Clinical Chemistry

Laboratory Safety and

Regulations

Carl Leoneill Baroma, RMT

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Safety is……
 A combination of common sense, good behavior and
housekeeping

 Good personal behavior & habits such as professional conduct and appearance,
frequent hand washing, no eating, smoking, drinking, or application of makeup,
etc. in lab. Should also make yourself aware of emergency procedures / location
and proper use of emergency equipment and fire escape route.

 Good housekeeping - Laboratory cleanliness, properly labeled containers,

immediate appropriate cleanup of any spills, warning signs of potential danger
posted, etc.

 Good laboratory technique - carefully read all instructions and labels, do not
operate equipment until you are instructed and authorized to do so, always
respect the power of acids, bases and corrosive chemicals. Protect yourself with
PPDs and use proper eyewear protection devices.

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Safety Awareness

 Safety responsibility – shared responsibility

 Employer
 Provide and supervise safety methods, equipment and policies

 Employee
 Understand and practice established safety procedures
 Notify supervisors of unsafe conditions

 Bottom line … Safety is everyone’s responsibility !!!

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Precautions
 No eating, drinking, application of personal
products, such as make-up or contact lenses in
lab area
 Frequent handwashing
 Follow Standard precautions at all times, treat all
specimens as if infectious
 Never pipet by mouth
 Properly dispose of wastes
 Proper labeling and storage of supplies
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LABORATORY SAFETY

 Lab risks
 Electrical: fire and shock
 Toxic vapors
 Compressed gasses
 Flammable liquids
 Radioactive materials ( not too common these days )
 Corrosives
 Mechanical: moving machinery
 Poisons
 Biological: microbes, animals, plants and genetically modified agents
 Ergonomic: standing, repetitive motion

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Regulatory Agencies for
Safety
 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) 1970
 Federal law that mandates safe working conditions for workers

 OSHA may inspect work places for compliance with safety rules

 Programs developed by OSHA

 Standard 29: occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals

 Standard 29: Hazard Communication, including Right to Know

 Bloodborne Pathogens Standard

 Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act

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Regulatory Agencies for
Safety
 CLSI (The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute)
 Infection control guidelines

 JCAHO/ TJC (The Joint Commission)

 Hospital accreditation

 CAP (College of American Pathologists)

 Laboratory accreditation

 CDC (Centers for Disease Control)

 U.S. Department of Health and Human Service

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SAFETY EQUIPTMENT

 Safety showers
 Eyewash stations
 Fire blankets
 Fire extinguishers
 Spill kits
 First aid kits
 Fume hoods
 Biosafety hoods
 Chemical storage cabinets
 PPEs ( Personal Protective Equipment )

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CHEMICAL SAFETY

 Hazard Communication Standard (Right to Know Law)

 The lab, by law, must provide written policies for the safe use of hazardous
chemicals ( OSHA regulation )
 Intent to ensure all chemical health hazards are evaluated and information
presented to employees.

 Safety Data Sheet (SDS )

 A list of all safety information created by the manufacturer for each laboratory
reagent (biological or chemical)
 The lab is responsible to collect and make available MSDS information for all
reagents and chemicals
 An SDS lists general information, precautionary measures, and emergency
information.
 Employees must have ready access to SDS information

 Lab must have written Chemical Hygiene Plan that provides specific work practices
for hazardous chemicals
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Storage and Handling of Chemicals

 Different storage/handling requirements chemicals based on their

differing characteristics:
 Flammable/Combustible - classified according to flashpoint,
among the most dangerous in the lab.
 Corrosives – cause injury to eyes/skin, respiratory tract if contact
is made
 Reactives – under certain circumstances may react violently -
require special knowledge to prevent their contact with reaction
causing substances.
 Carcinogenic chemicals- been determined to cause cancer.
Benzidine is often used as example of lab chemical now
classified as carcinogen.

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Signage and Labeling of Chemicals

 Everything must be labeled !!!

