Medical Laboratory Hazards and Its Control Measures with Its Timescale - Essay Example

Laboratory Hazards Institution Affiliation Date Observation Hazard/risk Control measure Time scale Long term/immediate action 1. . Fire outbreaks from chemical reactions Call fire department Carrying the reactions in a safe cabinet using fire extinguishers for fire control educating the student immediate Immediate action After two weeks Immediate action 2. Electrocution of a student Call paramedics Switching off power checking that there are no naked electrical cables checking, repair and maintenance circuits educating the student Immediate action Immediately one month One day immediately 3. Cuts to student from glass equipment Preventing blood flow Checking condition of the equipment placing the equipment safely away Using proper clothing such as gloves when cleaning glass fragments. Immediately Immediately Immediately Immediately 4. Absorption of Chemicals spills on the skin of a student Cleaning the skin with water Safe storage of chemicals to avoid spillage Proper labeling of chemicals to show they are harmful when they come into contact with the skin. Educating the student Immediately Immediately After three weeks After one hour 5. Student Ingests a harmful chemicals Taking milk to detoxicate Calling paramedics washing of hands after using any chemicals in the lab Immediately immediately Immediately 6. Student inhales toxic gas Opening windows for aeration Removing or sealing source providing safety masks safe keeping and storage of chemical Immediately Immediately One month Three weeks 7. Thermal Burns from heat or chemical reactions generating heat Closing or shutting down the reaction Wearing protective clothing keeping safe distance from reactions Immediately After a month Immediately 8. Explosions in the lab from chemical reactions Aerating the room Conducting first aid conducting potential explosive experiments in the open or in the safe cabinet Training on using explosive chemicals immediately immediately after a week four weeks 9. Student Slips / trips & falls Treating injuries Checking for causes Removing potential causes Providing warning signs proper storage of all items that could trip someone training student immediately immediately After one day 2 weeks One day one month 10. apparatus/objects falls on student treating injuries calling paramedics safe handling of object ensure proper setup of equipment Immediately immediately Immediately One wee 11. Noise towards students Reducing or controlling the noise Offering ear protection plugs immediately one month 12. Students lack oxygen in the lab Opening all windows for aeration Checking and controlling any emission Ventilating the laboratory Providing safes for reaction with chimneys Immediately immediately After six weeks After four weeks 13. Students cloth is caught by Rotating equipment or machinery parts Switching off the equipment Dressing with fitting clothes Training the student Immediately One day Two weeks 14. Student is affected by Illuminating experiments Stopping the experiment Wearing protective glasses Training student Immediately immediately three weeks 15. Student shows Ergonomic signs Stopping the activity Exercising the student Designing work area to reduce musculoskeletal disorders organizing work to minimize repetitive motions training immediately immediately Immediately Immediately One month 16. student experiences Frost bite Keeping the ice away from the skin Warming the affected part training Immediately immediately Four weeks 17. reactions or equipment lead to radiation Controlling or switching off the source wearing necessary protective clothing such as light airtight clothes training Immediately Immediately After five weeks 18. student gets a cut from Sharp tool control bleeding use alcohol to wipe wound wearing protective clothing when using sharp items and tools training on handling Immediately immediately a week After three weeks 19. Emergency exit is blocked or doesn’t exist Check and Create an emergency exit training Immediately One month 20. student is injured and requires First aid check for first aid kit offer first aid provide and allow easy access to kit Training on usage of kits immediately immediately After one week After three weeks 21. Student comes across unlabeled chemical Correctly label chemicals Check for others providing information on the contents usage instructions immediately three weeks immediately two weeks 22. student uses chemicals and feels unwell call paramedics Avoid direct contact with chemicals wash hands training students Immediately Immediately Immediately A month 23. students are affected by extreme Hot or cold temperatures check for the source controlling the temperatures Wearing proper clothing training immediately immediately two weeks a month 24. student doesn’t keep time in experiments cancelling the experiment training the student Immediately Three weeks 25. dust affects the students aerating the room regular cleaning Proper ventilation Immediately After 2 days A month 26. Student enters restricted storage room Taking out the student Locking the room Providing signs regulating entry immediately immediately a month 27. Student uses Inefficient equipment Inspection of equipment used conducting regular check ups ensuring proper maintenance immediately after every two weeks a month 28. student come into contact with organic and pathogenic samples cleaning contact area with antibacterial Proper storage organic and pathogenic samples wearing protective clothing Supervision training immediately Immediately After three weeks A week A month 29. student uses wrong apparatus check and confirm the apparatus provide the right one training Immediately Immediately One week 30. student carries sample from the lab return the samples training Immediately One month Introduction The purpose of the inspection is to find out the health and safety hazards in a laboratory environment. It is aimed at preventing potential health problems