If you spend enough time in laboratories, you will see it; a lab tech aliquoting specimens without eye protection, a histotech trimming blocks bare-handed, someone stepping into the BSC area without fastening their gown because they’re only going to be there for a minute. When I ask people why these things occur, I rarely hear rebellion. I hear confidence. “I’ve done this a thousand times.” “It’s just one sample.” “I’ll be careful.”
That’s what makes this issue so important. Most laboratory professionals are not reckless. They are smart, experienced, and deeply committed to their work. They care about patients. They care about quality. They care about doing things right. And yet, they sometimes choose not to wear PPE when they absolutely should. The reason isn’t ignorance. It’s human nature.
Repetition changes how the brain processes risk. The first time someone handles formalin, they are careful. The first time they open a respiratory specimen, they slow down. The first time they work near a spinning microtome blade, they’re hyperaware. But after thousands of repetitions without incident, something shifts. The brain quietly rewrites the story. If nothing bad has happened yet, it must not be that dangerous.
This is complacency, and it’s subtle. It doesn’t look like defiance, it looks like routine. Risk becomes invisible because it hasn’t shown itself recently. The absence of injury is misinterpreted as the absence of hazard. The problem, of course, is that laboratory hazards don’t care how long you’ve been doing the job. Aerosols don’t check your years of service. Formaldehyde doesn’t skip over the experienced tech. A microtome blade doesn’t dull its edge because you’ve been trimming blocks for twenty years.
Complacency thrives in quiet environments where near-misses aren’t discussed and small exposures go unreported. When leaders stop talking about hazards because “everyone already knows,” awareness fades. If we want PPE compliance to improve, we have to make risk visible again. That means telling real stories. It means talking openly about near-misses. It means reminding people what splashes look like and what inhalation exposure really means over time. The purpose is not to scare anyone, but to restore perspective.
Another powerful force at play is the lack of immediate consequences. In many labs, someone can skip eye protection or forego a face shield, and nothing happens. No splash, no exposure, no write-up. The brain logs that as reinforcement. Unsafe behavior that produces no negative outcome gets repeated. Over time, it becomes “how we do it here.”
I often talk about the Safety “Bank Account.” Every time we ignore PPE requirements without consequence, we make a withdrawal. One day, when the splash actually happens or the cut becomes infected or the chemical burn occurs, we realize the account has been overdrawn. But by then, often, it’s too late.

Addressing missing PPE in the moment, respectfully and professionally, sends a clear message that the expectation is real. Modeling proper PPE at all times as leaders is even more powerful. If a supervisor walks through the lab without eye protection, the written policy has already lost. Culture listens to behavior far more closely than it listens to words.
An exposure investigation consumes far more time than putting on a lab coat. A needlestick report costs more productivity than adjusting a face shield. If PPE is uncomfortable or difficult to access, that’s a system issue. Proper sizing, anti-fog options, lightweight designs, and point-of-use storage make compliance easier. Safety should be the path of least resistance, not the extra step that slows everything down.
One of the most underused strategies in safety culture is recognizing what’s going right. We are quick to correct the miss, but we rarely highlight the win. A simple acknowledgment of someone who stopped a task to put on eye protection reinforces the expectation in a positive way. When safe behavior is visible and valued, it spreads.
Sometimes the issue isn’t complacency or culture. It’s perception. Staff may genuinely believe the task is low risk. The tissue is fixed, this sample is diluted, it’s only a screening plate. If the hazard isn’t clearly understood, PPE feels optional. That’s where education has to go beyond “what to wear” and explain why. What is the exposure pathway? What does the PPE interrupt? What could happen if it fails? When people understand the science behind the requirement, compliance feels rational instead of arbitrary.
In the end, lab professionals don’t skip PPE because they don’t care. They skip PPE because they are human. Repetition dulls awareness. Lack of immediate consequence reinforces shortcuts. Productivity pressure influences choices. Culture shapes behavior. Misunderstood risk reduces urgency. Changing that pattern requires more than an annual training module. It requires visible leadership. It requires real-time coaching. It requires systems that make compliance easy. It requires conversations that keep risk from fading into the background. Most importantly, it requires remembering what PPE is actually about. It’s about protecting eyesight, protecting lungs, protecting skin, protecting careers, and protecting the ability to go home at the end of the day healthy.