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1. Module - 3
Laboratory Safety
precautions

2. Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, participants will be able to:
• Describe practices to prevent or reduce risks
• List personal protective equipment (PPE) that should be
used routinely by lab workers
• Explain general safety requirements for the laboratory
• Describe steps to take in response to emergencies such as
biological or chemical spills, or laboratory fires
2

3. Safety - one component of Lab Quality
System
3
Purchasing &
Inventory
Assessment
Occurrence
Management
Information
Management
Process
Improvement
Customer Service Facilities &
Safety
Organization Personnel Equipment
Documents &
Records
Process
Control
Quality Control &
Specimen
Management

4. Why Is Safety Important?
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Coming in contact with human blood or blood
products is potentially hazardous
Safety involves taking precautions to protect you
and the client against infection.

5. What Else Needs Protection?
5
 Other people who may come in contact with
testing by-products
 Protect integrity of test products Protect
environment from hazardous materials

6. Universal or Standard
Precautions
Every specimen should be treated as though
it is infectious

7. Laboratory safety policy
• The Management:
 Provide a safe and healthy working environment
 Promote and maintain a well-documented and safe
workplace.
• Employees:
Adhere to all safety guidelines and regulations
 Demonstrate competency in lab safety techniques

8. General Safety Guidelines
• SOPs - understood
• Use PPE: Lab coat, Glove…
• remove any protective clothing before leaving the
health facility
• Do not touch your eyes, nose or other exposed
membranes or the skin with gloved hands
• Wash your hands with soap and water
• immediately after any contamination and
• after the work is completed.
• Dispose of used lancets in a sharps container

9. General safety Guidelines…
• Disinfect work surface areas
▫ After blood collection
▫ At the end of each working day
• Do not eat, drink or smoke in the working area.
• For use on all surfaces, use 0.5% solution of
bleach.
• Prepare bleach solutions fresh daily.

10. Infrastructure Requirements for Safe Labs
Waste disposal facilities
Adequate light, water, sewage, ventilation
and electrical facilities
Appropriate laboratory design
Appropriate storage facilities

11. Facilities and Safety -
Module 2
11
Sample collection room

12. Develop Personal Safe Work Habits
 Wash hand after testing
 Wear a fresh pair of gloves
with each patient
 Wear PPE
 Dispose of contaminated
sharps & waste immediately
after test
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13. Develop Personal Safe Work Habits
(Cont’d)
 Pipetting by mouth is
strictly forbidden
 Never eat, drink or smoke
at the test site
 Keep food out of the
laboratory/testing site
refrigerator

14. Maintain Clean & Orderly Work Space
• Keep work areas uncluttered and clean
• Disinfect work surfaces daily
• Restrict or limit access when working
• Keep supplies locked in a safe and secure
area
• Keep emergency eye wash units in
working order and within expiry date
• Store Chemicals and reagents in lockable
cabinet & labeled appropriately
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Biohazard
Symbol

15. General Safety Equipment
shower
eye washer
PPE
waste disposal
fire safety

16. Standard Safety Practices
DO NOT-
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17. Standard Safety Practices
DO-
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18. 18
Avoid Needle Stick Injury
What can cause needle stick injury?
 Lack of concentration
 Inexperience
 Lack of concern for others
 Collection of blood in overcrowded area
 Improper disposal of sharps

19. Preventing Infection due to
Blood-Borne Pathogens
• The most important microorganisms to
consider are Hepatitis B and C, HIV and
malaria.
• Pathogen Routes of Transmission:
–Non-intact skin
–Mucous membrane exposure in eyes, nose
and mouth
–Percutaneous injury : Needle sticks, cuts
and punctures

20. Exposure to Blood-Borne Pathogens
(needle-stick injury)
• Wash the punctured hand with running water
and soap
• Encourage bleeding( but not squeeze or apply
pressure )
• Notify and consult senior staff(supervisor) at the
facility regarding possible treatment and follow-
up.
• Complete an Exposure Report
• Evaluate the source patient
• Consult with local senior management regarding
possible treatment and follow-up

21. Safety precautions for chemicals & Reagents
Exposure to hazardous chemicals may occur by:
 Inhalation
 Contact
 Ingestion
 Needle-sticks
 Through broken skin.

