Safety Rules that Must Be Followed in a Diagnostic Lab

Laboratories can pose some significant risks from biohazardous materials, high temperatures, dangerous equipment, fire burners, and many other types of equipment that are used on a daily basis.  Because of the risks, it is essential for lab technicians to have full understanding of how to stay safe at work.  When they are working in our dermatology pathology lab service in Dallas, TX, they have access to protective equipment and frequent training to remind them of the correct safety practices that must be followed.  These are just a few of the safety measures taken in our lab.

Emergency Management

Formulation of plans in case of any emergency is mandatory part of lab safety rules. Moreover, Emergency exits must be defined and well indicated and known to every single soul working inside laboratory to avoid human losses during an untoward incident.  Lab technicians should be trained to remain calm and not to create fuss during such situations.  In this regard, practice drills on regular basis may be undertaken.

Waste Management

Disposal and storage of waste materials produced as a result of a medical process should be taken care of as per environmental standards.  Each lab should carryout proper waste management to avoid any contamination of environment.  

Chemical Safety

Mishandling of chemicals is extremely hazardous and may cause immense damages. Chemical safety includes safe storage of chemicals, knowing hazards of chemicals being used, accounted issuance of chemicals and disposing off chemicals after completion of a clinical process.  

Biosafety

Biosafety mitigates biological risks involved in the laboratory.  This includes general handling, safety precautions, biological waste disposal and PPE.

Radiation Safety

Lab technicians should be able to work with radiation devices.  Knowledge of operating procedure of dosimeter (radiation badge) is considered essential to monitor radiation levels.  Moreover, disposing of radioactive waste is sometimes challenging and involves complex procedures.  Therefore, radiation safety forms critical part of lab safety rules. Rules for working with certain radioactive materials should be clearly defined and lab technicians should have exact knowledge as if when they need to refrain from radioactivity considering any health issue e.g pregnancy etc.

Laser Safety

Laser safety focuses on pathological effects of lasers on the human body and dealing with any such emergency situation.

Compressed Gas Safety

Compressed gases must be handled and used only by trained personnel. Gas manufacturer’s safety data sheets (SDSs) should always be consulted before using compressed gas.

Fume Hood Safety

This includes information on how to safely operate the fume hoods and instructions for controlling inhalation exposures with ventilation.

Personal Protective Equipment

PPE covers information about face/ eye protection, lab coats/ aprons, gloves, foot protection, respiratory protection and how to obtain and use all the essential PPE.

Electrical Safety

Hot plates, stirrers, vacuum pumps, electrophoresis apparatus, lasers, heating mantles, power supplies, and microwave ovens are essential elements of many laboratories.  Therefore, electrical safety rules must be defined to avoid any short circuiting or electric shock.

Machine Safety

When operating a machine or a mechanical apparatus, a defensive attitude is adopted. Lab technicians should be aware of the source of danger or the likely outcome of each sequence of operation.

These are some of the strict safety rules that lab technicians must follow when they are working in a diagnostic lab setting.  Because of the risks of a lab setting, it is important that they understand all the ways to stay safe and keep any biohazards to a minimum when handling human samples.  Contact us to hear more about how we maintain safety in our dermatology pathology lab service in Dallas, TX today.