A Personal Protective Equipment Improvement Project for Laboratory Personnel at a Research Hospital

Research hospitals employ laboratory personnel in clinical laboratories who handle blood and body fluids, drugs and biological toxins to determine safe doses of medication and causes of illness. They also employ research laboratory employees who conduct original scientific research to develop treatments and cures for sick children with diseases ranging from cancer, diabetes and cystic fibrosis.  Many of these personnel handle hazardous chemicals and biological materials that require careful engineering controls, administrative controls, training and personal protection equipment (PPE) such as laboratory coats, gloves, and safety glasses. Considerable effort has been expended by our EHS department to work with the lab personnel to prescribe appropriate PPE to protect workers from acute laboratory hazards such as spills, splashes, burns, lung irritation, animal bites and from chronic effects such as cancer.

A program has been in place for several years using PPE tools to prescribe and educate research laboratory personnel about PPE needed to perform tasks safely. Yet audits of research personnel showed low rates of compliance with prescribed PPE. A survey was conducted to understand the attitudes of the research laboratory staff towards the PPE tools and towards PPE use in general. Data from one hundred responses are being used to improve the Research Lab PPE program and create a formal PPE program for the Clinical Lab Personnel. 

This presentation will describe the PPE survey, the survey results and valuable information gleaned from it and how it informs improvement of the safety programs.