All,

In my position in industry, we used a uniform service for our lab coats. This eliminated the issue of who would take care of the coats for washing etc. They would be delivered and picked-up at the interval that we specified, so there is flexibility in implementation. Having students obtain their lab coat from the vendor on the first day of class, and leaving them in the lab would be the most safe AND would be a policy reflected by most of industry. Having employees or students take home labcoats with possible contamination could be considered a policy of high risk especially today.  There is always an issue about who will pay for this, my suggestion would be to assess each student as part of their lab fee for the semester rental of coats. I am available through the listserv or off-line for any further questions at hazmatchemist**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com , I look forward to hearing others ideas about this subject, it is after all an appropriate topic for National Public Health Week!

Oliver (Jay) Toigo III CHMM, MPH (Candidate)

320 Cherry Blossom Dr.

Churchville, PA 18966

Ph:215-435-9774

ojt3**At_Symbol_Here**verizon.net

Greetings!

My university is looking at rewriting their lab coat policy to make them mandatory for certain lower level teaching labs.  What we're currently trying to iron out are the details of the following:

1)      Are the students responsible for keeping up with their own lab coat, or is it the department's responsibility to store the coats for all the students?
2)      Who is responsible for laundering the coats - the department or the students?

We have a lab enrollment of several thousand students.  My current thinking is to allow the students to keep up with and launder their own coats, except in the case of a chemical spill.  But I wanted to put out this query and see what other institutions were doing.

Thank you,

Karen Humphrey

Laboratory Coordinator & Safety Officer / Part-time Lecturer
Baylor Univ. Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office: BSB E.111
Phone: (254) 710-2002

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