Besides stainless steel laboratory furniture like workbenches and safety cabinets, fume hoods are also important components of your lab if you primarily work with chemicals. Liquid spills and splashes are one thing to worry about, fumes or vapors are another matter.

Unlike liquids, these gaseous elements can spread around your lab if they are not immediately contained and will render every corner of your workplace harmful to breathe in. Even when equipped with full body protective suits like hazmats, it isn’t ideal to keep your lab flooded with fumes for who knows how long.

Fume hoods are designed to capture, filter and release harmful fumes away from your workspace to minimize the risk of contamination and irritating odors courtesy to these fumes. They have glasses that separate you and chemicals, and inside the fumes is the space where you work. They may also have attached gloves that you put on to handle chemicals within the hoods.

There are several types to choose from, depending on your budget and, in some cases, purpose of their uses.

Portable hood

A portable hood has wheels to help you move it around your lab, which is made easier by its small size. If you are looking for a hood that is eco-friendly, this is perfect for you. It requires no ductwork or wall penetration, and is cheap and easy to install. It is also suitable for experiments requiring less than 10 chemicals at a time.

The downside of a portable hood is its method of filtering fumes, which may put you at risk of exposure. The filters must also be regularly maintained.

Demonstration hood

A demonstration hood has four transparent sides for everybody to see the inside at every angle. Normally used in educational settings such as schools, the sightlines are optimized in a way that allows easier teaching demos with the hood itself. Other than its appearance, it works similarly with a typical fume hood in your lab.

Floor mounted hood

A floor mounted hood has no wheels unlike a portable hood, and is installed from the floor up and resembles a small room where you can work inside. Large and freestanding, it is perfect for labs that handle large volumes of chemical substances and big equipment and tools such as robots.

The floor mounted hood is also an extended version of a typical hood since it can support more materials and tools, as well as making extensive, large scale experiments possible.

Canopy hood

This is the hood your lab would have if your chemicals and materials are non-toxic, but still smelly regardless. A canopy hood is typically installed by suspension or wall mounting, and has no enclosed chamber. In addition to fumes, the canopy hood also removes smoke and steam to remove foul odors and regulate your lab’s temperature and humidity.

Canopy hoods, however, shouldn’t be considered as your lab’s vital hood as it is not designed to filter and remove harmful fumes unlike the others, instead it is only used to make your lab less smelly so you can breathe air without gagging every few seconds.

Equipment malfunction might be one of the worst nightmares for any manufacturer. Without proper precautions and identification, it could cause the business to lose both money and time in fixing and generating enough products to meet the customer’s demands. Therefore, manufacturers should take into consideration the installation of mass notification systems to detect in time any defects during the production process. Some of the examples could be the Patlite signal tower Malaysia companies are using to identify the manufacturing mechanism’s conditions through colours displayed. Here are the top 3 mass notification systems that most industrial owners should have.   

What is a mass notification system?

A mass notification system will allow companies to effectively communicate with employees, but also broadcast a wide array of messages. Such as internal communication notes, alerts, general information, and emergency messages in dangerous situations. If you are an industrial company, the need for an extensive communication strategy is never like before, critical, since you are dealing with health and security issues that need to be processed and broadcasted with swiftness when or if a crisis occurs. Therefore, a mass notification system is mandatory for making sure that all your communication needs are met.

Audible & Visual Notification

The amount of noise in such loud decibels within factory facilities consists of mechanical details. It is rather hard for workers to hear and understand what is being announced. To eliminate this, manufacturers should apply both audible and visual notifications to improve the chances of reaching all workers, including those with different auditory or visual abilities.

Audible & Visual mass notification systems will use bright strobes, clear emergency tone sounders, screen display text, and voice synthesis to capture attention during time-sensitive crises. Additionally, some items like LED marquees and digital signage overrides are also impactful visual alerting tools for displaying easy-to-read, actionable messages at a distance in high-occupancy working zones.  

One-Step System Activation

One-step system activation is tailored to distribute critical information to all emergency notification endpoints within seconds. This is extremely vital in spreading awareness and mitigating harm. This system could be activated within seconds just by wall-mounted activation buttons, pocket-sized WiFi buttons, or a mobile activator app. One-step activation will best suit industrial operators and facility leaders who juggle a wide range of responsibilities throughout the day. Empower them with the ability to save people’s lives through emergency alerts with a press of a button from the floor or production line.  

Intelligible Speakers

Intelligible speakers are designed to deliver concise and precise voice announcements during emergencies. This is because, in most dangerous situations, people are not sane enough to deliver a full message if they are not trained as it is nerve-racking. Having real-time audio notifications without the need for conventional analogue cables will result in faster and more effective responses among workers. For widespread outdoor notification, a long-range giant outdoor voice system helps to instantly deliver crystal-clear outdoor emergency alerts using audible siren tones and TTS. 

