Lab Safety – The Letter of the Law
Jackie considered herself to be a great lab tech. She was proud that she followed the rules of the department, especially the safety regulations. Jackie just knew she would have an exciting career that would [...]
Staffing ABCs
When I was growing up near Buffalo, New York, experiencing two snow storms in three weeks was no big deal- in fact it was rather commonplace. When I joined the laboratory workforce, those storms really [...]
The Workaround
Laboratorians are resourceful, and if you follow them through their work day, you would be amazed at some of the processes they have put into place in order to perform the tasks they’ve been assigned [...]
Taking Controls
The well-established “Hierarchy of Controls” is a system used to eliminate or reduce hazards in the workplace. Whether or not you’ve heard this term, if you work in the laboratory, you’ve been an active participant [...]
The Range of Chemical Risk
The first time you pick up a bottle of hydrochloric acid, if you’ve been properly educated about the dangers, it can be scary. You handle the bottle carefully, and you’re sure not to spill at [...]
Fanning the Flames
The fire started in the university chemistry laboratory when a research student use a flammable chemical too close to the open flame. It started as a relatively small fire, and if the student had been [...]
Back in Time
Flying back to my home state of Virginia from the West Coast is never fun for me. Recently, I spent a week at a conference in San Diego, and on the last day I was [...]
Spoilers
In my youth, going to see a movie was a big deal. There were snapshot advertisements in the newspapers, and you might catch a trailer for the movie on the television, but it was rare [...]
By The Numbers- Lab Injury and Exposure Data
Finding information about the number of Laboratory Acquired Infections (LAIs) and other laboratory injuries in the United States is difficult. Not all events are reported, and of those that are reported at the facility level, [...]
Designed for Safety
The laboratory manager was in a hospital that was designing a new stand-alone emergency department building which would include a rapid response laboratory. For some reason, he was not asked to be a part of [...]