Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs

Environmental
monitoring
Exposure
control plan
Food and
Drugs Act
Genotoxic
Hazardous
drugs
Hazardous
waste container
High efficiency
particulate air
(HEPA)
ISO Class 7
Luer lock
Mutagenic
Oncogenic
The use of analytic techniques to measure contamination of an
environment over a period of time. In the case of hazardous drugs, this is
useful for identifying areas with higher amounts of contamination and
determining whether current or introduced controls are effective at
reducing the levels of hazardous drugs in the work environment.
A requirement in the Regulation that details how the workplace will
minimize exposure to hazardous drugs. Employers must develop and
implement an exposure control plan if their workers may be exposed to
cytotoxic drugs.
Canadian federal legislation that regulates the use of cosmetics, drugs, and
food. Substances under this act are not required to provide supplier labels
and SDSs as described in WHMIS.
A substance that can damage the genetic material of cells, which causes
mutations to arise.
As defined by NIOSH, a group of drugs that have know carcinogenicity,
teratogenicity, reproductive toxicity, organ toxicity, or genotoxicity in
humans or animals (or a new drug that mimics an existing drug with one of
these characteristics). Examples include drugs used for treatment of
cancer, hormone treatments, and diluted forms of these drugs used to
treat a range of illnesses.
A container that is designated to be used only for hazardous waste. These
must be clearly labelled as meant for hazardous waste and are generally a
different colour than other waste containers in the workplace so that they
can be easily identified.
A specialized filter that traps particulate matter. They are used to filter air
that is entering a biological safety cabinet as well as air that is exhausted
externally. They may also be used in local ventilation systems for specific
rooms in a workplace.
A measure of air quality using the ISO classification system, which is based
on how much particulate is present per cubic metre of air. The classes go
from what is considered the “dirtiest” air (ISO Class 9) to what is the
“cleanest” air (ISO Class 1).
A fitting for medical instruments that is designed to prevent leaking.
A substance that causes mutations to occur in the genetic material of cells.
Describes a substance that has the ability to cause a (malignant) cancer.
Best Practices for the Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs 61