John R. Young 819 Mayfair Drive Princeton, Illinois 61356
I
I
A Second Survey of Safety in Minois High School Laboratories
In the December 1970 issue of
THIS
JOURNAL, an article can he found concerningsafety in the high-school chemistry laboratories of Illinois.' Though that article's main objective was the establishment of a frequency tabulation noting the most common lahoratory accidents encountered in the chemistry laboratories of Illinois high schools during the 1968-69 school year, a number of other related facts were simultaneously obtained. These additional facts led to the formation of a second survey initiated in October of 1970. The new survey was devised in a manner that would enable correlations to be drawn between the number of accidents noted by the instructor per class per week and each of the following: age of the instructor, number of years of experience in teaching chemistry, sex of the instructor, present degree held, type of chemistry course taught, population of the class involved, total size of the laboratory area, and the number of square feet of laboratory space available per student. Though the second survey was administered in a similar manner as the first one undertaken in 1970, it was purposely directed to a more diversified sample of participants. The major difference between the new survey and the first one can be found in the way the number of encounters per class per week were grouped. I n the new survey these were noted as: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 or more encounters. The eucounters were to include both minor accidents, i.e., cuts, scratches, burns, etc., and major accidents, i.e., ones needing medical aid. These clarifications enabled the gathering of more usable data than previously obtained. Some of the reasons for accidents quoted in the first survey were reinforced by the more specific data of the second survey. The facts obtained are listed below for your analysis and evaluation. 1 ) The sample consisted of 90 participants-94.4% male. 2) The mean student population of the schools represented was calculated to be 1340 students. 3) The survey was based upon 289 chemistry classes in Illinois with 6264 students participating-an average of 21.7 pupils per class. 4) At least a masters degree was held by 70% of those surveyed. 5) Approximate lecture time per day was 54 min; spproximate laboratory time per week was 88 min. 6) There were a total of 156 major accidents reported in the survey during 1969-70. This is an average of 0.54 major aecidents per class per year or about 1 major accident per 40 students per year. 7) The average laboratory area, was determined to be approximately 821 ft' or about B room with approximate dimene 21 pupils. sions of 25 X 33 ft. This is adequate for a class s i ~ of 8) Crowded conditions did exist for one-third of the instructors surveyed.
9) Wearing safety glasses is enforced by 86.7%; however, 66.7% of these instructors find it difficult to enforce. 10) Of the instructors surveyed, 56.6% said that they were not familiar with the extent and conditions necessary for proven liability against a chemistry instructor when he is in a laboratory situation. 11) Of all reported responses, 65.3% indicate a t least 1accident per class per week. Of this percentage, 50.7% referred to 1 accident and 14.6% indicated more than 1 accident encounter. 12) Evidence showed that the percentage of total accidents observed by instructors holding a Bachelors degree, a Masters degree, or a PhD are approximately the same. 13) The accident encounter of the female instructor was slightly lower than the male. 14) Correlations between the type of course taught and the number of accidents encountered did show that the Chem Study curriculum has a noticeably lower ohserved rate than that of the traditional curriculum. 15) The highest percentage of accidents occurred with instructors who were 25 or younger followed by a. decline in accidents of those instructors between the ages of 25 to 34. Another sudden rise a ~ o e a r e din the ~ercentaeeof encounters fnr
experience. A gradual rise of accidents between &13 $ears of experience led to a sudden rise between 14-19 years of experience. However, after the 19th year of experience the observed accident encounters decreased. 17) When there is an increase in the amount of available laboratory space, not including lecture area., there exists a decrease in the number of secident encounters. 18) When the number of square feet per student is less than 41 itz, the accident potential of a class increases greatly. From 41 ftz per student or more, the rate of accident encounters remains relatively constant. 19) There is a decisive rise in the percentage of total accident encounters when there is an increase in class size. A reasonable and safe class size was determined to be 22 students.
With the help and coordination of universities and administrators, many of the above problems can he minimized or entirely eliminated. Though no survey can pinpoint the exact cause of every accident due to the many variables present, it is believed that this survey did include some of the factors on which most accidents are based. Also, even though the survey did not extend itself to all the chemistry teachers of Illinois, it did encompass enough of the varied situations and qualifications so that it could give adequate as well as reliable results. I would like to thank those members of the Illinois Chemistry Teachers Association who took the time to answer and return the completed survey on which this article is based. Without their help, this study would have been impossible. YOUNG, JOHN R.,J. CHEM.EDUC., 47, A829 (1970). Volume
49, Number I, January 1972
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