Safety is a major concern in working with chemicals. Acids and bases require mandatory use of goggles. To know more about the safe handling of specific chemicals consult MSDS documents. MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) are somewhat like the label on an aspirin bottle in that several cautionary statements are declared. MSDS is much more informative and a very valuable tool.

MSDS FAQ is a good way to learn more about MSDS per se. MSDS uses terms that are not necessarily chemical jargon and this site called MSDS-Hyperglossary is a clickable glossary. Examine this example of an MSDS for benzoic acid.

Some acids are clearly more dangerous than benzoic acid. For example, although a 'weak acid' because it only partially dissociates, hydrofluoric acid [local] requires the handler to be alert and wise to the needed safety precautions.

Bases require just as much care in handling as do acids.

There are MSDS sources on the Internet.

One way to increase general safety is to utilized microscale or small scale experiments. This provides less to worry about if a chemical is spilled and it generates less waste. Here a list of high school chemistry microscale experiments complete with safety precautions.