DAN’S BLOG
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 be free from any lab exposures or incidents, and her proper use of PPE would ensure that she didn’t bring […]
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 didn't affect day-to-day operations in the hospitals where I worked. That's not true in Virginia where I live today. Our […]
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 to do. Not all of these processes follow the written lab procedures, though. Not all of them are acceptable by […]
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 in this system of safety. The purpose of the hierarchy is to protect employees who work in hazardous areas (like […]
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 all. The next few times, nothing has happened, and you’re confidence is high. You handle the chemical with less care. […]
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 given fire safety training, he may have known how to handle it safely. Feeling that is was a better idea […]
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 able to sleep in until 5 a.m. local time! I knew, though, that I would lose time flying back home, […]
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 since we only had three or four channels. Often there was not much information about the movie ahead of time. […]
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, only some are required to be reported to national agencies. The CDC reports cites four studies that collectively identified 4,079 […]
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 the initial design team. After a few months, he asked to be able to join the meetings. Construction had begun […]
Can’t Touch This
In the realm of laboratory safety, we’ve come a long way regarding our understanding of bloodborne pathogens, and it has changed our behaviors over the years. No longer is it the norm to eat or drink in the lab. Newer staff are not quite sure what mouth pipetting is, and when it is explained to […]
As Simple as A-B-C
When it comes to safety in the laboratory, there are several rules, regulations and guidelines to keep track of from multiple organizations. If your responsibilities for lab safety are shared with other job duties, that makes keeping track of these regulations even more difficult. If you’re having a hard time keeping up as a lab […]
Decommissioned
Jack worked in the hospital maintenance department, and when he saw the old lab refrigerator sitting on the loading dock waiting to be disposed of, he came up with an idea. That night he and his friend picked up the refrigerator from the hospital and moved it to their hunting cabin where they would use […]
Do You Care about You?
As laboratorians, we think very little about ergonomics until we start to suffer with some sort of pain or injury that interferes with the things we set out to do. We’re not very proactive about ergonomics, and that’s not just true in our field of work. It’s not because we don’t care about ourselves, but […]
Fanning the Flames – The Fire Exit Drill
There are over 200 hospital fires every year in the United States. Although the majority of these occur in the Operating Room areas, laboratory fires can and do occur. Every October I like to talk about fire safety in the lab in conjunction with National Fire Safety Month. You should have a solid fire safety […]
Where Do We Begin?
As many of you know, I worked with Terry Jo Gile, The Safety Lady®, for five years before she retired in December of 2013. One thing I noticed was that some people in the Lab Safety field come and go! Some of us have been here for a long time, while others are new to […]
The Way I See It
Perspective plays an important role in Laboratory Safety. For instance, when you see John working with no gloves on, you (hopefully) will go to him and let him know he needs to be using PPE in the lab. We very often tell ourselves stories about what we see, and that can affect our approach – […]
Safety Training by Accident
Safety awareness in the laboratory does not happen by accident. Initial training and on-going education should be a part of your overall lab safety program. One way to do that is to review a different safety topic each month with your staff. There are certainly more than twelve topics in the field of lab safety, […]
The CDC- Could It Happen to You?
Unless you work in the laboratories at the CDC, you probably don’t know all of the details of the actual safety lapses that occurred recently. These issues led to the potential exposure of several employees to highly dangerous pathogens. When speaking on these issues, the CDC director stated that he knew there were flaws in […]
Be Ready for Ebola in your Laboratory
With the events occurring in our world regarding the Ebola outbreak and the related events in our own country, hospitals everywhere in the U.S. are preparing for the possibility of dealing with a suspected or confirmed Ebola patient. That affects laboratories as well. There is much information available, and some of it changes daily. The […]
The Safety Medical Director
After I gave a lab presentation at this year’s AACC conference in Chicago, a doctor came to me and told me he thought the information I spoke about was very valuable. He said he did not hear about lab safety enough and that more doctors should be aware of the information I was giving. I […]
Looking for a Sign
As I was getting ready to head to New York City for a quick vacation, I was at the train platform wondering if I was in the right place. There were no clear signs. There wasn’t anybody around to answer questions. When the first train came in, it was a commuter train, not the long […]
From Safety Eyes to X-ray Vision
In the Immunohistochemical stain lab, Rory made up his special stains under the chemical fume hood. One of the reagents he used was hydrochloric acid. At the end of each month there was usually a little bit of acid that needed to be disposed of as waste. He poured the waste acid into a glass […]
