Safety in the Science Classroom

NGSS NOW  nsta.org

Next Generation Science Standards 

January 2015 Newsletter

  
Q: I'm looking through the NGSS and I don't see any standards about lab safety or health education. Am I missing something? 

A: The NGSS are science content standards based on the National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education, and as such, contain neither health education standards nor lab safety standards. This is not an indication that these topics are unimportant, but rather that they go beyond the content contained in the Framework.  Each state typically has both health education standards and lab safety standards or manuals that are used in addition to their science content standards. 

To find additional resources about lab safety, you can visit this page for books and resources: Safety in the Science Classroom.

What is a Healthy Schools Hero?

HEROES understand that when it comes to making decisions that impact children, "no risk is acceptable if it is avoidable."  

HEROES are committed to building schools for occupancy by children recognizing that standards, building codes, and guidelines that are based on the average adult male or workplace regulations are not safe for children because children are not little adults.
 
HEROES serve as a resource and mentor to the school community, setting up in-house systems for community participation, health surveillance, and ongoing hazard identification and control.
 
HEROES support the rights of parents to be involved in the decisions that affect their children, acknowledging that without informed parents, there will never be enough experts or inspectors to ensure schools are the healthy places and safe havens they are supposed to be.

HEROES educate community members, preparing them to exercise their special rights as parents, employees, patients, students and citizens.  

HEROES advocate for precautionary standards and protective measures as active members of building committees, school health advisory councils, site-based management boards, and environmental quality teams that set child safety standards and guidelines for school design, renovation, operations and maintenance, pest-proofing, lab safety, and all activities in and around the school.

Yes, it is painful to threaten the illusion of safety in a school or community and to talk about death and loss. The New London School Explosion survivors did not talk about their painful experiences for more than forty years. Their stories clearly teach us that it is even more painful to live with a tragedy when opportunities to prevent loss were unseen or overlooked.

• Who Is Your 2014 Healthy Schools Hero?

Getting smart about pipeline safety

NRDC Report

Evaluate the need for new U.S. pipeline safety regulations. Older safety standards designed for conventional oil may not provide adequate protection for communities and ecosystems in the vicinity of a DilBit pipeline. The Department of Transportation (DOT) should analyze and address the potential risks associated with the transport of DilBit at the high temperatures and pressures at which those pipelines operate and put new regulations in place as necessary to address these risks. READ MORE www.pstrust.org


The entire report can be download by clicking here

Who are Healthy Schools Heroes?

HEROES understand that when it comes to making decisions that impact children, "no risk is acceptable if it is avoidable."  

HEROES are committed to building schools for occupancy by children recognizing that standards, building codes, and guidelines that are based on the average adult male or workplace regulations are not safe for children because children are not little adults.
   
HEROES serve as a resource and mentor to the school community, setting up in-house systems for community participation, health surveillance, and ongoing hazard identification and control.
   
HEROES support the rights of parents to be involved in the decisions that affect their children, acknowledging that without informed parents, there will never be enough experts or inspectors to ensure schools are the healthy places and safe havens they are supposed to be. 
 
HEROES educate community members, preparing them to exercise their special rights as parents, employees, patients, students and citizens.  
 
HEROES advocate for precautionary standards and protective measures as active members of building committees, school health advisory councils, site-based management boards, and environmental quality teams that set child safety standards and guidelines for school design, renovation, operations and maintenance, pest-proofing, lab safety, and all activities in and around the school.