASER safety, please contact your EHS Office or see the
OSHA Safety and Health topics webpage for LASER hazards.
It is the responsibility of the P.I. or laboratory supervisor with class 3b or 4 LASERs in
laboratories under their supervision to ensure that the class 3b or 4 LASERs have been
registered with the EHS Office, and employees using these LASERs have received the
appropriate training.
XX.
PHYSICAL HAZARDS
In addition to the chemical hazards found in laboratories, there are also numerous physical
hazards encountered by laboratory staff on a day-to-day basis. As with chemical hazards, having
good awareness of these hazards, good preplanning, use of personal protective equipment, and
following basic safety rules can go a long way in preventing accidents involving physical
hazards.
It is the responsibility of the P.I. and laboratory supervisor to ensure that staff and students in
laboratories under their supervision are provided with adequate training and information
specific to the physical hazards found within their laboratories.
20.1 Electrical Safety
Electricity travels in closed circuits, and its normal route is through a conductor. Shock occurs
when the body becomes a part of the electric circuit. Electric shock can cause direct injuries
such as electrical burns, arc burns, and thermal contact burns. It can also cause injuries of an
indirect or secondary nature in which involuntary muscle reaction from the electric shock can
cause bruises, bone fractures, and even death resulting from collisions or falls. Shock normally
occurs in one of three ways. The person must be in contact with ground and must contact with:
• Both wires of the electric circuit, or
• One wire of the energized circuit and the ground, or
• A metallic part that has become energized by being in contact with an energized wire.
The severity of the shock received when a person becomes a part of an electric circuit is affected
by three primary factors:
• The amount of current flowing through the body (measured in amperes).
• The path of the current through the body.
• The length of time the body is in the circuit.
Other factors that may affect the severity of shock are the frequency of the current, the phase of
the heart cycle when shock occurs, and the general health of the person prior to shock. The
effects of an electrical shock can range from a barely perceptible tingle to immediate cardiac
arrest. Although there are no absolute limits or even known values that show the exact injury
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