In laboratory safety circles, one of the most overlooked aspects is preparedness for hazardous chemical spills. While hospital labs are well equipped to handle day-to-day safety concerns, they often lack readiness for rare but high-risk events—such as fires, chemical spills, or emergency...
One of the less frequently occurring conditions (at least in healthcare circles) is instances of fire alarm/suppression systems impairments that require implementation of a fire watch.
This is Part 2 of our interview with Scott Wytosick, CFPS, CFI-II, a life safety expert and consultant with Jensen Hughes in Independence, Ohio, on how to prepare your HVAC ahead of smoke—and how to keep it running once the smoke has arrived.
This February, The Joint Commission (TJC) launched a new website with the intent of supporting healthcare organizations in developing their infection control (IC) and antimicrobial stewardship programs.
It seems that lately I’ve run into too many instances in which critical infrastructure components have failed because they have reached the end of their useful life and there’s insufficient strategic planning to ensure that systems are sufficiently robust and well-maintained to ensure that...
In 2023, the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey reported that 24.3% of adults had chronic pain and 8.5% of adults had high-impact chronic pain. These patients require careful pain management regimens.
Regular trash is bad enough, but the things that laboratories throw out are dangerous as well as egregious: used needles and sharps, body fluids, caustic chemicals, and items that will burst into flames in the right conditions. Lab staff can be injured by improper disposal of chemical waste, but...
A couple of weeks ago, I was charged with picking up a prescription for my mother-in-law at a chain pharmacy. I dutifully picked up the ‘script and headed home. When we opened the bag, my wife and I observed that while there was some paperwork attached to the bag, the pill container inside the...
In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the important issues that affect your job every day. Today he discussed emergency preparedness.
Healthcare providers often find themselves on the receiving end of verbal, emotional, or physical abuse at work. Despite making up only 10% of the workforce, healthcare workers experience 48% of nonfatal injuries due to workplace violence (WPV). While the drivers and causes of violence are...
