Safety at the Chemical Laboratory

Code:

Q4075

Acronym:

Q4075

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Chemistry

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Advanced Methods and Accreditation in Chemical Analysis

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M:MA3Q	6	Official study plan since 2025/2026	1	-	3	21	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

To understand the framework governing higher education and research institutions within the Legal Regime for the Promotion of Safety and Health at Work (OSH), and its implications for Laboratory Safety and Hygiene.

To revise and complement essential information about safety in chemistry laboratories.

To provide the students with a broad interdisciplinary knowledge concerning safety in chemistry laboratories.

To provide the students with ability of effective practical intervention in important prevention actions and in case of accident.

Learning outcomes and competences

It is intended to give the students a broad view of several aspects of safety in chemistry laboratories.

To develop skills of research and discussion of complementary information on chemical safety, in particular European legislation information search and its critical analysis.

The students are also encouraged to contribute with complementary information about the subject.

To develop self-learning methodologies and skills of problem analysis, in different areas of chemical safety.

It is intended that the students develop projects based on practical examples of safety issues, through autonomous work.

Working method

Presencial

Program

A. The Legal Framework for Occupational Safety and Health

A.1. General principles and the system for the prevention of occupational risks.
A.2. General duties of the employer and the worker.
A.3. Protection of genetic heritage.
A.4. Occupational safety and health services and occupational health services.


B. Coordination between the legal framework and internal institutional procedures. The example of FCUP.

B.1. Application of knowledge about the institutional organisation of Laboratory Safety and Hygiene (LSH) to simulated practical contexts.
Planning and implementation of a Workshop open to the FCUP laboratory community.


C. The most common risks in chemical laboratories

C.1. Concept of risk and risk analysis.
C.2. “General” risks.
C.3. Physical risks.
C.4. Ergonomic, psychosocial and organisational risks.
C.5. Major chemical risks.
C.5.1. Fire risk.
C.5.2. Risk of accidents involving substances with acute toxicity to health or the environment.
C.5.3. Risk of serious health damage from exposure to carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances.
C.5.4. Risk of serious injuries: ocular, skin and others.


D. Communication of chemical risks. Inventory, labelling and storage of substances and mixtures.

D.1. The GHS system: pictograms, hazard and precautionary statements, and safety data sheets.
D.2. Laboratory labelling.
D.3. Classification of mixtures prepared in the laboratory.
D.4. Safe storage of hazardous materials.


E. General ventilation and local exhaust systems

E.1. Verification of operability and use of laboratory fume cupboards.
E.2. Fume cupboards for perchloric acid and glove boxes.


F. Acutely toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances

F.1. The legal obligation to consider, in advance, the possibility of substitution.
F.2. Safe handling, storage and disposal.


G. Prior planning of new experimental protocols


H. Fire risk in the laboratory

H.1. Self-protection measures under the fire safety legislation for buildings.
H.2. Laboratory prevention measures focusing on the control of fuels and ignition sources.
H.3. Principles and practices of fire extinguishing using a fire blanket, extinguisher and first-intervention hose reel.


I. Planning and preparation of a model laboratory

Mandatory literature

T.S.S. Dikshith; Handbook of Chemicals and Safety, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2011
CCSL; Manual de Segurança em Laboratório da FCUP, 2025 (https://sigarra.up.pt/fcup/pt/WEB_BASE.GERA_PAGINA?P_pagina=1055595)

Complementary Bibliography

Byrd Daniel M.; Introduction to risk analysis. ISBN: 9780865876965
Furr A. Keith; CRC Handbook of laboratory safety. ISBN: 0-8493-2518-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

The contact time with the lecturer(s) will consist of theoretical-practical sessions, practical sessions, tutorials and workshops, all of which require compulsory attendance.

The theoretical-practical sessions, particularly the initial ones, may take on a more expository nature when focused on the conceptual and regulatory framework of the practical activities. They may also include lectures given by guest specialists. Resources such as slides, videos, texts and other materials will be used, with regular encouragement of student interaction.

The practical sessions, organised in coordination with the theoretical-practical sessions, will take place in a controlled laboratory environment or outside the building (in the case of fire-extinguishing practice). Topics involving high risk, such as the safe handling and storage of CMR substances, will be addressed through simulations using safe substitutes. In the various practical sessions, students will have the opportunity to discuss and apply good laboratory safety and hygiene practices, promoting a heuristic internalisation of these practices.

The tutorial sessions are intended to support the working groups in the development of their projects.

The (two) workshop sessions will consist of the presentation of projects closely connected to the FCUP laboratory community and will therefore be open to that same community. One of them will focus on the presentation of short pre-recorded or live dramatizations illustrating the institutional organisation of Laboratory Safety and Hygiene (LSH) in practical contexts. The other session will be devoted to the public presentation of the various components installed in the model laboratory for good LSH practices.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	15,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	70,00
Trabalho laboratorial	15,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	21,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

It is mandatory to comply with the attendance in classes.

The students must attend a minimum of 75% of the total number of classe.

Calculation formula of final grade

Assessment does not include a final exam and is entirely based on the completion and presentation of various types of coursework, according to the following table:

Accordingly, the final grade (FG) will be calculated using the following formula:

FG = 0.35×C₁ + 0.35×C₂ + 0.10×C₃ + 0.10×C₄ + 0.10×C₅

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

All the omissive situations will be handled through a complimentary oral exam.

Classification improvement

Given the pratical character of the course, improvement of classification is possible only by a new inscription.