Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations Essay

Centres for disease control in 1987 update its 1983 guidelines for isolation precaution in hospitals to its universal precautions. It recommends that blood and body fluids precautions can be used for all patients regardless of their blood-borne infection status. Occupational Safety and health administration (OSHA) defines occupational exposures as reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane contact with blood or with any contaminated material may affect performance of professional.
Precautions include appropriate protective gear, such as gloves, lab coats, masks, and goggles, face shields that must be worn during work to avoid any contamination when in contact with blood or other body fluids of patient. Every laboratory has appropriate biohazard policies. Moreover appropriate equipments should be there to minimize or remove hazards. It is also noted that gloves are not only to be worn when employee perform phlebotomies, these are needed when employee has cut or other open wound on his or her hand. Employees must wash their hands before wearing and after removal of gloves and also after any contact with body fluid of patient. Reusing of gloves and washing of gloves must be avoided as microorganisms are difficult to remove. Laboratory coats also must be not taken to home and must be removed from leaving laboratory work area, as they have potential of coming in contact with the hazardous material. Cleaning of laboratory coats must be done on site or handled professionally. Eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or touching contact lenses is strictly prohibited in working laboratory areas. A 10 percent solution (v/v with tap water, made daily) of common household bleach makes an effective economical disinfectant, inactivating HBV in 10 minutes and HIV in 2 minutes. Prewashing removes concentrated amount of proteins, which is required before effective decontamination is achieved. Moreover Laboratory surfaces must be made of non porous material that allows for easy cleaning and decontamination.
Vaccination of employees against HBV is another safety precaution recommended by CDC advisory committee on immunization practices, specifically for medical technologists, phlebotomists and pathologists.
1.6 FIRST AID
Clinical laboratories have different first aid measures from that applicable to an industrial laboratory. As there are two important aspects which make it different from other labs these include, first, it is situated within a hospital with its own accident and emergency department. Second, tests for hospitals patients also carried out there. So, the first requires emergency first aid in laboratory. Second, require first aid treatment to the patients in laboratory.
The following section sets out the treatment in general terms. For more detail the first aid manual should be consulted.
1) Chemical Injuries If the accidental injury to staff is caused by inhalation, ingestion, by contact of eyes, skin or mouth of toxic and irritant chemicals, in that case
Inhalation is best treated by removal of contaminated surroundings, and going to uncontaminated atmosphere and treating to shock.
Chemical injuries to body parts require splashing of water dilution followed by removal of any clothing. Sterile dressing can be used to cover burnt skin.