Having a large number of science laboratories across the country is because most schools, universities, or hospitals in Malaysia are equipped with a laboratory. No matter whether the purposes of the laboratory are for teaching, experimenting, or developing, these science labs shared a set of basic principles and components. People could get in touch with science lab equipment Malaysia providers for a hands-on experience on these items. Some of the components are apparatuses including flasks. Used in a wide range of experiments and labs, due to their variety of types and functions. 

Erlenmeyer Flask

Also, go under the name of a conical flask, it is the construction of a conical body, flat bottom, and cylindrical neck. Being one of the most commonly used flasks within laboratories, it could handle experimental tasks like titration, filtration, crystallisation… Erlenmeyer flask was first patented by a German chemist in 1860, Emil Erlenmeyer. Due to its slanting side, and wide base, the Erlenmeyer flask is suitable for chemical mixing by swirling the compound without any spillage risks. The cylindrical neck of an Erlenmeyer flask could also adapt with a glass stopper or a fit funnel. Allow for an extension of functions, based on the application, a conical flask can either be graduated or unmarked and can be used for heating and boiling purposes. 

Round Bottom Flask

Round Bottom Flask, as the name implies, consists of a spherical bottom and a cylindrical neck. The round bottom allows an even distribution of heat around the vessel, making it suitable for any experiment involving heating or boiling the chemicals. Moreover, the flask’s cylindrical neck facilitates funnels and glass stoppers. This type of flask often comes along with other heating apparatuses like sand baths, water baths, rotary evaporators… The most common use of a Round Bottom Flask is to synthesise laboratory-scale chemicals, but not support good mixing like an Erlenmeyer flask. Thus, people will often have a mechanical stirrer or glass rod for mixing. 

Volumetric Flask

Due to its mark specifying a precise measurement volume, people also call it a graduated flask, or a measuring flask. A volumetric flask is primarily used in solution preparation, consisting of a flat bottom conical-shaped bulb attached to an elongated neck that is engraved with a ring for indicating volume. Scientists will prepare the solution by placing the solute in the volumetric flask and then dissolving the solution by adding an appropriate amount of solvent. The solvent will run through a pipette or dropper and then drop into the flask until the solution reaches the etched marking. Keep in mind that a volumetric flask is tailored for a certain level of temperature indicated on the flask. A number is marked on the flask’s surface for a suitable glass stopper size. Similar to test tubes, volumetric flasks are made from borosilicate glass or plastic, and amber-ed volumetric flasks are specified for light-sensitive chemicals. 

Report Flask

This might be one of the most weirdly shaped airtight flasks with a curved neck for identification. Report flasks have somewhat become obsolete with our time and replaced by condensers. Back in the day, they were employed by some of the most well-known chemists like Antoine Lavoisier and Jöns Berzelius in distillation processes. Report flasks are still commercially available for non-complex distillation. 

After going through an online bank account registration Malaysia, you probably want to head to the nearest ATM to check your balance and maybe even deposit some money into a cash deposit machine just next to the ATM.

On a 50/50 chance, the bank’s ATM section will have a queue to wait in, and the presence of people may make you doubt your own security when operating the ATM. How would you conduct business safely without people snooping in or worse, take your card?

Don’t get distracted

Never get distracted by anything, whether it is outside or some folk behind you intentionally drop your wallet that sticks out of your back pocket. Focus on doing what you have to do in the ATM until you are done. 

People that seek to steal your debit card or money upon withdrawal may do this. The same methods may be done if they instead want to see your account’s details on the screen. If you feel your wallet or other objects dropped from your pocket, keep yourself occupied to the ATM while you use your feet to kick it close to your legs, or secure it under your feet.

Only pick it up after you have done your entire business, and do it fast.

Close contact

There is still space for you to type the keys, look at the screen and take your card or cash when you lean so close to the terminal that you are practically blocking everybody else behind you from seeing the screen and keypad. Doing also allows you to be definitely guarded if somebody still dares to try to take a swipe around you.

Upon withdrawal, place your hands on the slots so you can immediately take your card and cash, then keep them in your wallet before you leave.

Some ATM machines have small “mirrors” that you can use to see if anybody is lingering on your back like a ghost. Keep them in mind or if you have to do more than just checking your balance and withdrawing, cancel your business and walk away if you feel that the snooper is actively trying to take a peek.

Also never display your withdrawn money. Retain your body shield while you store them in your wallet as quickly as you can.

Avoid nighttime

Sure, criminality happens both night and day, as long as the criminal is willing to carry out their deed. Still, it doesn’t change that night is still a good opportunity for some to go to any lonely ATM, hoping that some schmuck is stupid enough to fall for tricks while they swipe away the card or money and make a run for it without any witnesses around.

People or no people, if safety is your priority, avoid using ATMs at night. Instead, just use your online bank account to manage your savings and wait until tomorrow. If you have to use the ATM anyway, keep yourself alert and use your body shield at all times.

Even with no one else around your vicinity, exercise caution, because at this point you are likely to be more vulnerable.