Safety

Safety

What is the current accepted practice regarding wearing gloves while reading plates on the open bench?

(answered 06/21/2007)

I am about to start work with MRSA/VRE. What safety precautions are required in the lab and for staff. Are there definite guidelines. Thank You
(answered 04/29/2007)

What is the procedure to discard the specimens ordered for CJD e.g csf,urine,blood etc.
(answered 02/23/2007)

It is my understanding that some hospital Microbiology laboratories no longer autoclave the biohazard waste they generate and use outside contractors to remove the waste from the hospital. Unless I am mistaken it is treated as red bag waste and packaged in biohazard boxes for disposal (incineration, etc.) offsite. Our laboratory autoclaves our waste because it was our understanding that it had to be rendered "dead" before it left the building. This practice now is being called into question. Have the regulations changed or was our understanding incorrect?
(answered 02/05/2007)

We plate all of cultures within a Class 2 BSC, but some of my staff are concerned about reading bacterial culture plates that may have incubated cellular material (from specimen inoculum) on an open bench during flu season, especially during a flu pandemic. Are there any references out there adressing this specific concern?
(answered 11/07/2006)

Is 70% alcohol superior to use besides 10% bleach soln. as disinfectant to clean the lab.work bench areas?
(answered 10/30/2006)

Biosafety - Do we need a class 2 biological safety cabinet for a small medical lab doing out patient community based samples with no centrifugation or vortexing of urines, genital swabs, throat swabs, eye scrapings, wound and other site aspirates but NO sputa? Staff are experienced and use face shields and N95 masks in addition to other precautions.
(answered 01/06/2006)

What restrictions or precautions should an immunocompromised microbiologist follow in the lab?
(answered 11/15/2005)

What are the qualification requirements for Biological Safety Officer?
(answered 11/07/2005)

Does the ASM have a general set of rules for laboratory safety and if so what are they. This is needed for a general microbiology lab class that we are teaching for nursing students. Thank you.
(answered 09/13/2005)

Are there accepted industry standards/practices or infection control guidelines (other than OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens) that set requirements or establish guidelines for the use of gloves when innoculating cultures or working with pathogens e.g., TB, Rabies, etc.
(answered 01/10/2005)

Has the ASM released its biosafaty guidelines for handling large volumes of microorganisms?
(answered 10/08/2004)

How is biosafety level (BSL) determined in a bacteria of known species but unknown BSL? For instance, the ATCC will list several different strains of the same species of bacteria; some designated BSL1, while others are designated BSL2. Can BSL be determined by basic biological methods? If BSL cannot be determined in a basic lab, are there contract labs that perform the analysis?
(answered 10/04/2004)

Is autoclaving microbial waste along with reagents used in identification acceptable? I have concerns not only of burns, bottles exploding but also the toxic gases released in the steam. I haven't been able to get an acceptable answer from the manufacturer.
(answered 07/16/2004)

recent regulations on preforming procedured on the open bench without gloves
(answered 06/02/2004)

Should gloves used in a laboratory be disposed of in regular trash if they are not visibly soiled or should all gloves be disposed of and treated as biohazardous waste?
(answered 04/13/2004)

How is chlorine diluted for bactericidal purposes and what are some good references for disinfectant.
(answered 03/16/2004)

Our hospital is interpreting the HIPAA privacy rule very narrowly. Specifically our microbiology department has been told we are unable to release culture results without a written authorization from the patient. This becomes a HUGE problem when the patient has been transferred to another healthcare facility and the facility calls the next day looking for blood culture and CSF culture results. This occurs most commonly in newborns transferred from our hospital to a NICU and infants seen in our emergency room transferred to another hospital. Is there a way other than written authorization by the patient to release the information? Not releasing the information is, in my opinion, TERRIBLE patient care but policy also has to be followed. Please help!!
(answered 10/21/2003)

Are most Microbiology techs wearing gloves when reading plates on the open bench?
(answered 07/17/2002)

We need a new hood and are a BSL3 lab. Is a type B2 or "total exhaust" the recommended hood? Will a Class II, Type A2 cabinet, which exhausts 30% be acceptable? We are looking at Labconco models. The CDC web site says a total exhaust is recommended but the Labconco rep says that is overkill. They say that the type A2, vented to the outside will suffice.
(answered 06/19/2003)

aspergillus contamination..we seem to have an overwhelmng contamination problem with aspergillus. We have changed the HEPA filters, twice, cleaned the fungal lab, replaced our shrink seals, cleaned and cleaned again, still we have the contamination, does anyone have any suggestions?
(answered 05/07/2003)

What is the CDC/NCCLS guidelines as to safety standards when working in an ARBOVIRUS lab. I am rotated to work in our ARBO lab but I declined to have shots for JE, Yellow fever and rabies. Live viruses are used during plate production for ELISA testing (being done in PC2 lab) which I am not participating. However, I would always be inside the PC2 lab working on some other things.
(answered 04/14/2003)

Safety. Can a bunsen burner be used in the biosafety cabinet?
(answered 02/11/2003)

back to Archive Index