DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 16:31:53 -0500
Reply-To: Yung Morgan <pmorgan**At_Symbol_Here**EHS.UMASS.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Yung Morgan <pmorgan**At_Symbol_Here**EHS.UMASS.EDU>
Subject: laboratory PPE and lab coats cleaning
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
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post
