One of the things ‘going on’ this academic year is a project
investigating safety in the laboratory. We’re not trying to come
up with better lab rules, I think that’s one of the biggest
differences. We all comment that in the chemistry lab students
(and sometimes staff) do very bizarre things, but more lab rules
don’t seem to make a different to the number of things like that
which occur. In first year, it makes sense to have a clear set
of lab rules. Following them should allow the students to work
in comparative safety, learn how to complete risk assessments
but also learn how to be in the lab and how to do experiments.
If you include full risk assessments on top of a standard diet
of first year experiments, the cognitive demand is sky high.
Rules have their place and provide adequate baseline for
behaviour in a lab environment. They also aid compliance with
various legislative aspects of health and safety. Rules inhibit
learning to think about lab safety in a more creative and
adaptable way: rules inhibit