RISK ASSESSMENT

Footscray City College

Chemical Reactions and Equations

Written by: Jaclyn Munro

Commenced on: 18 Aug 2015

Expires: 18 Nov 2016

Classes for which experiment is required

Teacher: Frank Raneri (us er code 1)

Year Group: 10 Chemis try

Room

Period

CHEM

1-2

Date
Thu 20/8/15

The prac will commence around 9:30, i will

as s is t with s et up before clas s
Items to be prepared by laboratory technician (user code 1)
We will need 5 of each item.
Experiments will be s et up on each work s tation.
And s tudents will rotate between each s tation
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

marble chips
0.1 M HCl
0.1M AgNO3
0.1M NaCl
0.1M HNO3
0.1M NaHCO3
0.1M H2SO4
0.1M KOH
Magnes ium Ribbon
Univers al Indicator

1
1
1
1
5
5
5

x
x
x
x
x
x
x

Buns en burner
Matches
Tripod
Clay triangle
crucible
lid
Tes t tubes and Tes t tube rack

Procedure or reference, including variations

Year 10 Chemis try Res ource Booklet
Pages : 63-64

Equipment to be used
bunsen burner
Potential hazards
Roaring ame is very hot and can caus e s evere burns .
Rapid pas s age of hand through fully luminous ame
us ually does not res ult in a burn. Roaring buns en burner
may "burn back" at low gas ow, with ame emerging
from air holes in bas e; this makes the bas e of the
burner hot to touch and liable to caus e burns . Gas from
gas tap or from end of rubber tube burns with large
luminous ame, likely to caus e burns . Rubber hos e is
eas ily melted by ame from burner, e.g. if burner
knocked over, res ulting in re from burn hole in tube.
Ens ure hair is tied back, s o does not catch alight.

Standard handling procedures

Ins pect and clean the jet and bas e of buns en burners
regularly. Ins pect and replace tube whenever any s ign of
wear or damage is noticed. Us e only hos es of the
correct s ize to ens ure a comfortable t on both buns en
burner and gas tap.

crucible
Potential hazards
Retains heat for a long time after heating to high
temperature with a buns en burner, es pecially if contents
have s ignicant mas s . Avoid inhalation of fumes emitted
during heating.

Standard handling procedures

Ins pect and dis card any chipped or cracked crucibles no
matter how s mall the damage, s ince they may break
during heating, res ulting in s pillage of hot material.

pipeclay triangle
Potential hazards
End of twis ted wire can s cratch. Pipeclay triangle can be
thrown, ninja-s tyle; pos s ibility of eye injury.

test tube stand

Standard handling procedures

Replace triangles with broken clay pipes .

test tube stand

Potential hazards
Wooden tes t tube rack is ammable and may catch re if
too near buns en ame. Wooden tes t tube rack may
contain s plinters .

test tube, small (~75 x 8 mm), soda glass

Potential hazards
Breakage of tes t tubes . Cuts from chipped tes t-tube
rims . Melts at red heat in roaring buns en ame (s odium
fus ion tes t) and s hatters when dropped into water; us e
gauze to protect agains t ying glas s fragments .

Standard handling procedures

Ins pect and dis card any damaged tes t tubes . Sweep up
broken glas s with brus h and dus tpan; do not us e
ngers .

tongs, crucible
Potential hazards
Pos s ibility of burns as tongs retain heat. Us e heatproof
gloves if hot.

Chemicals to be used and produced

calcium carbonate (limes tone, marble chips , calcite, chalk (rock), lime (limes tone))
Clas s : nc

PG: none

K-12

CaCO 3

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5,6

CAS : 471-34-1

Potential hazards
Harmles s .

hydrochloric acid solution, <0.2 M (<1% wt/wt)

Clas s : nc

PG: none

7-12

HCl(aq)

Us ers : 1,2,(3),5

CAS : 7647-01-0

Potential hazards
Not hazardous . Skin irritant.

magnesium (magnes ium metal, magnes ium ribbon, magnes ium turnings )
Clas s : 4.1

PG: III

7-12

Us ers : 1,2,5

Potential hazards
Burns with white-hot ame; UV radiation emitted from
ame may caus e eye damage; do not allow s tudents to
view ame from clos e dis tance; otherwis e harmles s .
Reaction with ethanol may be violent after a long
induction period. Reactions of magnes ium with
dichromate s alts , nitrate s alts , s ulfur, phos phorus or
halogenated s olvents can be dangerous ly violent.
Reaction of magnes ium with s ilica (s and) to form s ilicon
may be dangerous ly exothermic if the s ilica is not
completely dry. Do not us e magnes ium as an alternative
to aluminium in the thermite reaction; the reaction is
dangerous ly explos ive. Magnes ium ribbon can, however,
be us ed as a fus e for the thermite reaction.