that may arise from the laboratory. The inspection is done at 10 Am in the morning in Brooklyn high school biology laboratory. It is used for conducting experiments through teaching the students the different reactions as a practical approach to the subject. The inspection covered the whole laboratory including the storage area the floor, the windows doors, machinery and apparatus used such as: pipettes, burettes, conical flasks, burners, test tubes, experiments samples and others. Executive summary As Outlined above, the purpose of this inspection is to identify the risk and hazards of the health and safety legislation of the laboratory and recommend actions to be taken by the relevant management to prevent injuries or health issues that may result from occurrence of this hazards and risks. This inspection is beneficial towards the school and will enable safety of the students and reduce costs that may be incurred by the school due to occurrence of the hazards. Risk of fire and explosion Proper storage of flammable chemicals and gasses that are easily flammable on exposure to air and or any other factors that may ignite them .Storage in gas cylinders and air tight cabinets to avoid fire explosions should be done. The school will benefit because the risk of explosions or fires will be eliminated through proper storage and injuries and loss of property through fire or explosions will be prevented. If the measures are not undertaken there is risk of fire or explosion which could result in loss of property and tarnish the reputation of the school. Failure to undertake the above measure is contrary to the health and safety act which provides for safe storage of potential laboratory chemicals or compounds that are explosive or can cause fire outbreaks. Risk of Electrocution Damaged electric outlets, naked electric cables or improper connections can cause electrocution to students. To prevent this all electric connections should be checked to ensure they are properly connected and naked cables fixed. This will reduce the costs of hospital expense and insurance issues that may arise due to electrocution of the students and the reputation of the school will also be maintained. The health and safety act provides for proper wiring and maintenance of electric cables and circuits to prevent injury or other negative effect to people and property. The school may incur hospital expenses and legal issues due to electrocution if the measures are not put in place. Risk from Falling Objects Laboratory apparatus may fall and cause injury to students this may incur expenses o the school in terms of medical expenses due to injuries and the cost of buying new apparatus. Therefore caution when handling signs should be provided and barricades put in place to prevent incurring the expense failure to which the latter would happen. Failure to implement the above measures would be a violation of the health and safety act Noise hazard Noise is a common health hazard in many environments and causes permanent deafness when unregulated. The school should provide time scheduling of noise activities to be done when students are not around and provide ear buds to prevent the noise from damaging the ear drums. These measures will save the school legal issues due to confrontations with the environmental regulatory authority and health expense hence saving monetary resources and reputation of the school. Failure to regulate the noise will lead to legal measures and will be a violation of the environmental regulatory laws and the health and safety act. Burns hazard Most Laboratory experiments usually involve generation of heat and in some cases students may get burned resulting in hospital expenses and acquiring new equipment. The school should ensure close supervision of the students during experiments and provide protect clothing for carrying out such experiments failure to which it may incur hospital expenses and be at logger heads with parents and also incur the expense of getting new apparatus. Failure to implement the measures is a violation of the health and safety act. MAIN FINDINGS OF THE INSPECTION Risk of fire and explosion (Observation 1 & 8) One of the significant findings is related to fire hazard/explosion due to storage of flammable gas and substances nearby highly flammable liquid (diesel) might cause of fire or explosion and that could lead to personnel injury or even fatalities. This is a violation of the health and safety act which outlines that all flammable gasses should be stored in gas tanks and cabinets. In complying with the above law the school adheres to the recommended safe storage for flammable gases to prevent any unnecessary expenses including property and personnel loss or injury and then provide sufficient and suitable gas storage area. Users should be trained on how to use the gasses. After set up of proper storage cabinet, inspection is required to check for efficiency. Estimated cost for buildup gas storage area will cost $ 650. And $ 300 monthly for the supervisor Risk of Electrocution (Observation No 2) Electricity is the most efficient form of energy widely used many laboratory activities such as in lighting and running equipment’s and some heating experiments. Some observations relating to electricity include: the exposure of naked life electric cables, improper connections and lack of warning signs to caution students. This requires immediate action in order to prevent serious personal injury or fatality in the laboratory. The school may face legal action once a parent of a student files a case due to electrocution. This will also ruin the reputation of the school leading to lack of new enrollments and maybe even closure. The above observation is against the health and safety act on electricity which states that proper wiring, inspection and maintenance of electric systems and equipment should be followed warning signs provided to prevent injuries. Fixing of cables will cost $ 150 while the electrician will charge a monthly