Bacterial Pathogenesis

2.2 Safe Working Practices in the
Laboratorv -wSafe Person
J
Strategy
Paul V. Tearle
National Safety Officer, Public HeaM Laboratory Service, 6 I Colindale Avenue, London NW9 SDF, UK
CONTENTS
Introduction
Risk identification
Risk assessment
Risk control
Categorization and containment of pathogens
++++++ INTRODUCTION
The cost of non-conformance to laboratory safety standards can be high,
not only in terms of the science performed, but ultimately in terms of the
loss of patient care (in medical cases), serious accidents or even individual
deaths within the laboratory. Associated costs of accidents which are
rarely considered are low morale, lost equipment and staff absenteeism.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the organization responsible for
enforcing the legal safety standards in the UK, have reported that on aver-
age two people are killed and over 6000 are injured at work each day.
Every year, three-quarters of a million people take time off work because
of illness resulting from that work. As a result, 31 million working days
are lost every year.
Modern health and safety management within a laboratory is no longer
regarded as merely the provision of personal protective equipment or
safeguarding equipment with electrical interlocks. Legislation applied
throughout Europe, which also has its counterpart in the USA, requires
laboratory managers and all staff to perform assessments of the risks to
which a procedure may expose them. While laboratory management
must ensure that the working environment (the fabric of the building, the
laboratory equipment and the environmental conditions) is as free from
risk as possible, the individual worker still has his or her part to play in
METHODS IN MICROBIOLOGY, VOLUME 27
ISBN &12-521525-8
Copyright 0 1998 Academic Press Ltd
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