Question:
Do acid/base storage cabinets have to be in a negative pressure room?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
While many laboratory spaces are designed to have negative pressure, acid and base storage cabinets do not need to be stored in areas of negative pressure.
Question:
There are two laboratories in separate buildings in the organization. Are there specific regulations regarding where a spill kit is necessary? Does the size of the lab matter? If there are not many strong chemicals, is it acceptable to use absorbent pillows only? Is there a certain percent of chemical that would create the need a spill kit (i.e. 4% NaOH, 10% acid, etc.)? Does a lab need a neutralizer for the acids and bases or are the absorbent pillows enough?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
In general, you want to make sure you have enough in a spill kit to handle the volume of chemicals that could potentially spill in the area. For example, one small jar of a formaldehyde neutralizer will not handle a five gallon cube of formaldehyde should it spill. As for location, I recommend having a spill kit in each room or area where chemicals are stored or used. For example, a Histology department with five different/separate rooms should have a spill kit in each room. CAP and OSHA expect adequate spill supplies to be available where spills can occur. In an open large lab, you don't necessarily need one at every bench, but you may want to have 2 or 3 kits depending on how long it would take to access the kits. The size of the lab will matter- one spill kit in a room that is 2000 square feet will not be sufficient in my opinion. Absorbent pads and pillows are considered sufficient spill supplies (for chemicals) if there are no highly-concentrated/hazardous chemicals. I recommend having an acid/base neutralizer for corrosives in the lab, including reagents listed as such. Using a plain powder or pad to sop up those chemicals might work, but if someone is accidentally exposed during clean-up, that could be bad, and it is better to be able to neutralize it.
Question:
The space is small where blood draws and specimen processing occurs. There is a vaccine and medication refrigerator in the same space, and the nurse comes in to take the medications while patients are being drawn. The nurse has to walk by the phlebotomist because the space is so small. Are there regulations or laws stating the refrigerator meds needs to be outside of a lab or collection area?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
There are regulations that prevent storing patient medications and samples in the same refrigerator, but there are no regulations that address having a medication refrigerator inside of a draw space. Oddly enough, the draw space is a biohazard for the employee, but not for the patient (OSHA only covers employees), so storing patient food or medications in that area is not prohibited. That said, it seems like you have a space issue in the area. One way to address it would be to express your concerns to nursing staff and explain that being bumped while performing a venipuncture can be very dangerous. Another thought would be to mark the floor outlining a "safe zone" so that no one steps in that area when a procedure occurs.
Question:
The cytology analysis/microscope area is connected to the wet lab (one must walk through the wet lab to get to the dry lab analysis/scope area). The analysis room has a carpet floor. Is it acceptable for this area to be designated as clean, and can cytotechnologists eat in this area?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
You can make the analysis area a clean area provided it is completely separated from the wet lab from floor to ceiling (and with a door, of course). Many labs are designed with a clean break room in the rear such that staff need to bring food through the lab to get there. While it's not the best set-up, you can bring food and drink through the lab provided it is covered.
Question:
The laboratory uses a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) software for electronic access to chemical safety data sheets. Are there any regulatory requirements stating there needs to be a hard copy back up in the event there is a failure and the electronic versions could not be accessed?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
OSHA does require there to be a back-up of some sort for electronic SDS access, but that back-up does not need to be paper. See if the company you use offers a back-up phone call or fax option. If the system is housed on site, there may be a way to back-up what you have onto a disc or thumb drive that you could update regularly.
Question:
When staff enters a patient’s room, hand hygiene is performed. When staff leaves the patient’s room, it is performed again. Is it necessary to perform hand hygiene again (once in the room) after touching inanimate objects, such as the bed rail, before putting on gloves and drawing the patient’s blood?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
The standard protocol for hand hygiene is to wash when entering and exiting a patient room. You may touch items before the actual venipuncture procedure, but for that procedure you will wear gloves. You should not have to wash hands again before donning gloves because of touching objects.
Question:
If a technologist cannot be fit-tested because he won’t shave, does management have any options aside from purchasing PAPR-style respirators? Can a lab mandate somebody to shave without violating any personal rights?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
While this is a combination of a human resources and safety issue, there are locations which demand male employees shave to be able to wear certain respirator types for their job. The organization has to decide whether or not to pursue that path, however, as other respirator options have become available (such as PAPRs). Those other respirators are very expensive, so human resources and the lab can decide that employees simply must be fit-tested in order to work in roles which require tight-fitting respirators.
Question:
Some lab personnel bring small personal fans and set it beside the computer that is in the lab and where the pneumatic tube system is. Is this acceptable? What are the rules for a small fan in the laboratory?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
Unfortunately, there are no written regulations preventing fans in the laboratory, but they are never a good idea. They blow around lab contaminants, they contaminate microbiology work spaces, they interfere with lab fume hoods, BSCs, and air vents, and they are typically not cleaned. The better solution is to provide a comfortable environment or offer light-weight lab coats to staff.
Question:
In a physician office laboratory a doctor ordered stool cultures for Clostridium difficile. The patient collected the specimens in the office lab restroom. There is a protocol for handling such specimens in the lab, but staff is unsure how to clean the restroom that the patient used. There is a list of disinfectants, but is this necessary every time someone collects a stool sample? All culture specimens are sent to a reference lab for testing.
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
The CDC recommends the use of a 1:10 dilution of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) and water freshly mixed daily to clean areas where patients with C. difficile have been. Use a clean cloth saturated with a properly diluted disinfecting solution for each area of the room, working from clean to dirty spaces. There is also a list of EPA-registered disinfectants that can be used. Use them according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Question:
Are there any requirements regarding the thickness of biohazard waste bags? Is it left to the laboratory to make the selection based on the waste (i.e. thick enough to resist punctures)?
Dan the Lab Safety Man says:
There is not a requirement for waste bag thickness, per se. Biohazard waste bags need to be able to hold any items disposed within, but if heavier items are placed inside, you may wish to consider double-bagging. There should not be items inside which will puncture a bag. If an item can puncture a biohazard bag, it should be placed into a sharps container.
