MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT

WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT

Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
flash point-the lowest temperature at which fumes
SAFETY MANAGEMENT above waste ignite-of 60𝑜 C or 140𝑜 F
 Laboratory waste management, services and  Solids that spontaneously combust
disposal system  Oxidizers and compressed gasses
 Ex. of Ignitable Waste – waste pulse and used
LABORATORY WASTES solvent
A. Characteristics of Hazardous Waste
 Explosivity and reactivity
 Corrosivity B. Categories of Laboratory Waste
 Toxicity 1. Infectious Wastes
 Ignitability  Waste contaminated with blood and other
bodily, cultures and stocks of infectious agents
from laboratory work or waste from patients
with infections

2. Pathological Wastes
 Human tissues, organs or fluids, body parts and
contaminated animal carcasses
 Surgery

3. Radiological Wastes
1. Explosivity and Reactivity  Products contaminated by radionuclides
 Reactive base as waste which are unstable under including radioactive diagnostic material or
normal condition; can cause explosion, toxic radiotherapeutic materials
fuse/gases, vapors when heated from press or  RadTech
mixed with waters
o Ex. of Reactive waste - Lithium sulfur 4. Biomedical Wastes
batteries and the explosive ones
 Is any kind of waste containing infectious (or
 Unstable, and routinely experiences violent potentially infectious materials)
change without detonating Color Ex. of Biomedical Wastes
 Potential for explosive mixture or violent reaction
Red Syringe
when combined with water Blue (puncture-proof) Broken glassware, sharp
 Toxic gasses are released when mixed with water objects, needles, scalpel
Yellow Highly infectious items
2. Corrosivity like human anatomical
 A corrosive liquid has a pH of ≤ to 2 or ≥ to 12.5 wastes, items containing
or has the ability to corrode steel blood and body fluids,
 Can corrode metal container (storage tanks, microbiological wastes
jumps, and barrels) Black Chemical wastes
 Ex. of Corrosive waste – battery acid
5. Chemical Wastes
3. Toxicity  Solvents and reagents used for laboratory
 Harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed (e.g. preparations, disinfectants, sterilant and heavy
containing mercury, lead, etc.) metals contained in medical devices and
 When toxic waste are land disposed, batteries
contaminated liquid may leached from the waste  Chemical incompatibilities should be considered
and may pollute the water when preparing chemical waste for disposal.
Incompatible chemical should not be stored in
4. Ignitability the same container
 Can cause fire under certain conditions and are  Some chemicals can become more hazardous if
spontaneously combustible or have liquids with a they are stored for a long period of time.
EX.
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
o Picric acid – has a potential to form  Waste residues may be in form of greasy
peroxide if stored for a long period of aggregates or slugs, recoverable metals, or carbon
time and not used; material can become black
shock sensitive with the potential to
explode if bombed
o Sodium aside – type of carcinogen, used as
preservative in a lab reagent; when
disposed in the sewer the accumulation of
copper and iron salts of aside my occur;
these metallic salts are explosive specially
when subjected to mechanical shock
CHEMICAL WASTES:
3. Gasification
 Oxidizers should never be mixed with reducing
 Application of slight / small of amount of oxygen
agents or organic materials
 Converts the solid and liquid waste materials into
 Acid-reactive compounds should not be mixed
a gas through a chemical reaction
with any acids
 Organic acids should be segregated from inorganic  Combines those carbon-based materials (known
as feedstocks) with small amounts of air or oxygen
acids
(but not enough to burn the materials), breaking
 Acids should not be mixed with cyanide salts or
then down into simple molecules, primarily a
cyanide solutions
mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen
 Oxidizing acids cannot be stored with combustible
materials
Other Disposal Methods
 Oxidizing agents should not be mixed with
4. Microwave Treatment
reducing agents
 Shredding of waste is being done either before
 Alkali metals must be kept separate from water
disinfection of after disinfection
 Expose to microwaves that raises the temperature
to 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝒐 C or 𝟐𝟑𝟕. 𝟔𝟎𝒐 F
C. Laboratory Waste Management
 Microorganisms are destroyed by moist heat
1. Incineration
which irreversible coagulate and denatures
 Is the most common method of treating infectious
enzymes and structural proteins
waste. Hazardous materials is literally burned to
ashes at temperatures of 870𝑜 - 980𝑜 C
5. Autoclaving
Best disposed of by incineration;
 It uses steam sterilization to render waste
 Clinical specimens such blood and its containers
harmless and it is an efficient wet thermal
 Tissue specimens placed in sealed biohazard bags
disinfection process
 Non glass disposal tubes, swabs, and pipette tips
placed in sealed double biohazard bags
6. Plasma-based Systems
 Syringes, needles, and objects with sharp edges
 It uses high temperature ionized gas to convert
marked as red “sharp” containers
the waste into a compact substance
2. Pyrolysis 7. Irradiation
 Thermal decomposition of substance and
 Used in sterilizing disposable (plastic syringes,
materials in the absence of supplied molecular
catheters, gloves) before use
oxygen in the destruction chamber in which the
 Most common chemical sterilant – ethylene oxide
said material is converted into gaseous, liquid, or
(used in gaseous in sterilizing heat sensitive
solid form
objects)
 No oxygen is present in the material it does not
combust but the chemical compounds that make
8. Sterilization
up the material thermally decompose into
 Process whereby all forms of microbial life
combustible gases and charcoal
including bacterial spores organ killed
 Accomplished by physical or chemical means
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
9. Sewer Systems
 Throw into sink
PROPER HANDLING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
 Hazardous wastes are to be placed in a
compatible, non-leaking container, with non-
leaking sealable closure
 All waste containers must have a yellow chemical
waste label affixed
 Don’t use chemical symbols, abbreviations, or
codes for waste identification
 Labeling of waste – x shortcut
 Segregation of waste
 Storage of waste
 Always cap waste bottles
 Accumulation of excessive waste – matatali pa
TAKE NOTE!
Hazardous chemicals must be never be poured down the
drain as a method of disposal
1. Sink Disposal
 Sink disposal of hazardous waste is prohibited.
Selected laboratory wastes that can be discarded
in the sink include liquid biological waste that has
been autoclaved, liquid biological waste diluted
with bleach/Clorox (final dilution of 1:10), a
limited amount of radioactive waste that is water
soluble, solutions that do not contain any toxic
cations or anions, and chemical wastes with
