Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE):
- Safety Goggles: Protect your eyes from chemical splashes and projectiles. These should be worn at all times when working with chemicals.
- Lab Coat or Apron: Protects your clothing and skin from spills.
- Gloves: Used when handling corrosive, irritating, or otherwise hazardous chemicals.

Know the location of safety equipment: Eye wash station, safety shower, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and fume hood.

Read and understand all instructions before starting an experiment.
Never eat, drink, or chew gum in the lab. Food and drink can become contaminated.
Never taste or directly smell chemicals. Use a wafting motion to cautiously smell vapors.

Keep your workspace clean and organized.
Tie back long hair and secure loose clothing.
Report all accidents, spills, or broken glassware to your teacher immediately.
Dispose of chemicals properly as instructed by your teacher.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before leaving the lab.

Hazard Pictograms (GHS Symbols): These are standardized symbols that provide quick visual warnings about the hazards associated with chemicals. You will see these on chemical bottles and in safety data sheets.
- Flame: Flammable materials (liquids, solids, gases) that can catch fire easily.
- Exploding Bomb: Explosives, self-reactive substances, organic peroxides.
- Corrosion: Corrosive to metals, skin, and eyes. Causes severe burns.
- Gas Cylinder: Gases under pressure (e.g., compressed gases, liquefied gases).
- Skull and Crossbones: Acute toxicity (fatal or toxic if swallowed, inhaled, or in contact with skin).
- Health Hazard: May cause specific organ toxicity, aspiration toxicity, respiratory sensitization, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity.
- Exclamation Mark: Irritant (skin and eye), skin sensitizer, acute toxicity (harmful), narcotic effects, respiratory tract irritation, hazardous to the ozone layer (non-mandatory).
- Environment (Dead Fish and Tree): Aquatic toxicity.
- Oxidizer (Flame over Circle): Oxidizing gases, liquids, or solids that can cause or intensify a fire.

Handling:
- Always use the smallest amount of chemical needed.
- Never return unused chemicals to their original containers.
- Hold bottles with two hands when transporting them.
- When diluting acids, always add acid slowly to water, never water to acid, to avoid a dangerous exothermic reaction.
Disposal:
- Follow specific instructions from your teacher for chemical waste disposal.
- Do not pour chemicals down the sink unless explicitly permitted.
- Separate waste into designated containers (e.g., organic waste, inorganic waste, heavy metal waste).
- Broken glass should be disposed of in a designated broken glass container, not the regular trash.

Emergency Procedures:
- Fire: Small fire: Use a fire extinguisher if trained and the fire is contained. Larger fire: Alert your teacher immediately, evacuate the area calmly and quickly. If clothing catches fire: Stop, Drop, and Roll. Use a safety shower if available.
- Chemical Spills: Small spill on skin/clothing: Immediately flush with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. Remove contaminated clothing. Large spill: Alert your teacher immediately. Follow their instructions for containment and cleanup.
- Chemical in Eye: Immediately go to the eyewash station and flush your eyes with copious amounts of water for at least 15 minutes, holding your eyelids open. Seek medical attention.
- Cuts/Burns: Apply appropriate first aid and report to your teacher.
- Evacuation: Know the escape routes and assembly points for your classroom and school.