fee of $ 300 to inspect and maintain the electric cables and systems. Risk injury due to falling objects (Observation N0 6) During observation it was noted that some equipment’s are stored on high shelves and other items such as the trash can placed within the entry of the laboratory. Some equipment’s are also big in size than some students and require training on handling to avoid falling. Falling of the equipment’s and the trash can being in the way of entry may cause serious injuries to students and cost the school unnecessary expense. Proper barriers should be put on the shelves and the trash can and other items removed from the student’s path. Training should also be done to enable students be able to handle the equipment well to avoid falling. Hiring a contractor to put barriers to the shelves will cost the administration $ 500 for the whole laboratory and it will cost $ 150 for the lab technician to teach the students on using the equipment during his free time. This control measures will prevent future costs and maintain a good image of the school. Risk of burns from thermal reactions (observation no 7) Most of the experiments in the laboratories involve heating of chemicals in glass apparatus that have no lids. There is the risk of students being burned from the chemicals as they react and disperse due to the heat. The burners used may also burn the fingers of students as they operate them. This hazard is provided for in the safety and health regulation where it is provided that proper measures should be put in place in laboratory experiments involving fires and heat generation to prevent fatalities and proper clothing should be used. The school administration should provide training on carrying out such experiments; provide warning instructions and protective gloves which will protect students from burns. Failure to do so will cost the school medical expenses and legal charges. Acquiring the safety gloves will cost $ 25 for each pair of glove while training will cost $ 200 for the whole period of training. The control measures above will not only avoid legal action but it will maintain the high technological standards of the school Risk of permanent impairment due to noise (observation no 12) Some laboratory experiments and equipment such as the generators produce a lot of noise which overtime may posse great dangers of permanent impairment to the students. The environmental pollution and safety act provides that noise from any activities such be regulated to a low level that does not cause disturbances or pose health risks to other people or the people carrying out the activities. The school can face court fines and penalties for violation of the act and this will also lead to tarnishment of the school’s reputation. The administration and the board of directors should consult to provide noise protection buds for the students to prevent impairment. Doing this will enable peaceful learning of the students as well saving future expenses. The cost of purchasing the ear buds to prevent damage to the ear drums is $ 30 for each pair while a new silent generator will cost $ 600.This costs however cannot be compared to the legal fines and penalties that the school may be charged. Conclusion In most of the areas inspect it was observed that the school management needed to put more effort in in reducing or completely eliminating the health hazards. However, some of the observations well maintained such as the provision for a clean and healthy working environment, the provision for clean and safe water facilities. According to the observations more training should be offered to students on using equipment’s especially during heating of chemicals to prevent burning. Training on use of sharp tolls and should also be offered. The school should provide safety clothing’s such as gloves and suits during heat, very high or low temperature conditions, radiations and ear buds during instances when there is noise being generated from the laboratory to prevent the resulting effects on the students. Regular checkups repair and maintenance of electric cables and systems should also be carried out to prevent possible electrocutions to the students. In addition, proper storage facilities for harmful gases and chemical compounds should be provided to ensure the students do not inhale the gasses. The laboratory should also be cleaned regularly, windows and doors opened and additional ventilations put to increase aeration of air in the room. Immediate action should be done to remove items that may trip the students leading to preventable falls and injuries. Long term actions should also be put in place in terms of providing safety signs on chemicals and the laboratory to prevent improper use of the chemicals and to warn the students on potential danger areas such as electrical circuits. Adequate training, instruction and close supervision shall be given to users for proper use and care. The school administration should implement health and safety measures by creating emergency exits and providing first aid kits that will be helpful when students have injuries in the laboratory this is in addition to providing flexible and organized laboratory structures that ensure the students are comfortable when carrying out experiments. If the above measures are not implemented by the school management in a timely manner they could lead to incurrence of more expenses, court cases against the school loss of time due to investigations and even potential closure of the school due to unhealthy and dangerous conditions. Immediate and timely action should be taken on all the observations and regular inspections repairs and maintenance done to ensure there is no resurgence of the above health and safety hazards. Recommendations observation recommendation Resource implication priority 1 Install fire extinguishers Provide safe cabinets for reactions Train the students Cost of purchase and installation $ 350 Making of safe cabinets $ 500 Training the student will cost $ 