School Safety Information

Please follow your schools safety policies and consult with your safety officer to ensure compliance with best practice. Most of the equipment needed for the demos is provided in the School Science Packs and is designed with safety in mind. For example the rocket demonstration requires that a plastic bung is expelled at velocity from the water rocket. To ensure that this bung cannot hit anyone we have also supplied a launch jug that contains the bung once the rocket has launched.

Each experiment has to be assessed for hazards. With the small amounts of dry ice used in the experiments we believe the single largest hazard is getting a cryogenic burn from prolonged skin contact with dry ice, which has a temperature of  -79 degrees centigrade. Therefore we strongly advise that no one handles the ice with bear hands. Lightweight gloves provide short-term (5  - 10 seconds) insulation for handling a few pieces of dry ice without compromising dexterity. Please note these gloves are not intended for handling large amounts of ice, a polycarbonate scoop is provided for this purpose.

A second hazard is that CO₂ gas is an asphyxiant at high concentrations. Even when the large fog effect is being demonstrated the level of CO₂ in a normal classroom remains at very low levels, however we have included the sensible precaution of opening windows to be doubly safe.

It is quite possible that some dry ice is spilled during a demonstration – if this happens sweep up where practical and allow remaining ice to sublime to gas.

Below is a hazard assessment in which we have examined the likely and less likely ‘what if’ scenarios. Please use this form to complete your safety assessment procedure and feel free to contact us for advice: 02034 329 412.