Lab Hazards, OSHA Pathogen Regulations & Laboratory Safety Management References: 1. Linne & Ringsrud's Clinical Laboratory Science: The Basics & Routine Techniques, 6th Edition, Mary Louise Turgeons, Elsevier Inc. 2. Clinical Laboratory Safety, Susan L. Rose, J.B. Lippincott Company

1. Laboratory Management
HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE
OSHA PATHOGEN REGULATIONS
MANAGEMENT OF LABORATORY SAFETY

2. Hazards in the Workplace
1. Biological Hazards
2. Chemical Hazards
3. Electrical Hazards
4. Fire Hazards
5. Glassware Hazards

3. Hazards in the Workplace
● Chemical Hazards
– Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS):
● describes hazards, safety handling, storage, and
disposal of hazardous chemicals.
● designed to ensure that lab workers are fully aware of
hazards associated w/ chemicals in workplace
– United Nations Hazard Classification
● Closest to ideal classification system:
– Standard, universally recognized hazard classification
system
– Readily understood everywhere & minimizes
ambiguities

4. Hazards in Workplace
● U.N. Hazard Classification:
1. Explosives (ex. sodium azide)
2. Compressed Gases (ex. ethelyn [cryogenic])
3. Flammable liquids (ex. alcohol)
4. Flammable solids (ex. magnesium)
5. Oxidizing materials (ex. nitrites)
6. Poisonous materials (ex. benzene)
7. Radioactive materials (ex. iodine)
8. Corrosive materials (ex. HCl)
9. Other (ex. mercury)

5. Hazards in the Workplace
● NFPA 704. Identification of the Hazards of
Materials
– Designed to be: simple, easily understood
interpreted quickly in poor light
adequate for emergencies
– Diamond identifies the chemical hazards under:
1. health (blue)
2. flammability (red)
3. reactivity (yellow)
4. other (white)
– Indicate severity of each: 0-4 scale
0: lowest degree of hazard
4: highest degree of hazard

6. Hazards in the Workplace
● Corrosives: acids/bases causing 1st
, 2nd
, 3rd
degree
burns 24 hours after contact
● Toxic Substances (Poisons):
– Should always be handled under a hood
– Threshold Limit Values (TLV)
● Max allowable safe-exposure limits to toxic materials
– Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
● level & duration of allowable exposures to OSHA-
regulated toxic chemicals

7. Hazards in the Workplace
● Explosives: primarily defines a set of conditions, not
a chemical type
– All flammable chemicals must be kept away from
oxidizing agents
● Oxidizers: materials that contain Oxygen available
to react w/ reducing materials to yield an overall net
energy release
– Should be handled under a hood w/ sash lowered

8. Hazards in the Workplace
● Electric Hazards
– Do not handle electrical equipment and connections
w/ wet hands
– Electrical equipment should not be used after liquid
has been spilled on it
– Any equipment used in an area where organic
solvents are present must have explosion-free
fittings (e.g., outlets, plugs)
– OSHA requires grounding electrical equipment

9. Hazards in the Workplace
● Fire Hazards:
Class A Ordinary Combustibles
Class B Flammable Liquids & Gases
Class C Electrical Equipment
Class D Powdered metal (Combustible) Material
Class E Cannot be extinguished
– Use of fire extinguishers: PASS
Pull
Aim
Squeeze
Sweep

10. Hazards in the Workplace
● Glassware Hazards
– Discard broken glassware in special container for
broken glass
– Common sense when storing glassware:
● Heavy pieces on lower shelves
● Tall pieces behind shorter ones
● Should not be stored out of reach
● Shelves should be installed at reasonable heights

11. OSHA Pathogen Regulations
● The OSHA-mandated program, Occupational
Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens, became law
in March 1992
● This regulation requires that laboratories:
– Develop, implement, and comply with a plan that
ensure the protective safety of laboratory staff to
potential infectious bloodborne pathogens
– Manage and handle medical waste in a safe and
effective manner

12. OSHA Pathogen Regulations
● Government regulations require:
– All employees handling hazardous material and
waste to be trained to use and handle these
materials
– Chemical hazard education sessions must be
presented to new employees and conducted
annually for all employees
– Each laboratory required to evaluate effectiveness of
its plan at least annually to update it as necessary
– Written plan must be available to employees

13. OSHA Pathogen Regulations
● Written laboratory plan must include:
– Purpose & Scope of plan
– References
– Definition of terms
– Definition of Responsibilities
– Detailed procedural steps to follow

