MLS 407 | Clinical Laboratory Safety

Standard Precautions

• All patient samples treated as potentially infectious or biohazardous

• Also referred to as Universal Precautions

• Follow standard precautions when handling any specimen

• Follow these for safety and it’s the law!

Engineering Controls

Devices provided that reduce the chance of a biosafety exposure

• Safety shower

• Eyewash stations

• Biohazard waste disposal

• Biohazard sharps disposal

• Biological safety cabinet

• Spill kit

How long should you wash your eyes at the eyewash station?

15 minutes

What is considered biohazardous waste?

• Blood tubes

• Reaction tubes

• Blood contaminated PPE

• KOVA slides (used in urinalysis)

Biosafety

Maintenance of safe conditions to reduce or eliminate exposure to potentially hazardous agents and microorganisms

What are  the following routes by which a healthcare worker can be exposed to biohazardous substances?

• aerosol/airborne

• ingestion

• non-intact skin

• percutaneous

• permucosal

What are control methods used to reduce the risk of biohazard exposure and transmission? Include examples.

1. Engineering devices (eyewash station)

2. Work practice controls (hygiene)

3. PPE

Describe the proper sequence for putting on and taking off PPE

• Donning: gown, mask, gloves

• Doffing: gloves, gown, mask, wash hands

Sterilization

removing all living organisms including spores (autoclaving)

Disinfection

reduces number of harmful microorganisms using disinfectants like bleach

can be done once per shift (minimum) or whenever there is a spill

 

Describe the protocols to follow when exposed to a body fluid

1. Follow site protocol

2. Clean wound/splash site

3. Notify personnel

4. Seek medical care

What is the order of steps to follow when cleaning up a biohazardous material spill?

1. Choose proper PPE

2. Contain spill with paper towels

3. Use disinfectant, working from the outside in and letting it sit for 10-60 minutes

4. Use dustpan and broom

5. Use Kevlar gloves for broken glass

6. Dispose of waste in appropriate bins

Describe the proper order of steps to follow if you discover a fire

RACE: Rescue, Alarm, Confine, Extinguish/Evacuate

Describe the proper use of a portable fire extinguisher

PASS: Pull, aim, squeeze, sweep

Is static electricity an electrical safety hazard?

No, it is just caused by materials rubbing together and building up a charge

What are the primary negative health effects of UV exposure? How do you protect yourself?

• Damage to skin and eyes

• Sunburn, aging, melanoma, corneal damage

To protect yourself

• Wear proper PPE: lab coat, face shield, cover exposed skin

• Never use a BSC with a UV light on

What does the OSHA require?

OSHA requires labs to develop a written Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) that is readily available to employees which includes: policies, procedures, and responsibilities that protect employees from hazards

• Chemical containers clearly labeled

• Safety Data Sheets (SDS): contains information on hazardous chemicals including nature, precautions, PPE, conditions for safe use, clean-up procedure, disposal

What should you do when storing chemicals?

• All chemicals stored in a secure location on level, stable shelves

• Keep away from direct sunlight/heat

• Hazardous chemicals/liquids below eye level

• Do not store on floor or window ledges

• Provide secondary containment system for liquids (trays, etc)

• Gas cylinders chained or strapped in place with cap on

• Dry chemicals, liquids, and gases should not be stored together

• Store in cabinets resistant to corrosion or compatible secondary containers

• Separate

  • Acids – bases and flammables

  • Bases – acids, flammables, reactives

  • Flammables – acids, bases, oxidizers

  • Oxidizers – bases, flammables, reactives

What are the two signal words?

DANGER and WARNING

What is required when labeling hazardous chemicals?

• Full name

• Product identifier

• Hazard pictogram

• Signal words (DANGER/WARNING)

• Hazard Statement 1-4

• Severity: A-Z

• Precautionary statement

• Manufacturer identifier

What do you put on a label when you’ve transferred a chemical?

• Full chemical name

• Precautionary and hazard information

• Date solution is mixed

• Concentration

• Expiration Date

Flammable, self reactive

Acutely toxic (harmful), irritant, hazardous to ozone layer

Carcinogen/reproductive toxicity/respiratory sensitizer/target organ toxicity

Skin corrosion/burns/eye damage

Gases under pressure

Explosives

Toxic to aquatic environment

Oxidizers

Acutely toxic (severe)

Standard precautions are a set of infection control practices that should be followed whenever handling blood and body fluids from:

A. A patient exhibiting signs of tuberculosis

B. A patient known to be positive for Hepatitis B Virus

C. A patient known to be positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus

D. All patients

D

Which of the following is an example of permucosal exposure to possibly infectious material?   

A. A patient with Mycobacteria tuberculosis coughs on a phlebotomist 

B. A phlebotomist drawing blood from a combative patient is stuck with a needle

C. A student brings a backpack with a water bottle into student laboratory 

D. An MLS with an open hand sore operates an instrument when not wearing gloves

A

Match the following examples of potential biohazard exposures with the appropriate term for that route of exposure: (can be 2)

1. Failing to use safety caps in the centrifuge

2. Biting your fingernails when working in the lab

3. Popping a vacutainer cap with no splash guard

4. Cutting your finger on a broken tube of blood

5. Urine spills over a scratch on your ungloved hand

6. Blowing your nose with a Kleenex with your gloves on

7. Squeezing bleach directly on a chemical spill

1. Aerosol or permucosal

2. Ingestion

3. Aerosol or permucosal

4. Percutaneous

5. Non-intact Skin

6. Permucosal only

7. Aerosol or permucosal

Examples of engineering controls used to reduce employee biosafety exposure include:

A. Biological safety cabinets, eyewash stations, safety glasses

B. Eyewash stations, safety glasses, sharps disposal containers 

C. Safety glasses, sharps disposal containers, biological safety cabinets

D. Sharps disposal containers, biological safety cabinets, eyewash stations 

D

Biohazard sharps containers used in the laboratory must be changed:

When ¾ full

What is always a reason to immediately discontinue using a piece of electrical equipment?   

Mild shock/tingle

The signal word used to indicate a more severe hazard on a GHS label is:

Danger