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Greetings, Kyle. All the advice about partnering with your local fire
department is excellent.

When we did a session at the conference a few years back about
presenting combustion demos, the write-up of the demos included the
section of safety, below. Hopefully it will be of some assistance. 

Good luck, and let me know if I can do anything else to help.

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
The Children's Museum

"Why?!? Because it's science, that's why!"
      -Dr. Clayton Forrester


It cannot be stated more plainly: the safety of your center's staff and
visitors are your #1 priority. Everything else is a very distant second.
Obviously, fire has great potential for serious injury or worse. READ
THE FOLLOWING SAFETY INFORMATION CAREFULLY, AND ALWAYS FOLLOW THESE
SAFETY GUIDELINES WHEN PERFORMING COMBUSTION DEMONSTRATIONS.

1.	Before starting your demos, explicitly tell your audience about
the importance of safety. In no uncertain terms, tell them that they
should not try fire experiments at home. Remind them that you are a
trained professional, that you have proper safety equipment on hand and
have been trained to use it correctly. Be sure this equipment (ie a fire
extinguisher) is visible to the audience. Remind young audience members
not to play with matches or lighters. Remind adults that lives can be
saved with three simple words: working smoke detectors. [See section 5
for a good working script on how to relate the importance of safety to
your audience.]
2.	When performing demonstrations with fire, wear chemical safety
goggles at all times. These should always be worn for any chemistry
demos.
3.	Use whatever other safety equipment (ie gloves, chemical splash
aprons, etc) is called for by the demonstrations you are performing.
4.	Have an appropriate fire extinguisher on hand at all times. A
typical ABC extinguisher, available at most hardware stores, is a good
basic model.
5.	Know the parameters of what kinds of fires are created by your
demos, and if your extinguisher is rated for them. For example, an ABC
extinguisher is suitable for dry materials (ie paper), oil and grease
fires, electrical fires and many of the chemicals used in typical
combustion demos. It is not, however, suitable for combustion reactions
that involve metals such as pure lithium or sodium.
6.	Know how to use your extinguisher. The basic steps are: pull the
pin. Squeeze briefly to make sure that it is indeed firing out its
chemicals. From a distance of ~6 feet (2 meters) away, aim at the base
of the fire and squeeze, moving the extinguisher in a sweeping motion.
7.	Keeping a fire retardant blanket on hand is another good safety
measure. Commercially available ones will work well, and a thick wool
blanket from your local Army-Navy store will suffice.
8.	Be familiar with all the chemicals and equipment used in your
demonstrations, their properties and how to use them safely.
9.	Have the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), for all chemicals
you use, readily available. All staff should know where they are.
10.	Reiterate safety information to your audience throughout your
combustion demos. In many cases, specific demonstrations can reinforce
specific safety talking points. For example, the Flaming Vortex shows
the importance of keeping doors + windows shut in case of fire. A demo
that uses acetylene gas evolved from water and calcium carbide shows the
importance of knowing how to safely use chemicals - two chemicals which
do not burn can be combined to create one which does.
11.	Before performing any demonstration, know the answers to three
basic questions about it: What could possibly go wrong? How can I
prevent those things from going wrong? If they go wrong anyway, what
should I do?
12.	Have more than one method on hand for extinguishing a fire.
Which methods are suitable depends on the demonstrations you are
performing. Possible methods include: large beakers that can be placed
over the fire, a fire blanket, sand, water, liquid nitrogen (which
requires its own care with safety) and fire extinguishers.
13.	Never eschew safety protocols, and never assume that nothing can
go wrong. Things go wrong when we are not expecting them to; that's why
they're called accidents.
14.	Practice your demonstrations until you know what you are going
to say and do, backwards and forwards. This is good advice for any
demonstration, but is especially relevant for combustion demonstrations.
You want to be alert for signs of potential danger, which is harder to
do when you're racking your brains trying to remember what step comes
next in the experiment or what you're supposed to say next.
15.	There are some things which we normally try to avoid when
presenting demonstrations: "dead air" when we are neither saying nor
doing anything, turning our backs to the audience, searching for the
right piece of equipment while the audience is watching. All of these
things, however, are acceptable if they are done to ensure that proper
safety protocol is followed. If, for example, you have misplaced your
goggles, do not proceed with a combustion demonstration without them, in
the interest of keeping the flow of your demonstration going. Pause and
locate your goggles before proceeding.
16.	In the science center business, many fear center employees being
viewed by the audience as "experts" or "real" scientists. [We want them
to seek out and discover knowledge on their own, we want them to be
assured that they can do science as well as anyone.] All to the good.
Nevertheless, by virtue of working at a science center, you are likely
to be viewed as at least something of an expert by your audience, and
fire demos are one case where you can use that to your advantage. If the
audience sees that you (an "expert") are taking care to wear safety
equipment and be cautious around fire, they take with them the message
that fire really can be dangerous. Conversely, if you do not follow
proper safety protocols, you convey the message that fire holds little
risk. Lead by example.
17.	During a question and answer session following combustion, a
common question will be "what chemical were you using" in a certain
demonstration. If there is any chance that the chemical might be
commercially accessible (ie rubbing alcohol), it is best to respond
"That's an excellent question. I'm not telling - don't try that at
home." If the chemical is something only available from science supply
companies that is in no way available over the counter (calcium carbide,
for example), answering the question would be more acceptable.
18.	If your demonstration will create potentially hazardous gasses
or smoke (enough smoke to set off smoke detectors), perform them under a
fume hood.
19.	If your combustion demos will create high heat, perform them on
a stone or ceramic surface and use appropriate safety gear to handle.
20.	The room where you perform any combustion demonstrations should
be properly ventilated.
21.	Many combustion demonstrations make loud noise. Wear ear
protection, warn your audience beforehand that a loud bang is coming,
and show them how to properly cover their ears (hands flat over ears,
not sticking fingers in).
22.	Know the rules for properly storing flammable chemicals. Keep
them in a specially designed flammables cabinet that is locked, and
accessible only by appropriate staff.
23.	Keep your audience at a minimum distance from the demonstrations
of 10 feet (~3 meters), possibly more, depending on which demonstrations
you are performing; a Plexiglass shield in between you and the audience
may also be appropriate. If your audience is seated on the floor, lay
down a clearly visible safety line in tape on the floor; be vigilant for
any audience members creeping closer, and instruct any who cross the
line to move back behind it.
24.	If you are presenting any combustion demos in outreach, know and
follow all local regulations about chemical transport.
25.	If you have any safety related questions, an excellent resource
to consult is Flinn Scientific, www.flinnsci.com  1-800-452-1261.



-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kyle Sater
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 2:59 PM

Hey all,

I have a quick question regarding using fire (contained flame) in a
education demo on a museum floor. Does your institution have guidelines
or
protocols that dictate if, when, and where you can use fire as part of a
program? If so, how strict are those guidelines and how did your museum
decide what was acceptable and what was a danger to staff and visitors?
And
what sort of legal/operational hurdles did you face to get that point?

Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Please feel free to respond offline to my office email below. Thanks!

-- 
Kyle N. Sater
Senior Educator, Public Program Development
Adler Planetarium
Chicago, IL
(312) 542-2436
[log in to unmask]

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