14. OSHA Pathogen Regulations
● Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommends safety precaution concerning the
handling of all patient specimens, known as:
STANDARDS PRECAUTION
“All human blood and other body fluids are
treated as potentially infectious for HIV, HBV,
and other bloodborne microorganisms that can
cause disease in humans”
● Formerly: Universal Precaution/
Universal blood & body fluid precaution
● Eliminates need for separate isolation procedures for
patients known/suspected to be infectious
● Eliminates need for warning labels on specimens

15. OSHA Pathogen Regulations
● Purpose of standards for bloodborne pathogens &
occupational exposure:
– To provide a safe work environment
● OSHA mandates that an employer:
1. Educate & train all health care workers in
Standard Precautions and preventing
bloodborne infections
2. Provide proper equipment & supplies
(e.g., gloves)
3. Monitor compliance w/ the protective
biosafety policies

16. Management of Laboratory Safety
● The Safety Manual should:
– be prepared by every laboratory & available to all
employees
– be tailored to circumstance of respective clinical
lab.
– include names, contact no.s, & responsibilities of
relevant authorized persons
– specify an evacuation plan
– provide: vital safety & first-aid information,
emergency plans, incident-/accident- reporting
procedure, employee health requirements
– state safety policy

17. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Management
– Safety responsibility of Lab management incl. the ff:
● Establishing a safety policy
● Providing a safe workplace
● Providing facilities adequate for task required in
the lab
● Complying w/ established safety & health std's
● Assessing progress of safety program
● Reviewing & acting on reports of the ff:
– Safety committee
– Safety officer
– Accidents
– Inspections

18. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Safety Officer
– Has clearly defined set of duties & resp. who answers
directly to pathologist
– Develop safety goals; Set up & maintain a safety
program acceptable to lab & hospital inspection &
accrediting agencies
– Develop & maintain safe working conditions
– Maintain health records
– Remedy unsafe conditions
– Provide safety education for new & old employees
– Can & should enlist help of safety committee & lab staff
in pursuing these objectives

19. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Safety Officer
– Act as a liaison b/w lab management & dept. heads &
staff
– Promote safety awareness, motivate personnel, review &
inspect working conditions, uncover problems, involve
all lab personnel in safety
– Should attend relevant conferences & training programs
& set up a safety library for staff
– Should conduct informal safety inspections at regular
intervals
– Resp. for alerting security staff to what must be
monitored when lab is unattended as well as to all
other safety-related security matters

20. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Safety Committee
– Composed of 5-10 members sharing work & resp. Of
safety officer
– Should incl. representatives of all organizational levels &
depts of lab
– Regular meetings (monthly) w/ minutes recorded &
agenda prepared; safety officer chairs meetings
– Major goal: to maintain employee interest in safety
program
– Coverage of meeting: safety education; review accidents,
inspections, & apparent problems
– Reports should be supplied to management w/ written
recommendations; problems discussed & suggestions
should be transmitted to lab staff

21. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Laboratory Supervisors
– Responsible for training employees in general safety
techniques (ex. wearing an apron, chaining
compressed gas cylinders) and those specific safety
matters unique to each procedure (ex. Transferring TB
culture properly in a hood)
– Training critical esp. w/ new employees to establish
expected level of performance
– When writing the standard-operating-procedures manual,
safety tips must be included
– Must eliminate hazardous conditions/behaviours; report
on accidents; make daily effort to operate the dept. w/
a constant awareness of safe working procedures

22. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Laboratory Supervisors
– Responsible for training employees in general safety
techniques (ex. wearing an apron, chaining
compressed gas cylinders) and those specific safety
matters unique to each procedure (ex. Transferring TB
culture properly in a hood)
– Training critical esp. w/ new employees to establish
expected level of performance
– When writing the standard-operating-procedures manual,
safety tips must be included
– Must eliminate hazardous conditions/behaviours; report
on accidents; make daily effort to operate the dept. w/
a constant awareness of safe working procedures

23. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Laboratory Staff
– Employees share in responsibility for own safety & of
their co-workers
– All safety equipment provided must be used as
appropriate to task/situation
– Lab procedures must be followed w/o
shortcuts/modifications
– Injuries, hazards & accidents must all be reported
immediately
– Safety education must be an integral part of each job
– Good lab management = provide & encourage training in
safety

24. Management of Laboratory Safety
● Day-to-day safety, safe work performance, & knowledge of
stated lab requirements lies w/n each employee
● Supervisor & chief technologist resp. for eliminating unsafe
practices & conditions
● Overall lab safety resp. is shared by staff w/ safety officer
(authorized to correct & report safety hazards whenever seen)
● Chief pathologist resp. for safety of ALL lab employees
- must rely on & provide support to safety officer &
safety committee & follow their safety
recommendations to make system work as it should
- can appoint & authorize staff to make situation as safe
and as compliant w/ legal guidelines as possible