noncorrosive pH levels (corrosive pH levels are ≤
2 and ≥ 12.5)
2. Trash Disposal
 Nonhazardous laboratory waste – which include
broken glassware, used filter papers, and rubber
and plastic protective clothing - can be discarded
in the trash provided they are not contaminated
with hazardous agents. Containers for this kind of
laboratory waste should be labeled
“NONHAZARDOUS”
Guidelines for Segregation of Waste in the Laboratory
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
Table 1. Color-coding Scheme for Containers
Color of Container/Bag Type of Waste
Black Non-infectious dry waste
Green Non-infectious wet waste
(kitchen, dietary, etc.)
Yellow Infectious and
pathological waste
Yellow with black band Chemical waste including
those with heavy metals
Orange Radioactive waste
Red Sharps and pressurized
containers
Wastes Category and Suggested Disposal
 Solid waste, contaminated or uncontaminated
organs, tissues, carcass, and beddings should be
placed in big biohazard bags and call the
management and handling section
 Plastic petri dish, tissue culture, container with or
without liquid media, contaminated gloves,
towels, etc. these materials can be sterilized or
placed in biohazard plastic bags which are
securely taped with sturdy and wet proof plastic
tape
 Liquid wastes like blood urine or microbial
cultures are autoclave or sterilized and discarded
in sanitary drain
 Sharps like pipette tip, blades, needle and syringe,
contaminated or uncontaminated are placed in a
lightly plastic sharps container which is securely
taped and closed
 Carcinogens and chemotherapeutic agent are kept
in polyethylene bags designed for cytotoxic waste
disposal. The bags are sealed and disposed in
burned boxes
Common Errors in Waste Handling
 Improper labelling of waste /
 Failure to label a waste bottle
 Improper storage of waste
 Using metal cans for waste
 Failure to cap waste bottles
 Accumulation of excessive waste – x full
 Improper segregation of waste
D. Safety Guidelines in the Clinical Laboratory
1. Physical Plant Guidelines
 General safety rules include the type of building
materials used for facility construction. The
building material should be able to resist storm
damage and prevent fire from spreading rapidly
 Architectural side
 Aware in emergency exits
2. Fire Prevention Guidelines
- Classified flammable liquids also come with some
restriction in terms of allowable amounts within the safety
can and likewise subject to the laboratory’s given floor
area
 A. Class A liquids
i. Ether, isopentane
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
ii. Should be carried by a safety can to no
more than 1 pint
 B. Class B liquids
i. May be allowed to as more than 1 quart
ii. Acetone, ethanol and methanol
 C. Class C flammables
i. Xylene and mineral oil
ii. Is allowed to up to more 1 gallon inside
safety cans
- Fire extinguishers are grouped into four classes
depending on the nature and source of fire and the type of
material needed to extinguish it:
 1. Class A fires are the most common and are
usually started by ignition of paper or wood
materials and other similar to the type. This fire is
extinguished by water
 2. Class B fires consist of flammable liquids such as
alcohols, gases and solvents. These are
extinguished by dry chemicals or CO2
 3. Class C fires are electrical fires in natures. The
extinguishing substance is similar to that in Class
B  Familiarization of evacuation plans form the work
 4. Class D fires involve combustible chemicals or
metals e.g. sodium or magnesium need highly
specialized extinguishers such as sand or bulk
material
 5. Class K fires– commercial cooking equipment;
used to for extinguishing cooking oils, animal fats,
vegetable oils.
- The important actions in case of fire and the order in
which to perform tasks are remembered as the standard
acronym
 RACE:
 1. Rescue any injured individuals
 2. Activate the fire alarm
 3. Contain (smother) the fire, if feasible (close fire
doors)
 4. Extinguish the fire, if possible
o PASS (Fire Extinguisher)
 Pull
 Aim
 Squeeze
 Swift
- SKILLS during Fire Emergency
 Recognition of fires and fire alarms
 Sounding the alarm and making sure help is on the
way before taking another action
 Decision making strategies whether to fight the
fire or abandon the sight
 Acquire the skill in using fire extinguisher and
water hydrant faucet
 Techniques are also for well for personal garment
catch fire
 Evacuation drills such as rolling or using wet
blanket to prevent fire from catching the
personnel
sites
3. Electrical Safety Guidelines
General recommendations to evade electrical mishaps
1. There should be no extension cords or outlet
adapters
2. All equipment, including household items e.g.
coffee pots, microwave, should be checked for
compliance to electrical safety standards
3. Conduct of electric safety checks on equipment
and move for its inclusion to the laboratory’s
preventive maintenance program for each
equipment. The assessment includes total power
needs of the laboratory, check on equipment
proper voltage, grounding, current leakage and
plugs and cord evaluations
4. Circuit breakers should be conveniently located
and labeled
5. Equipment should not be placed near to
flammable materials
6. As prevention is far better than remedy disasters
when it happens, electrical safety should be made
part of the orientation and educational program of
the laboratory
4. Chemical Safety Guidelines
 1. Identification of the hazardous materials or
compound ingredients with their common and
technical names
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
 2. The physical or chemical characteristics of the  Gloves, lab gowns and face masks are routine
substance such as boiling points, vapor pressure personal protective equipment for laboratory
and density, solubility in water, specific gravity, personnel
evaporation rate and water reactivity  Housekeeping procedures involve disinfection or
 3. Fire and explosive nature of the chemical, flash sterilization of objects and surfaces that have
point, flammable air concentration levels and fire- come in contact with biological specimens
fighting and extinguishing procedures
 4. Reactivity, stability, chemical incompatibility, Difference between STERILIZATION and DISINFECTION
dangerous decomposition products and Sterilization – kills microbial life including bacterial spores
polymerization using chemical and chemical means
 5. Specific health hazard data giving the primary
route of contamination, health complaints and Disinfection – process where pathogenic organism but not
symptoms that may arise from contact, medical necessarily all microorganism or spores are destroyed
conditions that may be aggravated, first-aid
procedures, and specific health dangers that may
arise from exposure: cancer, cell mutation, organ
damage, and so on
 6. Personal protection equipment, ventilation
requirements and other precautions. Protective
equipment may include respirators, gloves,
protective garments or suits, eye wears, hoods
and isolation chambers
 7. Listing on safe handling, storage, spill, leak
control and disposal methods.