Swallowing the Safety Pill
A colleague of mine told me she saw a great cartoon depicting a doctor who had invented a pill that could cure every disease known to man. The problem was the pill could not be swallowed- it was about ten feet wide! I thought this was a great illustration for new lab safety professionals, and […]
Standing Down for Safety
Have you ever run into a safety situation in your laboratory that requires immediate attention? Have you found a safety problem that you discovered may be happening with all lab staff? If so, you may have come to a point where you need to initiate a safety stand down. By definition, a stand-down event means […]
Standing Down for Safety II
You received a report from the Occupational Health office that Melinda, a phlebotomist, reported a needle stick exposure. Four days later, you receive a second report about another phlebotomist at a different location. When you visit Melinda to get further details, you learn that she carries a sharps container on her tray with no lid […]
The Eyes Can Have It
When the inspector issued Julia the report with all of the safety citations in her lab, Julia reacted with surprise. She had been the lab manager (and safety officer) there for six years. Sure, she’d been busy recently with designing the new lab space they would soon move to, but how had she not noticed […]
In and Out Safety
Over the years I’ve had many conversations with lab managers and pathologists about their role in lab safety. I have often stressed that lab leadership needs to be a role model of safety every day. These folks walk through the lab several times a day for various reasons, and they may not be aware, but […]
The Role of the Role Model
The importance of lab leadership (managers, pathologists, etc.) acting as a role model for safety cannot be overstated. At that same time, it would be foolish to ignore that fact that many lab leaders do not take the time to put safety at the top of their list. Because of that, it is key for […]
Lab Safety Q&A
As a lab safety consultant, I get questions from many different lab professionals, and I share the answers to those questions in my monthly newsletter so that others with similar issues may benefit from the information. Most of the answers are derived from safety regulations or guidelines that are in place, but there are some […]
Getting Fired Up Over Safety
Every year I love to use October as the time to discuss fire safety. After all, many other organizations promote fire safety ever since October was designated as National Fire Prevention Month in 1922. This year, as always, I do want lab safety professionals to be “fired up” about safety, but there have been some […]
On Assertiveness
One of the most important on-going activities for a safety leader is the training of the safety team- not just training on safety regulations- but training team members how to coach employees about safety issues as they are discovered on the job. A laboratory safety professional may know and understand every safety regulation, but if […]
The Safety Culture Issue
On which side of the aisle do you stand on the subject of change? Things change – or – things never change? The only constant is change – or – it’s always the same old thing? When it comes to the lab safety culture, there are some generally-accepted thoughts. Change is difficult. Change is slow. […]
Safety Success Down Any Path
For eight years, while performing lab safety audits, I have cited a couple of labs for having keyboards raised. The little legs on the rear of the computer keyboard were up and there was no wrist rest in place. Ergonomically, this is an unsound practice, and it is one item on my safety audit checklist. […]
Exposing Exposure Control
Marlene walked by the chemistry department and noticed several lab safety issues with Doug who was working there that day. Doug was wearing mesh sneakers. He had on a lab coat but his sleeves were rolled up. He was chewing gum, and he was placing open specimens on the analyzer with no face protection. When […]
The Study of Work?
A few years ago the average age of medical technologists working in the field was 51, and that number is climbing. Many are nearing what they hope to be happy and healthy retirement years. Sometimes, though, those years are not so happy and healthy. Issues may arise such as carpal tunnel syndrome, neck and back […]
The Lab Sound Barrier
Ergonomics tends to be a lesser concern in the realm of laboratory safety, and noise- an ergonomics issue- gets even less attention. Both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) require that noise gets proper notice in the lab. Laboratories of all types must have a policy that […]
The OSHA Consequences
Many lab managers and safety professionals tell me they cannot get staff to maintain compliance with the safety basics in the lab. There tends to be several different possible reasons for this, and you may encounter one or more of these in your work area: -No management/medical director support of the lab safety program. -No […]
The Last Deadline
OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System for the classification and labeling of chemicals in the workplace (GHS) was implemented in several phases beginning in 2013, and its last deadline falls on June 1, 2016. The effects were immense for those who manufacture, transport, and handle chemicals, and of course it affected laboratories everywhere. There […]
A Light Touch
The other day I went to get a haircut (yes, even though I don’t have the hair I used to have, I still go to a barber shop from time to time). The stylist was a nice young lady, and she was good at carrying a conversation. I began to notice as she continued her […]
Sublimation Anticipation
Many years ago I worked in a lab that often received dry ice in boxes with our blood product deliveries. The habit in the lab was to dump the excess frozen carbon dioxide into one of our stainless steel sinks. The staff would get excited each time there was a delivery because they liked to […]