Becoming a “COVID Captain”
The year 2020 is roaring quickly to a close, and COVID-19 is (unfortunately) still around. We have made changes to our lives at home, in public, and at work. Healthcare workers, in particular, made several [...]
The Three Laws: Sharps Safety
In Isaac Asimov’s writings about science, he created “the three laws,” a set of rules designed by humans that robots must follow in that fictional society. Robots cannot harm human beings, they must obey humans [...]
Is it Worth the Risk Assessment?
As a safety professional, we know performing risk assessments is worth it- it is an integral piece of managing a safety program. Assessing risks and identifying hazards are considered the beginning steps that must be [...]
Laboratory Chemical Hygiene: A Quick Guide
OSHA has once again published its list of its most-cited standards. This time, they discuss the 2019 heavy-hitters, and once again, chemical management issues top the list. Year after year organizations are fined for incomplete [...]
Foundational Facts of Lab Safety
Things have changed drastically over the past several months as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Many adjustments to how we work and live have been made and it has become difficult to separate fact from fiction. [...]
Three Signs Nobody is Paying Attention to Safety
The safety officer walked into the satellite laboratory and saw an employee scrolling through social media on her cell phone. Another employee was wearing mesh sneakers and chewing gum in the department. In the storeroom [...]
Lab Safety- A Return to “Normal”
The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world - the way we educate, the way we conduct business, and the way we socialize (or don’t). In the lab and clinic settings, there are many practices [...]
COVID-19 and The Pyramid – Protecting Laboratorians
In 1950 the United States National Safety Council began describing what became known as the “hierarchy of controls.” Often depicted as a pyramid, it lists (in order of importance and effectiveness) the methods required to [...]
My PPE is Back-Ordered- Now What? COVID-19 Alternate Safe Practices
The COVID-19 pandemic is peaking in the United States, and many things are being affected in unprecedented ways. Schools are closing, business travel is banned, gatherings are canceled, and stores are out of…toilet paper. There [...]
The Psychiatry of Lab Safety
With the rapid spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), many lab folks have raised questions about the potential affects to their job, their safety and their health. A new pathogen has emerged, and like previous [...]