ACS offers online course on chemical safety

The American Chemical Society Office of Safety Programs is offering an online course on chemical safety that’s free to the public. The target audience is undergraduate chemistry students who have completed two semesters of general chemistry and one semester of organic chemistry, but the course is open to anyone wanting to increase their knowledge about risk-based chemical safety. The course incorporates learning objectives from the “Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety” published by the Committee on Chemical Safety and the Committee on Professional Training and is based on the principles of RAMP: recognize hazards, assess the risks from the hazards, minimize and manage the risks, and prepare for the unexpected and emergencies.

The self-paced course includes 17 units and takes approximately 15 h to complete. Participants will learn the components of a strong safety culture, how to recognize hazards in the laboratory, methods to minimize hazards and risks in the laboratory, processes needed to plan for emergencies, and how to apply the principles of RAMP to laboratory operations. Attendees will receive a certificate. Email safety@acs.org for details, and enroll at www.acs.org/content/acs/en/chemical-safety/resources/safety-news.html.