300 for the month 1 2 3 2 Checking for naked cables Repair and maintenance of the electrical circuits Training of students Electrician charges $ 250 fixed Purchase of replacement cables and charges by electrician for the month 600$ $350 for training of students for the month 1 2 3 3 Regular checking of the equipment Provision of safety gloves Lab technician charged $ 100 Purchase of gloves for $ 25 a pair for 100 students which is 2500 $ 1 2 4 Provision of safety clothing’s Proper labeling of chemicals $ 2000 for the clothing’s Lab technician to label the chemicals 1 2 5 Students to wash hands after experiments Training Provision of more clean water Lab technician to spend time to train the students 2 1 6 Provision of safety masks Making of gas storage tank Additional ventilations training Leasing of masks at $ 400 monthly Making of gas tank to cost $ 700 Hiring of mason plus resources will cost $ 300 total A month Training to students at $ 150 for the whole program 4 1 3 2 7 provision of safety wear training of students Purchase of safety wear to cost $400 A training facilities and trainer fee of $ 250 1 2 8 making of safety cabinet training of students Establishment of safety cabinet to cost $ 200 Students training for a month 1 2 9 removal of items that trip students provision of warning signs Hiring of casual worker to remove items $ 10 for a day Warning signs to cost $ 300 1 2 10 ensure proper setting of objects creating shelve barriers to prevent fall of items Lab technician to arrange and organize items on the shelves A mason to put shelf barriers costs include material $ 15 and fee$ 100 1 2 11 It is recommended Purchasing/provision of ear plugs. Noise Surveying and Close Monitoring The estimated cost of providing earplug 25 $ 100 pieces; therefore will cost $ 2500 Surveyor to be paid $ 200 2 1 12 Opening of windows and doors in the lab Increasing ventilations Making of safe gas reaction cabinets Students to open all windows and doors in the lab Mason to create more ventilations and making of gas cabinet at total cost of $ 450 1 2 3 14 Provision of safety glasses and training students to use them Purchase of 100 glasses at $ 10 each to total 1000$ 15 Making students exercise, designing lab structures and organizing work Casual workers to arrange the lab structures for easy accessibility and use by students at $ 100 for one day 16 Proper handling of frozen ice and training Lab technician to train the students on how to handle frozen ice to prevent frost bite. 17 Inspection of radiator equipment Provision of safety wear Control and monitoring of equipment Expert to inspect, control and monitor radiation for $ 300 for 3 months total 900$ Safety wear to be purchased for $ 200 1 2 3 18 Training on handing sharp tools Provision of instructions Close supervision Students o be trained on how to use sharp tolls to avoid causing injury t themselves Lab technician to supervise students and guide them on using the tools 1 2 3 19 Creation of emergency exit Training students what to do during emergencies 3 Emergency exits to be constructed for $ 300 Fire fighter to train students on procedures during emergency situations for $100 for 3 sessions over 3 days 1 2 20 Provision of first aid training Training of students on using first aid kit Constant maintenance of kit 5 complete first aid kits at $ 50 each for total cost of 200$ Trainer to charge $ 200 for a day’s training session Lab technician to ensure the first aid kit is well maintained 1 2 3 21 Proper labeling of all chemical containers Labeling of contents and cautions signs on containers Lab technician to take time and label all unlabeled chemical containers and put caution signs and instructions 1 2 22 Supply of more water for students to use in the lab and training on handling of chemicals Water bills to increase greatly by $ 200 for monthly consumption of water Lab technician to train students on handling chemicals and to be paid $ 1000 overtime pay for the month. 1 2 23 Expertise to be sourced to regulate the temperature Constant control and monitoring Training to students Expert to charge $ 300 for inspection Control and monitoring to cost 3000 $ for one month or more Students to be trained on how to react to and effects of the temperature changes at $ 100 for 2 sessions for the month 1 2 3 24 time provisions for experiments to be followed by students for effective results Lab technician and teacher to train and guide students on the importance of time accuracy during experiments 25 Regular cleaning aeration of lab through ventilations Casual workers to clean the lab every two days A mason to be hired to create more ventilations at a cost of $ 240 1 2 26 Locking and restricted access to storage facility Provision of no entry signs to keep students and unauthorized personnel Implementation of lock to prevent access to the store at $ 150 Two on entry signs to be made and put on the door at a cost of $ 100 1 2 27 Equipment to be inspected for efficiency Constant checkups and maintenance Inspection of equipment by the lab technician and he should carryout routine checkups and maintenance practices to ensure efficient functioning of the equipment. 1 2 28 Proper storage of pathogenic and organic samples Provision of safety gloves Close supervision Close supervision Safe keeping of the sample by the lab technician when they are not being used Purchase of safety gloves at $ 25 per pair for 100 pairs for a total cost of $ 2500 Lab technician to closely monitor and supervise the students in experiments involving the pathogenic and organic samples 1 2 3 29 Provision right apparatus and training on usage of apparatus during experiments The lab technician to help students identify the right apparatus for experiments and train them on usage 30 Students to be prevented and warned against carrying samples from the laboratory The lab technician and the relevant teacher to prevent students and advise them on the dangers of taking lab samples used for experiments outside the laboratory Read More