Fortunately, the worker was wearing chemical splash goggles and did not receive burns to the eyes. There have been several incidents, usually involving phenol, where laboratory workers spilled a chemical on his or her pants. In all cases, the worker bypassed the safety shower and entered a restroom to remove the pants and rinse the leg. In each case, the worker put the contaminated pants back on and either went home to rinse further or went to the University Health Center. All resulted in second degree burns that could have been minimized by taking off the contaminated clothing and rinsing immediately using a safety shower or drench hose.
Many chemicals can permeate leather.
Discard any contaminated leather items. A laboratory worker was cleaning out chemicals from an old refrigerator. He found a small bottle of iodine monochloride, and not knowing the physical properties of the chemical, began to pour it into a jar with other liquid wastes. The waste container suddenly began fuming vigorously, startling the worker and causing the worker to drop the bottle of iodine monochloride. Several drops of the chemical splashed onto the worker's leg, causing a second degree burn.