Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs

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Legal considerations While the information in this book is meant to help you meet the requirements specified in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (the Regulation), it does not replace it. You will need to refer to the Regulation to determine the exact requirements that apply to your particular workplace. In Canada, drug products fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drugs Act and are exempt from WHMIS requirements. However, information requirements under section 5.2 of the Regulation still apply. Chapter 10 provides more information on how to comply with the Regulation. Best practices: hazardous and cytotoxic drugs This book contains recommended best practices that apply when handling all hazardous drugs. We use the term hazardous drugs to indicate that occupational exposure should be controlled in the workplace for all drugs that meet the specified criteria. Employers should perform a risk assessment before adopting any of the recommendations in this book. While recommended practice is to reduce worker exposure to any hazardous drug, exposure to cytotoxic drugs, a subset of hazardous drugs, is specifically regulated by Part 6 of the Regulation. Cytotoxic drugs are defined in section 6.42 of the Regulation as drugs that “... possess a specific destructive action on certain cells or that may be genotoxic, oncogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, or hazardous to cells in any way and includes most anti-cancer drugs.” Where cytotoxic drugs are present in the workplace the employer must ensure that the legal requirements are being met. When you see this symbol, it indicates a specific legal requirement from the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (the Regulation) when cytotoxic drugs are present in the workplace. 2 Best Practices for the Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs
Part 1: Hazardous drugs in the workplace The following chapters provide an overview of current knowledge on hazardous drugs. This will help you understand what hazardous drugs are, why they are hazardous, and who is at risk of exposure. Routes of occupational exposure are also covered, as well as what kind of information should be included in an exposure control plan.
Page 1 and 2: Best Practices for the Safe Handlin
Page 3 and 4: Best Practices for the Safe Handlin
Page 5: Acknowledgments WorkSafeBC thanks t
Page 8 and 9: 16. Drug administration ...........
Page 13 and 14: 1. What are hazardous drugs? Hazard
Page 15 and 16: 3. Why are workers at risk? In the
Page 17 and 18: Route of exposure Examples of activ
Page 19: Part 2: Performing a risk assessmen
Page 22 and 23: The following diagram shows the ste
Page 24 and 25: Obtain and review information about
Page 26 and 27: 8.1 Tools for assessing risk You ca
Page 28 and 29: 9. Developing and implementing cont
Page 30 and 31: Workers exposed to reproductive tox
Page 32 and 33: 11. Information and communication I
Page 35: Part 3: Task-specific guidelines fo
Page 38 and 39: 13. Drug receiving and storage Surf
Page 40 and 41: 14. Drug transport Workers who tran
Page 42 and 43: •• Have a viewing window and an
Page 44 and 45: In the Regulation Safety engineered
Page 46 and 47: 16. Drug administration Administrat
Page 48 and 49: Work areas, such as trays, carts, t
Page 50 and 51: 17. Veterinary practice In the Regu
Page 52 and 53: In the Regulation PPE that is consi
Page 54 and 55: In the Regulation Employers must ha
Page 56 and 57: 20. Waste disposal In the Regulatio
Page 58 and 59: In the Regulation PPE that is consi
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Appendices
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Valanis B, Vollmer WM, Steele P. Oc
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Chaffee, B, Armitstead, J, Benjamin
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Appendix 2: Glossary Administrative
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Percutaneous Personal protective eq
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Site of handling Receiving/unpackin
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•• Follow steps to avoid contam
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Appendix 5: Biological safety cabin
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Appendix 6: Selection of medical eq
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The table below compares some of th
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Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs

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