Health & Safety (Dark Room)

Health & Safety in the Dark Room.

Toxicity

The chemicals in which are used in the dark room when dish processing are all extremely toxic if ingested and potentially harmful if they come into contact with your skin. You should not be dipping your hands into the print trays or in any way touching the solutions - some of these can be absorbed into your skin and may cause skin allergies or health problems later in life.
Having said that, you may occasionally, for whatever reason, you may have to grab a print with your bare hands whilst it is still covered in chemicals, or you may spill some of the solution accidentally on your skin. Accidental contact isn't too much to worry about but never make a habit of it.

Cleaning Up

Upon completion of processing sessions, always thoroughly rinse your print trays, tongs, beakers, etc with clean running water. The plastic trays will stain over time but will not affect any future processing sessions as long as remaining chemicals are removed from the surface during washing.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation is extremely important - after an hour or so, there will be enough chemical vapors in the confines of the darkroom that you may be able to taste the chemicals which are not very pleasant.

Lighting

During the processing session, under no circumstance should there be any lighting except for the dark room lights which are needed. Unnecessary lighting will lead to your photographic paper being fogged which will then not be able to be used.

All items such as bags, coats and other things should always be placed under the tables and out of the way so nothing leads to falling over and causing accidents or damage to equipment, etc.