Assessing the Level of Laboratory Safety Awareness Among Science Education Students
Marlowe T. Sumile | Rodceal Malinao
Discipline: Education
Abstract:
This study examined the level of laboratory safety awareness among
Science Education students at Davao del Sur State College in the Philippines.
Although science students frequently conduct experiments and practical
investigations, there is limited attention to how well they understand and apply
laboratory safety practices, which are essential for preventing accidents. To
address this gap, the study aimed to measure students’ safety awareness and
determine whether it varied across learner groups. A quantitative descriptive
research design was employed, and data were collected from 147 BSEd Science
students using a modified and validated questionnaire. The results showed
that students generally demonstrated a high level of awareness of laboratory
rules and procedures. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences in
safety awareness across gender, age, prior laboratory experience, or type of
safety training. However, year level was a significant predictor, indicating that
safety awareness improves as students progress through the program. These
findings highlight the need for continuous, developmentally appropriate safety
instruction and for stronger integration of safety practices across all laboratory
courses. The study also recommends exploring safety awareness in other
disciplines that involve laboratory work to broaden the understanding of safety
culture in higher education.
References:
- Abdullah, K. H., & Abd Aziz, F. S. (2020). Safety behaviour in the laboratory among university students. The Journal of Behavioral Science, 15(3), 51–65.
- Abu-Siniyeh, A., & Al-Shehri, S. (2021). Safety in medical laboratories: Perception and practice of university students and laboratory workers. Applied Biosafety, 26(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1089/apb.20.0050
- Al-Ahmadi, A. (2016). Level of awareness and knowledge sources of safety measures in school laboratories among science teachers and laboratory technicians in general education schools. Journal of Information Security, 64(25), 117–167. https://tinyurl.com/2wjsbaua
- Ali, N. L., Ta, G. C., Zakaria, S. Z., Halim, S., Mokhtar, M., Ern, L. L., & Alam, L. (2018). Assessing awareness on laboratory safety: A case study in Pahang, Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Education, 43(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JPEN-2018-43.02-07
- Aljamali, N. M., Kadhium, A. J., & Al-Jelehawy, A. H. J. (2021). Review in protection of laboratory and electrical equipment in laboratories and institutions. Journal of Controller and Converters, 6(1), 24–30. https://tinyurl.com/3hjrbf4j
- Al-Zyoud, W., Qunies, A., Walters, A., & Jalsa, N. (2019). Perceptions of chemical safety in laboratories. Safety, 5(2), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/safety5020021
- Ammar, M., Siby, N., Khalili, S., Al-Thani, A., Sellami, A., Touati, F., & Ahmad, Z. (2024, February). Investigating the individual interests of undergraduate students in STEM disciplines. Frontiers in Education (Vol. 9, p. 1285809). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1285809
- Amoo, A., & Ezoke, C. (2020). Awareness of personal protective equipment among laboratory workers in Tertiary Health Centre, Ibadan. International Journal of Infection Prevention, 1(2), 14–21.
