Chemistry teachers have recently gotten a pretty bad rap. If you’re familiar with the runaway television show, “Breaking Bad,” you’re more than aware that high school chemists have the chops necessary to turn out some pretty insidious and hideous concoctions.
While we were comforted by the forethought that Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were fictional characters, it appears the show’s script wasn’t too far off base. Possibly taken a few pages out of Walter White’s lesson plan, two Arkansas chemistry professors were arrested last November for allegedly attempting the same feat. Unlike the hardened Pinkman and White, these wannabe chemical bandits failed to provide the proper catalyst to yield the desired result; unless that result is of course jailtime.
Although the two teachers would have had readily available access to the precursors needed to make the sinister batch of drug, it would be complete conjecture to assume they stole the chemicals from the university. Still, we have to wonder why the school’s science center reeked of benzyl chloride.
Flammable liquid storage building can safeguard against injury in almost any lab
By its nature, chemistry is one of the more dangerous courses offered by high schools and universities. The propensity of volatile chemicals to inflict harm or injury on students should be more than enough to discourage casual daydreaming during class. Even the best of intentions and most vigilant oversight is still not enough to prevent injuries or accidents during lab in chemistry class.
Unfortunately, seven Charleston, S.C. chemistry students are destined to become another cautionary tale in the OSHA brochure following a freak lab accident this week. Like the heterogeneous mixtures they combine and examine, details of the chemical exposure require a little closer examination.
According to a spokesman for the school, a chemistry teacher was conducting a classroom experiment when several students in the room began reporting of breathing issues. In an abundance of caution, hazmat crews were called to the scene to treat the possibly injured students. Fortunately, no one was seriously harmed.
Hazardous materials storage buildings can prevent theft and accidents
So, what do these chemical anecdotes have in common? Superficially, nothing. Comparing drug manufacturers to school children is a little uncouth. But upon closer scrutiny, we find these two incidents have very much in common in that both could’ve been prevented by proper handling and storage.
U.S. Hazmat Rentals offers superior steel storage chemical lockers to prevent both theft and accidents. By securing and isolating dangerous chemicals and solutions from other volatile substances, you don’t have to worry about these hazardous materials injuring anyone in proximity to your project or worksite.
U.S. Hazmat Rentals chemical storage lockers offers reassurance
Proper storage is also conducive to proper communication about the dangers of hazardous materials to affected parties. Did you know that a business or organization’s failure to communicate the dangers of hazardous materials to workers was the second most cited violation in 2019? By simply having a bright orange hazardous material building or chemical storage locker on site, you are conveying to your employees and students that, ‘Hey, we are handling some pretty dangerous chemicals around here. Pay attention to your surroundings and please respect these dangerous substances.”
The advantages of a fire rated chemical storage rental
There are many innate advantages of renting a hazmat building as opposed to outright owning it. Many organizations, such as schools, would prefer to rent the lockers for the duration of a school year, so they don’t sit unused for months at a time. Transient businesses, like construction and contractors, would find it easier and cheaper to rent and have us deliver a hazardous materials storage building to their jobsite instead of buying one and hauling it from one job to the next.
