8 Practical Good Housekeeping Practices in Using Fume hoods

As a general rule of thumb, having good housekeeping habits when it comes to using your fume hood helps reduce accidents and ensures that the workplace is safe. Dealing with dangerous chemicals shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be treated with utmost care.

Good housekeeping should be everyone’s responsibility and shouldn’t be left under the care of the janitorial department since they’re not equipped with the necessary training on the handling of hazardous substances and other materials in your work area. In short, it’s not their job to pick up after you.

Here are some good housekeeping practices you can implement in your laboratory:

Do not use the fume hood as a waste disposal mechanism. Apparatus used in a hood should be fitted with condensers, traps, or scrubbers to contain and collect waste solvents, toxic vapors or dust. Proper disposal of waste and code compliance should be practiced.

Limit chemical storage in fume hoods. Keep the smallest amount of chemicals in the hood needed to conduct the procedure at hand.

 Do not use the hood as a storage area. Items can block airflow and interfere with containment. Store hazardous chemicals such as flammable liquids in an approved safety cabinet.

Do not leave uncapped bottled of reagents in a hood. Although a hood is used to exhaust fumes out of the laboratory, minimizing the amount of evaporation and fuming is desirable for the environment and operator safety.

Always use good housekeeping techniques to maintain the hood at optimal performance levels. Excessive storage of materials or equipment can cause eddy currents or reverse flow resulting in contaminants escaping from the hood.

Be alert to open containers of flammable liquids near ignition sources. Always ensure that incompatible reagents are separated to avoid unwanted accidents.

Do not eat while working in the laboratory. Keep food, drinks, and cigarettes out of the work area. They can be contaminated by chemicals and might attract pests.

Always clean chemical spills right away. Refer to the chemical’s material safety data sheet (MSDS) and company’s policy for proper decontamination.

Again, as the old adage saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Keep the habits of good housekeeping and you’ll make the lab a safe place for everyone!