Status Of Safety Practices In Senior Secondary School Chemistry Laboratories In Abia State

Therefore, when safety is ensured in the laboratory, experiments can be effectively carried out. It is expected that students should be very much sensitized on the laboratory safety rules, because when students are afraid of doing experiments in the laboratory due to the hazards associated some of the chemical, substances and equipments in the laboratory, it could affect their performance in chemistry (Baruwa, 2006).

General observation indicates that students perform poorly in Chemistry Practical. WAEC Chief Examiner’s Report (2012) attributed the poor performance especially in practical aspect of chemistry to their non-familiarity with use of lab equipment, imprecise statement, spelling errors, inadequate exposure to lab techniques, lack of observational skills, inability to write symbols properly and assign correct charges to ions, among others. Also the poor performance of chemistry students are attributed to such factors as poor knowledge of laboratory procedure (WAEC Chief Examiners’ Report 2010). This also translates into poor development of laboratory skills including poor awareness to hazards in the laboratory and the safety measures required to prevent them. According to WAEC chief examiner, for there to be improvement of candidate’s performance, recommended the following practical lessons must be taught to all students at all times and must be given priority while emphasizing methods of recording and interpretation of data during practical lessons. All these recommendations can only be achieved by greater participation of students in laboratory work,  which  invariably  means  to  the  researcher  an  increased  exposure  to  potentially dangerous apparatus and materials. Instead of viewing this fact as a deterrent to the laboratory work, the alert and dedicated science teacher should approach the problem realistically and take proper precautions to avoid accidents among students and teachers in the chemistry laboratory. Hence, the researcher need to know the status of safety practices in senior secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia State.

From the review, it is clearly seen that science teaching has been plagued with safety related issues, because the study of chemistry is challenging and fun, but it can also be dangerous, owning the nature of chemicals and materials used in carrying out experiments in the laboratory. Therefore, these dangers/hazards must be brought to the knowledge of the students not only by the provision of safety rules but by insisting and ensuring the practice of these safety rules by the students and laboratory assistants/attendants. By so doing the students will no longer be afraid or scared about chemistry practical but will work in the laboratory with some level of confidence, which will eventually enhance their performance in chemistry practical.

Statement of the Problem

As the world is scientifically developing, the learning of chemistry becomes each day a more challenging task. The functional laboratory is one of the major keys to successful teaching and learning of chemistry. This is because of the vital role of chemistry education for scientific and technological advancement of the nation. Owning to the importance of chemistry it is expected that students’ performance in the subject will be high, but this is not the case in Nigeria education system. Evidence from the West African  Senior School Certificate Examination results for 2010-2013 showed that there have been persistent poor academic achievements of student in chemistry. According to WAEC chief examiners report (2013) students’ under achievement in chemistry can be attributed to their lack of familiarity with common chemistry laboratory equipment or apparatuses and poor knowledge in the fundamental principles and procedures for  practical chemistry. This implies that senior secondary school students are not sufficiently exposed to chemistry laboratory equipment through practical or laboratory exercises prior to senior school certificate examinations. Hence, students are unfamiliar with chemistry laboratory equipment and are unable to use them during chemistry practical examinations. Consequently, they performed poorly in chemistry in senior school certificate examinations. This could be as a result of so many reasons among which are students’ lack of interest in chemistry practical, unavailability of laboratory equipment, absence of chemistry laboratory, poor motivation on the part of the teachers, fear of laboratory hazards due to the nature of chemicals and equipment found in chemistry laboratory, teacher’s deficiency in practical skills required to put the available chemistry laboratory equipment into productive use and inability to utilize and maintain the available laboratory materials. In all, safety is the watchword for users of laboratory for scientific investigation. The issue at stake is the status of safety practices in senior secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia. The present study recognised safety is as important as any other concept taught in secondary school chemistry curriculum. Therefore, the problem of this study is to find out status of safety practices in senior secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia state.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the status of safety practices in senior secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia state. Specifically the study will find out:

1. the availability of required and approved safety equipment/materials in secondary school chemistry laboratories.

2. the  safety procedures  adopted  by  the  teachers/students  in  the  secondary  school chemistry laboratories with reference to storage and labeling.
3. the general design and fittings of secondary school chemistry laboratories with regard to safety.

4. the Procedures adopted by secondary school chemistry teachers/students for treatment of accidents in the laboratory .

5. the laboratory strategies put in place to ensure safety practices among the secondary school chemistry laboratory users.

Significance of the Study

The following people will benefit from the findings of this study; chemistry teachers, school administrators/principals and Nigerian Government, chemistry students, stakeholders in the education sectors and other researchers.

The findings of the study may awaken in chemistry teachers the need to conduct chemistry laboratory exercises for their students by utilizing available chemistry laboratory equipment in a safe manner to ensure that students acquire the necessary science process skills and to enhance the chemistry achievement of their students in external examinations. The science teachers stand to gain from knowing the degree of safety practices existing in their laboratories among their students and laboratory assistants. The findings of the study could also enable the chemistry teachers understand that the frequent accidents and poor performance in senior secondary chemistry are partly due to poor exposure of students to laboratory work and as such, they should appreciate the need to match theories with adequate laboratory work  with safety in  mind  to  create  the  desired  confidence  among  students. The  findings  of  this  study  could  be  of  benefit  to  both  the  Federal  and  State governments of Nigeria. It could sensitize the government on the urgency of building and equipping chemistry laboratories in all the senior secondary schools with safety equipment to avoid hazards. This is necessary so that chemistry students can be exposed to relevant practical skills, which students must acquire for problem solving and enhanced performance in senior school certificate examinations. Based on the findings of this study government can articulate new policies on chemistry laboratory safety in secondary schools.

The outcome of this study could provide school administrators/ school principals some useful information or clues on possible causes and solutions to chemistry laboratory hazards and possible safety precaution to avert further hazard. Armed with this information they will be better disposed to promoting the teaching and learning of chemistry in schools by providing some pieces of laboratory safety materials to ensure safe conduct of chemistry practical in the laboratory. The findings of this study is likely to prompt the school administrators to monitor or supervise more closely, laboratory works to ensure that chemistry teachers adhere to safety practices during laboratory practical.

Finally, the study serves as a base or frame of reference to other researchers interested in similar research.

Scope of the Study

The study is on find out status of safety practices in senior secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia state. The study was carried out in Abia Education zone of Abia state. The chemistry teachers/students formed the sample for this study.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What are the available required and approved safety equipment and materials in secondary school chemistry laboratories in Abia State?
2. What are the safety procedures adopted by the teachers/students in the secondary school chemistry laboratories with reference to storage and labeling in Abia State?
3. What are the general design and fittings of secondary school chemistry laboratories with regard to safety in Abia State?
4. What are the procedures adopted by secondary school chemistry teachers/students for treatment of accidents in the laboratory in Abia State?
5. What are the laboratory strategies put in place to ensure safety practices among the secondary school chemistry teachers/students in Abia State?

Hypotheses

H01: there is no significant difference in the mean rating of students and teachers on safety procedures adopted in the secondary school chemistry laboratories with reference to storage and labeling.

H02: there is no significant difference in the mean rating of students and teachers on general design and fittings of chemistry laboratory in secondary schools with regards to laboratories safety.

H03: there is no significant difference in  the mean rating of students and  teachers on procedures adopted for treatment of accidents in the laboratory

H04: there is no significant difference in  the mean rating of students and  teachers on laboratory strategies put in place to ensure safety practices among the secondary school chemistry laboratory users.