Mg
UN: 1869

Standard handling procedures

Keep containers tightly s ealed to prevent corros ion.

nitric acid solution, <0.2 M (<1% wt/wt)

Clas s : nc

PG: none

7-12

CAS : 7439-95-4

HNO 3(aq)

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5

CAS : 7697-37-2

Potential hazards
Slightly toxic. Do not inges t.

potassium hydroxide (caus tic potas h)

Clas s : 8

PG: II

11-12

KOH
Us ers : 1,2,5

Potential hazards
EXTREMELY CORROSIVE TO SKIN AND EYES; EXTREMELY
CORROSIVE TO GUT; releas es heat when dis s s olved in
water. Reaction of hot concentrated s olutions with the
s urface of the eye is s o rapid that rs t-aid was hing of
eye with water cannot be performed fas t enough to
prevent damage to the cornea, res ulting in blindnes s .

UN: 1813

CAS : 1310-58-3

UN: 1493

CAS : 7761-88-8

Standard handling procedures

WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!

silver nitrate
Clas s : 5.1

AgNO 3
PG: II

7-12

Us ers : 1,2,3,5

Potential hazards
Toxic; s tains s kin black; corros ive to s kin; caus es
blindnes s if concentrated s olution or s olid s plas hed in
eyes , due to depos ition of s ilver particles on s urface of
cornea. Forms explos ive mixtures with combus tible
materials (s uch as s ulfur, phos phorus , ethanol and
metal powders ) and with organic compounds .

sodium chloride (s alt, s ea s alt, table s alt, common s alt, s alt, table, s alt, common)
Clas s : nc

PG: none

K-12

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5,6

NaCl
CAS : 7647-14-5

Potential hazards
Harmles s .

sodium hydrogen carbonate (s odium bicarbonate, baking s oda, bicarbonate of s oda)

Clas s : nc

PG: none

K-12

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5,6

NaHCO 3
CAS : 144-55-8

Potential hazards
Harmles s .

sulfuric acid solution, <0.5 M (<5% wt/wt)

H2SO 4(aq)

Clas s : nc

CAS : 7664-93-9

PG: none

7-12

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5

Potential hazards
Corros ive; s trongly acidic; do not inges t.

universal indicator
Clas s : 3

PG: II

7-12

Us ers : 1,2,3,4,5

UN: 1993

Potential hazards
Flammable due to organic s olvent; moderately toxic; us e
dilute s olutions .

Others
Safety Glas s es
Gloves
Lab Coats

Knowledge
I have read and unders tood the potential hazards and s tandard handling procedures of all the equipment, chemicals
and living organis ms .
I have read and unders tood the (Material) Safety Data Sheets for all chemicals us ed and produced.
I have copies of the (Material) Safety Data Sheets of all the chemicals available in or near the laboratory.

Risk assessment
I have cons idered the ris ks of:
re
explos ion
chemicals in eyes
inhalation of gas /dus t
chemicals on s kin
runaway reaction

breakage of equipment
cuts from equipment
s harp objects
rotating equipment
vibration and nois e
pres s ure

electrical s hock
es cape of pathogens
heavy lifting
s lipping, tripping, falling
falling objects
heat and cold

radiation
was te dis pos al
inappropriate behaviour
allergies
s pecial needs
other ris ks

Certication by Teacher
I have as s es s ed the ris ks as s ociated with performing this experiment in the clas s room on the bas is of likelihood and
cons equences us ing the School's ris k matrix, according to International Organization for Standardization Standard ISO
31000:2009 and the Ris k Management Guidelines , HB 436:2013.
I cons ider the inherent level of ris k (ris k level without control meas ures ) to be:
Low ris k

Medium risk

High ris k

Extreme ris k

Control meas ures :

Additional meas ures : s afety glas s es , gloves , lab coat
With the s pecied control meas ures in place, I have found that all the ris ks are "low ris k". Ris ks will therefore be
managed by routine procedures in the clas s room, in combination with the s pecied control meas ures .
Electronic Signature: Jaclyn Munro

Date: 18 Aug 2015

You have provided an electronic s ignature which is the equivalent of s igning your name with a pen and as s uch will
cons titute a legally binding agreement between the relevant parties . We can give no warranty in res pect to fraud or

s ecurity breach res ulting from the us e of an electronic s ignature.

Certication by Laboratory Technician

I have as s es s ed the ris ks as s ociated with preparing the equipment, chemicals and living organis ms for this experiment
and s ubs equently cleaning up after the experiment and dis pos ing of was tes , on the bas is of likelihood and cons equences
us ing the School's ris k matrix, according to International Organization for Standardization Standard ISO 31000:2009 and
the Ris k Management Guidelines , HB 436:2013.
I cons ider the inherent level of ris k (ris k level without control meas ures ) to be:
Low ris k

Medium ris k

High ris k

Extreme ris k

Where the ris k level is "medium ris k", "high ris k" or "extreme ris k", the following control meas ures will be employed:

Control meas ures (attach further pages as required):

safety glasses

gloves

lab coat

apron

fume cupboard

With the s pecied control meas ures in place, I have found that all the ris ks are "low ris k". Ris ks will therefore be
managed by routine procedures in the laboratory, in combination with the s pecied control meas ures .
Name:

Signature:

Date:

Monitoring and review

This ris k as s es s ment will be monitored us ing comments below and will be reviewed within 15 months from the date of
certication.

Attach further pages as required