Australia's Science Forum

Has anyone or any of your teachers had problems when using Risk Assess and gotten a blank page with server hangup on it. I have a teacher who is having problems when she is trying to update her pracs or create new pracs. When she updates the risk assessment she gets this blank page with server hangu...

I gave up using Chemwatch years ago. I just use ChemSupply for most SDS's now. Their site is user friendly. They have SDS's also from other suppliers that provide them with chemicals. If all else fails the internet can usually provide relevant SDS's for any elusive chemical that can't be pinned down.

Thanks Remlap12 for the information on the update. It helps us all to know that there is this information available. Now if only the administrations we work for would take this information on board and use the updated classification designations for our job descriptions.

Has anyone tried Bunnings for disposable nitrile gloves? I have a box of 75, Hercules brand, supposedly extra strong, chemical safe and latex free. I have them tucked away in the compactus so that the teachers don't use them for general distribution. I have normal disposable gloves for general class...

Please google the following: School science laboratory technicians national standards for professional practice 2014. This document will give you an outline of what it is that we do in our jobs. Just adapt it to your own situation.

Thanks for the information Labbie and bigmack. I like to stay at least one step ahead of the WHS person here. Then again retirement is always an option.

Check the search function for this site - swan neck glass tubes. Ian posted an image of an alternative swan neck. Plus there are also other suggestions.

I have Chem Supply listed in my favorites section and just download when I need to update an SDS for a chemical. I don't have to logon to the site. If they don't have an SDS for any obscure chemical that I might still have on my shelf I then do the Google thing.

Are you planning for your retirement? Sorry about that - last day of term. You could try using a carbon block and a Bunsen blue flame. We had a piece of equipment (a type of tube - blowpipe) which enabled the user to make the flame to burn hotter to melt various metal powders, but we haven't done th...

Potassium iodide of any strength 1M or 2M, will eventually turn yellow in its container, usually pale yellow. That colour change happens after a long period of time. Even my 0.1M solution has a faint hint of colour but it has been sitting on the shelf for a long time. So I may have to make up a fres...

Google - FSB06 blood spatter. Hopefully it will give a site (FSB blood spatter) that has a number of blood spatter recipes (Forensic Investigations) you can work with. But you have to make sure that the 06 is included in the search.

Try steel wool. Any way you clean them will be messy. If the copper deposit is extremely stuck on then perhaps remove it by scraping with a single edge blade or a Stanley knife and then use the steel wool.

Macca

Let me know if the guidelines I sent were of any use. Feedback is always useful if it wasn't fit for the purpose that you needed assistance with.

We have a booklet "Science Guidelines September 2009". It was put together for the public school system but all high schools were expected to follow the guidelines. It covers a variety of things including dissections, animal ethics etc. I can't find it online at the moment but I may be abl...

Google - 2014 school science laboratory technicians standards. This document is worth a read. It will give an idea of what you should possibly be classified as and what type of requirements are needed for each classification. Don't hold your breath though if you expect any changes. After 39 years I ...

Missed my anniversary, 16th May 2006. This forum and you lot out there are what keeps a little sanity in my day. If I need cheering up I go to joke of the day or reread some of the posts in the staff tearoom and know that I am not alone in dealing with the day to day crises in lab land. If I need in...

I get most of my SDS from the ChemSupply website. It is quick and easy and most of my chemicals are sourced from there by the supplier that I use. Other easy sources for SDS are ThermoFisher Scientific and Sigma-Aldrich. Also Scharlau (lots of background writing on the printouts) and ScienceLab.com ...

My chemical register is set out on excel spreadsheet. Each class of chemical is set out on different spreadsheets. So Class 3 chemicals have a separate spreadsheet to Class 8 and so on. There is also a separate spreadsheet for the no class (nc) chemicals and separate spreadsheet for indicators. I do...

I have this listed in my favourites section and have no problems getting this site on screen. Other than that I can't help you. Have you tried adding it again to your favourites selection after getting it up on Google?

Being here in the Northern Territory I have used different suppliers from all round the country. It depends what you need to source and who specialises in what you might need. The Science Assist site has a comprehensive list of suppliers across the country and shows what they might supply. Check the...