- Asuncion, B., Gonzales. M., & Regala, F. (2019, February 11). Chemistry lab accident injures four LS students. The Guidon. https://tinyurl.com/4zuc4tdz
- Ayi, H.-R., & Hon, C.-Y. (2018). Safety culture and safety compliance in academic laboratories: A Canadian perspective. Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, 25(6), 6–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2018.05.002
- Bahtiti, N., Rayyan, A. A., Sasa, T., & Alahmad, W. (2021). Survey of Jordanian awareness about hazardous symbols of chemicals. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 17, 1030–1038. https://doi.org/10.37394/232015.2021.17.95
- Bai, M., Liu, Y., Qi, M., Roy, N., Shu, C.-M., Khan, F., & Zhao, D. (2022). Current status, challenges, and future directions of university laboratory safety in China. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 74, 104671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2021.104671
- Bakhtiar, I. S., Jamaluddin, M. H., Salim, M. A., & Harun, M. N. (2020, September). Awareness of university students on laboratory safety. In International Conference on Student and Disabled Student Development 2019 (ICoSD, 2019) (pp. 104–108). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200921.019
- Broussard, H. P. (2018). A critical look at safety instruction in the general chemistry laboratory. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia]. ScholarWorks UGA. https://tinyurl.com/4yfepyxt
- Dana, M., & Trant, J. (2020). A review and critique of academic lab safety research. Nature Chemistry, 12(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0375-x
- Diberardinis, L. J., Baum, J. S., First, M. W., Gatwood, G. T., & Seth, A. K. (2013). Guidelines for laboratory design: Health, safety, and environmental considerations. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2013.10.010
- Fagihi, Y. A. (2018). The level of awareness of safety measures practiced in school laboratories among pre-service science teachers at Najran University. Journal of Educational Issues, 4(1), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v4i1.12908
- Fayazi, A., Pouyakian, M., Jafari, M. J., & Khodakarim, S. (2020). A survey among three Iranian occupational groups: General knowledge of chemical safety and familiarity with GHS and outdated labeling systems. ACS Chemical Health & Safety, 27(1), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.9b00002
- Finster, D., & Hill, R., Jr. (2016). Laboratory safety for chemistry students. John Wiley & Sons. https://tinyurl.com/m634czps
- Guiamalon, T., & Hariraya, P. (2021). The K-12 senior high school program: The case of Laboratory High School, Cotabato City State Polytechnic College, South Central Mindanao, Philippines. IJASOS-International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 7(19), 391–399. https://doi.org/10.18769/ijasos.820171
- Gutiérrez, J. M., Emery, R. J., Whitehead, L. W., & Felknor, S. A. (2013). A means for measuring safety climate in the university work setting. Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, 20(6), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2013.07.001
- Ho, C.-C., & Chen, M.-S. (2018). Risk assessment and quality improvement of liquid waste management in Taiwan University chemical laboratories. Waste Management, 71, 578–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.09.029
- Kaliyadan, F., & Kulkarni, V. (2019). Types of variables, descriptive statistics, and sample size. Indian Dermatology Online Journal, 10(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.4103/idoj.IDOJ_468_18
- Karahan, V., & Aydoğmuş, E. (2023). Risk analysis and risk assessment in laboratory studies. Avrupa Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi, (49), 55-60. https://doi.org/10.31590/ejosat.1260340
- Krug, D. (2023, August 25). What is the average age of college students? CollegeRanker Team. https://tinyurl.com/33apdn5d
- Lestari, F., Bowolaksono, A., Yuniautami, S., Wulandari, T. R., & Andani, S. (2019). Evaluation of the implementation of occupational health, safety, and environment management systems in higher education laboratories. Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, 26(4-5), 14-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2018.12.006
- Leung, A. (2021). Laboratory safety awareness, practice, attitude, and perception of tertiary laboratory workers in Hong Kong: A pilot study. ACS Chemical Health & Safety, 28(4), 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00122
- Manuel, M., Aggabao, B., & Bona, C. A. (2021). Knowledge, attitude, and practices about chemical laboratory safety of the faculty, staff, and students of Kalinga State University. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 14(45), 3295–3303. https://doi.org/10.17485/IJST/v14i45.822
- Mehrifar, Y., Eskandarnia, A., Pirami, H., & Mardanparvar, H. (2016). Assessment of awareness and comprehension of chemical hazard symbols among chemistry students. Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology, 5(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.johe.5.1.20
