As I am sure you are aware by now, September has been designated as National Biosafety Stewardship Month by the NIH, and The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a memo requesting a “a government-wide ‘safety stand-down’”.
September 5th was a NIOSH-approved holiday, N95 Day! If you are an employee that participates in a N95 respiratory protection program, hopefully you were able to participate in N95 Day to learn more about N95 filtering facepiece respirators.
In accordance with various regulations, many facilities require EHS training for all new employees upon hire and annually thereafter. It is great to have an established and informative training program in place, but do you remember to inform your employees of new hazards introduced into the workplace?
Medical and biological waste is regulated in Massachusetts by 105 CMR 480, Minimum Requirements for the Management of Medical or Biological Waste. Make sure your facility is managing and tracking waste in compliance with the State Sanitary Code.
All employees should be thoroughly familiar with the emergency response procedures established for your facility. In addition to training and emergency information being posted, have you considered developing a ‘bail out binder’ to take with you in the event of an evacuation?
OSHA requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. This includes providing work environments that are free of ergonomic hazards.
It is important to keep your Emergency Action Plan or Contingency Plan up to date. Don’t wait for the plan to fail in an emergency situation before you update it.
Did you know that approximately 33 percent of people exposed to laboratory animals as part of their job develop symptoms of allergies? And, about 10 percent of exposed individuals have symptoms of animal-induced asthma?
If you are conducting internal laboratory audits, how do you handle the findings? Once internal lab audits are implemented, the appropriate approach to handling the findings needs to established.
Every facility licensed to use radioactive materials is required to implement an area survey procedure to ensure that contamination is detected and decontaminated as necessary. Do you know if your authorized users are following the steps outlined in your facility’s approved procedure?
Developing and implementing policies for an environmental, health, and safety program needs to be a collaborative effort. There are various driving factors when considering what types of policies to implement including regulations, best practice implementation, particularly hazardous operations or equipment, etc.
Even if it is not required by a specific regulation, laboratories working with biological materials should have an active biosafety manual in place. Has your facility developed and implemented a biosafety manual, and has it been updated recently?
