Cutting edge research and a new $56 million state-of-the-art facility make Queen's Chemistry an exciting environment for graduate students.

Safety is the responsibility of everyone who works in the Department of Chemistry. This includes all faculty, staff, graduate students, researchers and visitors to the Department. These pages are intended to cover many of the common or general hazards associated with work in the Department and must be read and adhered to by everyone working in the Department. It cannot be assumed that the warnings or rules laid out in these pages are necessarily complete for dealing with specific chemical hazards; additional information or measures may be required and the appropriate information sources should be consulted. It is the responsibility of individual supervisors to ensure the necessary procedures and protocols are both established and followed in their respective work areas.

Personal safety depends upon a positive attitude towards safety as well as good, informed judgment on the part of each individual working in the Department. Most health and safety problems in the laboratory can be avoided by practicing good housekeeping and common sense based upon informed knowledge of the hazards.

Monthly safety inspections of specific areas of the Department are carried out such that all of the Department is inspected at least twice a year. The inspections are carried by members of the Local Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (hereafter referred to as the Department Safety Committee). Inspection reports are filed with the Department Safety Officer. Individual supervisors or the Administrative Assistant will be contacted by the Safety Committee to deal with any problems that may arise as a consequence of these inspections.