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Previous by Date: Subject: Extension letter for DHS CFATS Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 08:40:57 -0800 Author: Regina Frasca |
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Dear members, Thank you so much for all your responses for my questions: 1 PPE requirement for Life science labs, 2. Would an individual chem. Hygiene plan help with enforcement of PPE use 3. Lab coats cleanings companies Here are a sample of all the responses; 1. Here are several links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Health and Safety-Biosafety. The CDC has programs that work with plants, animals and microscopes etc... too, so these safety regulations, guidelines and information sheets should apply to many of your situations. http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/biosfty.htm Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) 5th Edition http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl5/bmbl5toc.htm Biosafety in the Laboratory. Slides are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/pdffiles/Module%202%20-%20Biosafety.pdf Depending on the Biosafety level of the laboratories, lab coats may only be recommended and not required. Hope that this helps. 2. Yung, PPE compliance is a reflection of safety culture. The heads of the groups must support and set the example of wearing appropriate PPE. This is a struggle at any lab environment. I believe that all labs should have the same basic PPE requirements (lab coat, safety glasses) and then more stringent per the use. We use a company called Clean Rentals & More out of Bedford, Mass. It is very reasonable less than a dollar per lab coat per week. 3. A lab is a lab is a lab. If hazardous substances are present, a certain amount of PPE is required. Chemical Hygiene Plans are a representation of work-to-precautions for the employees. Signatures are required, and deviations will need explaining. No-one wants to be unnecessarily encumbered with PPE. Some photos of lab accidents could be used to press your position. I too work in a research/pilot plant environment, and the "creative" methods of skirting the basic rules always gives rise to the question, "did you not receive any Safety training in school?". "That's how we've always done it" is a common answer. My retort is usually something like, "remember Bhopal and Texas City, TX (BP)" The same thinking caused those accidents too". 4. I can't help with #1 (how is it that PPE would interferes with work on plants?) but for #2, we have a commercial laundry service come in once a week to take the soiled coats and return clean. Current cost is $3.09/coat/week. 5. We finally bought a washer and dryer for this purpose. It is a fairly inexpensive solution (compared to outsourcing through a uniform supply company), since we have student workers who can learn laundering skills in the process. : ) We haven't set up a specific schedule - generally, folks just drop off the dirty lab coats at my office. We provide this service just to the Department of Chemistry through the chemistry stockroom. Since you are in a central EHS office, things would probably have to work differently there. However, if you have the budget to purchase the equipment, installation (potentially a significant expense) and laundry supplies, you might find that your science storeroom or whatever would be willing to handle the washing through student workers. 6 At my pharmaceutical company, safety glasses are required in all labs at all times. We have gotten the same push back from some groups that you describe but if you look at what they do, they do more hazardous things than they think. Also, we found compliance with a partial use policy was poor, they forgot to use them when doing the more hazardous tasks. It seems easier on all to have a blanket policy. 7. We solved the problem of lab coat cleaning by using disposable coats. Fisher 19-130-5272 (medium), 19-130-5273 (large), 19-130-5274 (Xlarge) with education pricing are $34 for a box of 25 coats. They are less expensive than a cleaning service. One big advantage of always using a lab coat is that it saves your street cloths from lab damage. 8. You can do a task assessment for each area of your lab, similar to this. APPENDIX A-TASK HAZARD ASSESSMENT FORM LABORATORY SERVICES BUREAU TASK HAZARD ASSESSMENT FORM Select the minimum type of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed for the referenced task. The employee performing the task may choose to wear more than the minimum PPE. Task___________________ Location_____________________ EYE AND FACE PROTECTION =F4=80=80=80 Safety Glasses =F4=80=80=80 Safety Goggles =F4=80=80=80 Face Shield =F4=80=80=80 Filtered (light radiation) =F4=80=80=80 Other_________________ =F4=80=80=80 N/A Comments:________________________________ HAND PROTECTION =F4=80=80=80 Abrasion Resistant Gloves =F4=80=80=80 Gloves for Hot/Cold Extremes =F4=80=80=80 Gloves for Biological Exposure =F4=80=80=80 Gloves for Chemical Exposure (i.e. acids, bases, solvents, etc=E2=80=A6) =F4=80=80=80 Other________________ =F4=80=80=80 N/A Comments:________________________________ FOOT PROTECTION Note: All LSB personnel engaged in laboratory activities MUST wear closed-toe, non-perforated shoes =F4=80=80=80 Crush Resistant (i.e. steel-toe) =F4=80=80=80 Chemical Resistant =F4=80=80=80 Biological Exposure (i.e. shoe protectors) =F4=80=80=80 Other ________________ =F4=80=80=80 N/A Comments:________________________________ Document No. LSBSM Effective Date 9-19-07 - 54 - Approved: A4158/4979 Phoenix Police Department Laboratory Services Bureau SAFETY MANUAL Issue No. 2007-1 TORSO PROTECTION =F4=80=80=80 Lab Coat =F4=80=80=80 Apron =F4=80=80=80 Jumpsuit/Coveralls =F4=80=80=80 Full Body Suit =F4=80=80=80 N/A =F4=80=80=80 Other ________________ Comments:________________________________ RESPIRATORY PROTECTION NOTE: For any use of respiratory protection beyond the use of a single strap dust mask, a physical/fit-check must be performed. =F4=80=80=80 Dust Mask =F4=80=80=80 Half Face =F4=80=80=80 Full Face =F4=80=80=80 PAPR =F4=80=80=80 Other _______________ =F4=80=80=80 N/A Comments: _________________________________ HEARING PROTECTION =F4=80=80=80 Ear Plugs =F4=80=80=80 Ear Muffs =F4=80=80=80 Other __________________ =F4=80=80=80 N/A Comments: _________________________________ A task hazard assessment has been performed and PPE selected for the above referenced task. SUPERVISOR/DESIGNEE ____________________________ DATE __________________ 9. We use Aladco. Gotta be careful about making sure dept/name/etc are marked and marked again after several washings. We have lost a few coats here and there, but they are pretty good about returning things. Your volume would be much greater than ours, however.... 10. At Gettysburg College we only give eyewear recommendations and it is the lab supervisor=E2=80=99s responsibility to choose the most appropriate PPE based on this (see below from our CHP). As for lab coats, we do not require them, however, you may be able to have them laundered periodically with those worn by Health Service staff or even in your own on campus laundry facilities (e.g. Athletics). 6.2.3.1 Eye Protection. Eye protection must be made available to all employees or visitors to laboratories where chemicals are used and stored. The minimum acceptable requirements are for hardened glass or plastic safety spectacles. The laboratory supervisor should establish the level of eye protection needed per laboratory activity. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recommends the following types of eye protection for use in the laboratory: Yung Morgan, MsPH Chemical Safety Industrial Hygiene Services Environmental Health and Safety 117 Draper hall UMASS,Amherst MA 01003 phone (413) 545-2682 Fax (413) 545-2600 email : pmorgan**At_Symbol_Here**ehs.umass.edu
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