 Hazardous material must

include all necessary safety
information

 Chemicals transferred
 Must be labeled with
identification or contents of
the chemical

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Chemical Safety

NFPA labeling system for hazardous

chemicals
• The system uses a
diamond-shaped symbol,
four colored quadrants, and
a hazard rating scale of 0 to
4.
• The health hazard is shown
in the blue quadrant.
• The flammability hazard is
shown in the red quadrant.
• The instability hazard is
indicated in the yellow
quadrant.
• The specific hazard is
shown in the white
quadrant.
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BIOLOGICAL SAFETY

 Standard Precautions
 All biological specimens must be
considered potentially infectious
 Always use required PPEs when handling
biohazardous material

 Cap specimens that are being centrifuged

 Mouth pipeting is NEVER permitted under any

circumstances

 Spills must be cleaned using proper technique

 OSHA mandates that labs provide written

bloodborne and airborne ( TB ) safety policies.

 Annual TB screening ( PPD test ) for hospital

employee’s is mandatory
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Biological Safety

Cleaning Specimen Collection Areas and Biological

Spills
• Wear gloves.
• First clean area with visible blood with an absorbant,
then disinfect the entire area.
• Use 1:10 bleach solution or commercially prepared
solution.
• Keep the bleach in contact with contaminated area
for at least 20 minutes.
• Use colored biohazard labels.
• Provide accident follow-up report

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Specimen Safety
 Proper Labeling of small samples, dilutions,
aliquots
 Minimum requirements
 Patient Name
 Specimen Number
 Date

 Prevents pre-analytical error

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Radioactivity Safety

 Gamma ray - most

penetrating
 Beta ray - less penetrating
 Must wear badge
 Work area monitored
frequently

The Three Cardinal Principles

of Self-protection
1. Time
2. Shielding
3. Distance

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FIRE SAFETY
 Essential elements for fire
 Fuel
 Heat or ignition source
 Oxygen

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FIRE SAFETY

Classification of Fires
 Class A: Paper, wood, plastic,
fabrics
 Class B: Flammable liquids –
gases
 Class C: Electrical
 Class D: Combustible metals

 Fire extinguishers are labeled to

indicate which type of fire they
combat

 Most extinguishers utilize a dry

chemical that combats A, B and C
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Classes of Fire
Class of Fire Type of Hazard Type of Extinguisher
1. Type A Ordinary Combustibles Water, Dry chemical and
-cloth, paper, rubbish, loaded steam
plastics and woods
2. Type B Flammable liquids Dry chemical, carbon
-grease, gasoline, paints dioxide, halon foam
and oil
3. Type C Electrical equipment and Carbon dioxide, dry
motor switches chemicals and halon
4. Type D Flammable metals -Metal X
- Mercury, magnesium, -Should be fought only
sodium, and lithium by firefighters only
5. Type E Detonation (arsenal fire) Usually allowed to burn
out and nearby materials
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FIRE SAFETY

 Know the location of

 Fire alarm pull stations
 Extinguishers
 Fire blankets

 Know the telephone number to report fires

 RACE
 Rescue - Remove patients from immediate harm
 Alarm -Pull fire alarm
 Contain - Close doors and windows
 Extinguish - Extinguish fire
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DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

 Chemical Waste
 Know the SOP for the disposal of every substance
 You can’t assume that everything goes down the drain !

 Biohazardous Waste
 Disposal of biohazardous waste is regulated by law
 Waste containers must be clearly labeled
 Sharps ( needles, blades, glass ) must be placed in hard containers
 Infectious wastes should be autoclaved before disposal
 General rules
 Tubes and other containers of blood, papers or other materials that contain
significant amounts( > 1 inch diameter on paper or ½ mL total) of blood, used
culture plates should go into bio-waste
 Paper towels, used gloves, KimWipes should go in regular trash
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ACCIDENT DOCUMENTATION AND
INVESTIGATION

 All accidents must be immediately reported to a supervisor

(AFTER first aid )

 Accident Investigation forms must be completed by the employee

and employer
 Time and place are documented
 Cause documented
 Nature of the injury

 OSHA regulations require accident records to be kept 30 years

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References
 Bishop, M., Fody, E., & Schoeff, l. (2010). Clinical Chemistry:
Techniques, principles, Correlations. Baltimore: Wolters
Kluwer Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
 Sunheimer, R., & Graves, L. (2010). Clinical Laboratory
Chemistry. Upper Saddle River: Pearson .

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