From: Monona Rossol <actsnyc**At_Symbol_Here**cs.com>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Question about lab policy for "medical condition"
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 09:54:09 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 8D101E2E7757767-2088-1A40**At_Symbol_Here**webmail-m150.sysops.aol.com
In-Reply-To <530ECAE9.5090009**At_Symbol_Here**appstate.edu>
Demystify:
NOT BAD! I will steal some of that excellent statement, thank you muchly. This will work as long as the school has documentation that their Lab Standard training includes the information on pregnancy risks that the teachers will need to fairly present these issues to students. Then you have it nailed except for teachers who have some kind of bias. That is always the weak link that cannot be made perfect with any policy or training.
-----Original Message-----
From: Samuella Sigmann <sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**APPSTATE.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Sent: Thu, Feb 27, 2014 7:29 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Question about lab policy for "medical condition"
Hi Dave - Here is our
pregnancy statement. Approved by our university attorney 5+ years
ago. We have this in all our manuals and lab syllabi. According
to the attorney, the rights of the mother to participate in lab
take precedence. In other words, we cannot tell them to stay out
for the baby's safety. We do just what you said - send them to
their doctor with the SDSs. Some opt to drop lab. For those who
don't, we have dry labs established for the experiments where
there might really be an elevated risk - FPD with p-xylene, MW by
Vapor - to name a few.
Allergies we handle on a
case by case basis, but we did just come up with a statement this
semester.
"Be aware that some
individuals might be sensitive or allergic to chemicals used in
lab. If you have a known allergy and would like to know if you
should take precautions for this, please speak with your
instructor at a convenient time."
We then mention some of the common things we have seen - nickel,
sulfur, salicylic acid.
Sammye
Department of Chemistry Pregnancy
Policy
Pregnancy introduces a
special set of variables into the consideration of hazards in
laboratory. While the exposure levels to chemicals commonly
encountered in a university laboratory setting pose no or low
risk to an adult, they can pose a significantly higher level of
hazard to the unborn fetus. Many of these hazards are not well
studied, and it is not known what exposure level is safe for an
unborn child. It is therefore prudent for pregnant women to
limit the unnecessary exposure of a fetus to any chemicals. This
is especially true if the chemicals are mutagenic (causes damage
to chromosomes) or teratogenic (causes birth defects and/or
fetal death).
If you have recently
become pregnant or you are anticipating becoming pregnant while
you are taking laboratory courses, you should discuss the
possible ramifications that working in a chemistry laboratory
might have on the fetus with your instructor and your physician.
Your instructor can inform you of the specific chemicals that
you will be using that are known or suspected to be reproductive
toxins and your discussions will be held in strict confidence.
On 2/26/2014 9:19 PM, David C. Finster
wrote:
CHAS folks,
I recently got an email from a colleague
asking:
"Our department is looking for model
policies for students with medical conditions which might
limit their participation in the laboratory (such as asthma,
pregnancy, allergies, etc.). We're getting a suggestion from
"on high" to have a
caveat emptor policy where we just refer students to
the SDS's and tell them that they have to make their own
decisions in consultation with their physician.
Do you know of any models we might look at
for review, consideration, and/or adoption?"
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