5. Pathogen Safety Management Guidelines

 Tissues, organs, mucous secretions, saliva, semen,
vaginal, urethra, cavity fluids, exudates, wounds,
amniotic fluid and any materials acquired from
the body
 Urine is considered relative safe but possible
microbial organisms agents may subsist upon
 Laboratories should have an exposure control
plan
 Specific guidelines for management of pathogen
exposures
 Facilities and requisites e.g. soaps, clean wipes, for
hand-washing must be available in the workplace
Safety Management Program
The components of the program include:
1. Policy and procedures
2. Communications
3. Disaster plan
4. Safety audits and inspections
5. Accident investigations and accident prevention
 1. Who received the accident?
 2. When and where it happened?
 MTY1205: LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5: SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Patricia Anne Mateo
Notes by: LACDAO, F.M., & Trinidad, C.A.
 3. What equipment or supplies procedure
would have averted the accident?
 4. Is modification of the standard
procedure would have averted the
accident?
 5. Is there need to train personnel in
order to be thrown in the same accident
situation?
 6. Is there non-compliance to the
established safety protocols?
 7. What are the other circumstances that
may have contributed to the accident?
 8. Is there need for precautionary
warnings?
 9. What are the other additional steps or
actions that could be taken to prevent the
recurrence of accidents?

Factors in the Safety Management

 Employee’s Role – management guidelines awareness
 Employer’s Role – management guidelines provider
 Labels and Signs
 Information and Training