22. Safety precautions for chemicals & Reagents
Chemical Main hazard Safety precautions
Giemsa
Stock
- Highly flammable with
flash point 12º C
- Keep away from sources of
ignition
- Avoid inhaling fumes and
contact with skin
Methanol - Highly flammable with
flashpoint 12º C
- Volatile and hygroscopic
- Toxic if ingested or
inhaled
- Can cause dermatitis
and damage to the
optic nerve and central
nervous system
- Keep away from sources of
ignition, sodium
hypochlorite, nitric acid
chloroform, hydrogen
peroxide
- Avoid breathing vapor,
protect skin and eyes
- Use in a well-ventilated
area
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23. Safety precautions for chemicals cont’d
Xylene - Harmful if inhaled,
may cause dermatitis
if in contact with skin
- Flammable with
flashpoint 12º C
- Protect from skin contact and
use in a well-ventilated area
- Do not keep in plastic
containers unless they are
made of polypropylene
- Do not use caps with rubber
liners
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24. Material Safety Data Sheet
Facilities and Safety -
Module 2
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25. Fire Hazard
Common causes of fires in laboratories are:
• Electrical circuit overloading
• Poor electrical maintenance, e.g. poor and perished
insulation on cables
• Excessively long gas tubing or long electrical leads
• Equipment unnecessarily left switched on
• Equipment that was not designed for a laboratory
environment

26. Common causes of fires in laboratories….
• Open flames
• Deteriorated gas tubing
• Improper handling and storage of flammable or
explosive materials
• Improper segregation of incompatible chemicals
• Sparking equipment near flammable substances
and vapours
• Improper or inadequate ventilation.

27. Types and uses of Fire Extinguishers
Types of Fire
Extinguisher
Use For Do not Use for
Water Paper, wood, fabric Electrical fires,
flammable liquids,
burning metals
Carbon dioxide
(CO2 )
extinguisher
gases
Flammable liquids
and gases, electrical
fires
Alkali metals, paper
Dry Powder Flammable liquids
and gases, alkali
metals, electrical
fires
Reusable equipment
and instruments, as
residues are very
difficult to remove
Foam Flammable liquids Electrical fires

28. Facilities and Safety -
Module 2
28
Learn how to operate a portable
fire extinguisher
Laboratory Fire Safety

29. Emergency equipment
▫ First-aid kit
▫ Spill kits
▫ Fire extinguishers,
▫ Fire blankets…

30. Waste Disposal

31. Waste Disposal…..
Drop Used Sharps in Special Containers
WASTE

32. Do’s and Don’ts: Sharps and Waste
Containers
 Do Not break, bend, re-
sheath or reuse lancets,
syringes or needles
 Do Not shake sharps
containers to create space

33. Do’s and Don’ts: Sharps and Waste
Containers
33
What’s wrong with this picture?

34. Never Place Needles or Sharps in Office
Waste Containers
(Never mix sharp with non sharp)
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35. Sharps Containers Must Be:
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Placed near workspace
Closed when not in use
Sealed when ¾ full

36. Incineration of Waste
 Incineration:
oIs effective against potential re-use
oProtects environment
oMust be supervised
 Infection Prevention guideline (MOH Feb 2005)
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37. Disinfect Work Areas with Bleach
Disinfection
 Kills germs and pathogens
 Keeps work surface clean
 Prevents cross-
contamination
 Reduces risks of infection
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38. Different Cleaning Jobs Require
Different Bleach Solutions*
Spills
General
Disinfection
10%
(1 part + 9 parts)
1%
(1 part + 99 parts)
General lab use - Hypochlorite Solutions
You should have 10% bleach readily available at your test site.

39. In Case of a Spill or Splash
 Wear clean disposable gloves
 Wash skin splashed with blood/other biological wastes
 Large spills- Cover with paper towels & soak with10%
household bleach & allow to stand for at least 15min
 Small spill - Wipe with paper towel soaked in 10% bleach
for 5min
 Discard contaminated towels in infectious waste bins
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40. Facilities and Safety -
Module 2
40
Biological Spills
Spill Exercises
Spill
Exercises

42. Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
• Antiretroviral medications, which may reduce
the risk of HIV seroconversion in an exposed
employee, are taken for 4 weeks
• To be most effective, the medications must be
taken as soon as possible after exposure,
preferably within 6 hours and usually no later
than 72 hours after exposure

43. When PEP Might be Indicated
• When source patient is known to be HIV+
• When source patient is at high risk for HIV
• When the HIV status of source is unknown
• Often the exposed individual will begin the PEP
medications until HIV status of source patient is
clarified

44. PEP
• PEP is not indicated for low risk exposures or
in persons already HIV infected
• Indications for PEP drugs are determined on a
case by case basis
• PEP drugs can have major side effects

45. Engineering Devices: Eyewash
• Safety devices used in the laboratory
• Eyewashes for splashes to the eye
▫ Flush for 5 minutes for pathogens
▫ Flush at least 15 minutes for most chemicals

46. Contamination Routes Facilities and Safety -
Module 2
46
Ocular invasion
Inhalation
Ingestion
Skin penetration

47. Use Safety References

48. Summary
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Safety is dependent on:
a responsible supervisor
a safety manual and SOPs
trained personnel
assessment of risks
laboratory design

49. Thank you