Safety and Ethics

Safety and ethics are the responsibility of every experimenter. The following information is designed to guide student researchers in setting up a safe and ethical environment for research.

 The Annapolis Valley Regional Science Fair (AVRSF) commitment:

- establish the use of standards for the safe handling of chemicals and/ or biologically active materials.

- establish the practice of standards for the humane handling of animals and ethical use of human subjects in experimentation.

The AVRSF has approved guidelines for projects eligible for entry at the regional level of competition:

The following represent safety, ethics , and display compliance checklists.

bulletSafety and Ethics QUICK CHECK

¯Important Updates about Ingestion Projects Below¯

The Youth Science Canada Ethics committee has received numerous requests for Ethics approval for projects involving ingestion. Following the CWSF 2009 event, the policy was implemented and widely disseminated that no ingestion projects would be eligible for CWSF 2010.  It has since changed and there are specific guidelines that must be used.  Specifically no energy drinks are to be used.  Any experiments involving humans or animals requires consent forms and witnesses to monitor such activities.

If you have any questions please follow the link to the guidelines regarding the changes to policies.

 

These are download links. Choose, click, the format most compatible with your computer system.

bullet(MAC)
bulleteither Claris download "safety", If you get a "corrupted" file message expand the file with "Stuffit Expander" then open the new mac-expanded file.
bulletor MS Excel download "safety.XLS"
bullet(PC)
bulleteither Wordpad download "SAFETY.WPD",
bulletor MS Excel download "safety.XLS"

 

Every student is expected to complete a written Project Proposal , Safety Assessment and have either a Qualified Adult or a Qualified Professional in direct supervision of research before experimental work begins.

It is recognised most projects will not involve any of the following safety and ethics concerns. However, where one of the following safety and ethics concerns apply it is expected that the adult in charge will contact the Safety and Ethics Review Committee (SRC) for advice, assistance and approval before experimentation begins.

SAFETY COMPLIANCE

To download forms for the following safety hazards follow the link to the YSF policy page.

Humans

Nonhuman Vertebrate Animals

Recombinant DNA

Pathogens

Controlled Substances

Human/Animal Tissue

Hazardous Substances or Devices

The following represent examples which have been problem areas:

Active biological agents. These cannot be displayed. This includes compost, bacteria cultures, animal tissue samples or body parts.

Humans cannot be used in experimentation even in surveys or other non invasive procedures like exercise without following the guidelines of informed consent and other ethical procedures.

Help with these procedures is outlined in the SFIden Safety and Ethics Module. All scientific research must be conducted while the safety and rights of those involved are being carefully protected. There are always human consequences (benefits and costs) to the development of scientific knowledge.

If any of the safety and ethics concerns listed above apply to your project it is necessary to get the support needed to carry out the research safely and ethically.

If there are any questions please contact Christine Popowich.

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