- Miller, K., & Tyler, K. (2019). Impact of a pilot laboratory safety team workshop. Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, 26(3), 20–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2018.12.003
- Olewski, T., & Snakard, M. (2017). Challenges in applying process safety management at university laboratories. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 49, 209-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2017.06.013
- Oludipe, O., & Etobro, B. (2018). Science education undergraduate students’ level of laboratory safety awareness. Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, 23(4), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.9734/JESBS/2017/37461
- Prabhakaran, M., Pantina, C., Gutjahr, G., Raman, R., & Nedungadi, P. (2018). Effectiveness of online labs teacher training workshop. In M. Chang, N. Chen, R. Huang, K. Moudgalya, S. Murthy, & D. Samspon (Eds.), 2018 IEEE 18th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) (pp. 249–251). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2018.00064
- Ponferrada, C. O., Cabigon, E. J. L., Daque, J. G., Buadlart, D. C. L., & Galarpe, V. R. K. R. (2017). Laboratory safety awareness among General Physics undergraduate students. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, 7(6), 2324–2327. https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.1632
- Powell, J. (2023). Importance of maintaining laboratory emergency equipment: Showers and eyewashes. ACS Chemical Health & Safety, 30(4), 179–181. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.3c00028
- Rita, J. (2022, September 30). 3 students injured in science experiment accident in Monkayo, Davao de Oro. GMA News Online. https://tinyurl.com/y332dhze
- Rofifa, A. T., Alayyannur, P. A., & Haqi, D. N. (2019). Analysis of factors related to use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in laboratory. Malaysian Journal of Medicine & Health Sciences, 15(3). https://tinyurl.com/mr2ujcdb
- Schröder, I., Huang, D. Y., Ellis, O., Gibson, J., & Wayne, N. (2016). Laboratory safety attitudes and practices: A comparison of academic, government, and industry researchers. Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, 23(1), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2015.03.001
- Siedlecki, S. (2020). Understanding descriptive research designs and methods. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(1), 8-12. https://doi.org/10.1097/NUR.0000000000000493
- Siril, A. J., Abu Bakar, S. N., & Fatehah, M. O. (2022). Hazardous waste management, challenges, and risks in handling laboratory waste in universities. In C. Baskar, S. Baskar, A. Chinnappan, S. Ramakrishna, & R. Sehrawar (Eds.), Handbook of Solid Waste Management: Sustainability Through Circular Economy (pp. 1655-1714). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4230-2_79
- Sukri, N. S., Safrin, N. S., Kedri, F. K., Hanie, N. I., & Sukri, M. A. (2023). Perception of safety intervention practices in the laboratory among students in higher education sector. BIO Web of Conferences, 73.
- Tindowen, D. J., Bassig, J. M., & Cagurangan, J.-A. (2017). Twenty-first-century skills of alternative learning system learners. Sage Journals, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017726116
- Togou, M. A., Lorenzo, C., Cornetta, G., & Muntean, G.-M. (2020). Assessing the effectiveness of using Fab Lab-based Learning in schools on K–12 students’ attitude toward STEAM. IEEE Transactions on Education, 63(1), 56–62. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2019.2957711
- U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. (2018). Laboratory incidents January 2001–July 2018. https://tinyurl.com/2nk3sfbr
- Velarde, V., Casado-Barragán, F., Thamar, M., Rands, V., & Gonzalez, A. (2022, November). Home-based laboratory experiences during COVID-19 pandemic in undergraduate biochemistry students. Frontiers in Education (Vol. 7, p. 965438). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.965438
- Walters, A., Lawrence, W., & Jalsa, N. (2017). Chemical laboratory safety awareness, attitudes, and practices of tertiary students. Safety Science, 96, 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.03.017
- Wangdi, D., & Tshomo, S. (2016). Investigating chemical laboratory safety based on students' ability to recognise the common laboratory hazard symbols. Educational Innovation and Practice, 1(01). https://tinyurl.com/y74fn43z
- Wu, K., Jin, X., & Wang, X. (2020). Determining university students’ familiarity and understanding of laboratory safety knowledge: A case study. Journal of Chemical Education, 98(2), 434–438. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01142
- Ziara, K. S., Ibraheem, A., & Al-Furaiji, A. (2021). Chemical safety awareness for undergraduate analytical chemistry students: A case study at Baghdad University, Republic of Iraq. Scholars International Journal of Chemistry and Material Sciences, 4(4), 30–35.
Full Text:
Note: Kindly Login or Register to gain access to this article.
ISSN 2984-8385 (Online)
ISSN 2984-8288 (Print)