Australia's Science Forum

Recently I watched a DVD called working in science .( circa 2008) In one segment , the labbie was showing her prep room . She said she had all her chemicals in special storage groups just like she did in her Chem store room.

I've been reading back through all the forums here trying to establish if anyone else does it...and indeed I got the impression some do .We have quite a few droppers and bulk solutions of low concentration in our prep room .

So is it allowed ,are there some chems that can or can't .

chemicals are to be in their classes eg class 3 class 5.1 toxic class 8 etc etc. How ever small dropper bottles can live together in a cupboard. Solids above the ground, liquids nearer the floor. Sodium Hydroxide on its own, it is not friends with HCL, or the varpour are not friends I should say.

So yes the same as the chem store.

Hazardous chemicals need to be securely stored. You need to consider if your prep room is "secure" i.e. is it always locked; who has access to the room; where are they in the prep room; what volumes are being stored there? As with everything - you need to do a risk assessment to determine if the risk is low and the consequences are minor.

All my chemicals stay in the locked storeroom until needed, even low molarity dropper bottles as students appear in the prep rooms without warning. I don't lock either prep room except at break time or the end of day as the teachers "forget" to order items and they are responsible for the pick up and return of pracs. and textbooks are stored in one of the prep rooms.

Thanks. You all made sense. Might have to re-evaluate a few things .

A query about Phenolthalien Droppers , as this is basically all alcohol , then should they definitely need to be stored in the Flammables cupboard .

Mine are kept in the flammables cupboard.