Many people will be simultaneously working on a diverse group of projects in the Advanced Integrated Laboratory course. Concern for others and good communication skills will be imperative. Here are some specific suggestions that will help us all survive and even thrive in this potentially chaotic atmosphere:
All reagents, solvents, glassware, etc. left unused between lab periods must be stored in the student's labeled litter box, in the designated storage cabinet. Items not stored in litter boxes in cabinets are subject to disposal or removal. If you need to leave something sitting out or set up, label it with a big sign explaining who you are, what the stuff is, and when you will be back. The instructor should also initial your sign to acknowledge their approval. Clean up thoroughly at the end of each working period. Label all of your samples and glassware with a distinctive color of tape (on which you write all the information required under Waste Handling Guidelines.) At the end of each working period, chemicals should be returned to the stockroom or placed in the student litter box in a cabinet.
Please be VERY conscious of what you touch while wearing gloves. You are presumably wearing gloves to protect your own hands from something. Therefore, it is important for the physical and psychological comfort of others that you not use your (potentially contaminated) gloved hands to touch items that other users will subsequently touch without gloves! (stockroom bottles, keyboards, door handles, etc.)
Keep appropriate waste containers ready from the beginning of a project, and dispose of wastes as you go along.
!!!!Clean up the balance areas scrupulously after each use!!! A brush is provided. This avoids cross-contamination between researchers, potential hazards to subsequent users, and corrosion of the balance pan.
Be faithful about signing in and out on the instrument logs, and noting any problems or unusual instrument behaviors in the log as well. If maintenance is required, leave a big note in the log, with your name, and inform the person listed at the front of the log as "maintenance coordinator."
When you notice that we are running out of something (compressed gases, gloves, etc.), or realize that there is something that needs to be ordered, write it down on the chalkboard list in Room 206.
While in shared lab space, be sensitive to the feelings of others regarding musical choices, conversation topics, etc.
If you aren't sure about something, ASK!!!
If you see a better way to do something, SUGGEST!!!