CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

90
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
Table 5-1 Timeline of Federal Guidelines and Laws Concerning Biological Safety
Year Issuing Agency/Entity Guideline/Law
1970 CDC Published “Isolation Techniques for Use in Hospitals”
1975 CDC Revised “Isolation Techniques” to include category-specific precautions and prohibition of
recapping needles
1983 CDC Issued nonbinding guidelines for isolation precautions in hospitals, designating seven isolation
categories
1985 CDC Introduced Universal Blood and Body Fluid Precautions (Universal Precautions or UP), primarily in
response to HIV/AIDS epidemic
1987 CDC Issued Body Substance Isolation guidelines
1988 U.S. Congress Enacted Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA 88)
1991 OSHA Issued Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP) Standard, which mandated the use of UP
1996 CDC Issued Standard Precautions, synthesizing UP and Body Substance Isolation
2000 U.S. Congress Enacted Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act
2001 OSHA Revised BBP Standard in response to Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act
further spurred by the arrival of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that
causes the feared acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Federal and state laws and agencies have been formulated and implemented
to protect workers and patients from biohazardous materials and toxic and hazardous
chemicals (Table 5-1). The Occupational Safety and Health Act, adopted
by the U.S. Congress in 1970, mandates training for employees by their employers,
as a “right to know” that is based on materials a worker is likely to come in
contact with in the workplace. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
is the federal agency that has the power to force employers to comply
with safety issues; in almost all industries, criminal charges may be brought for
violation of laws enacted to protect the worker. A rule promulgated by OSHA
in 1983 and expanded in 1987 required all employers to provide safety training,
to maintain a safe work environment, and to provide protective gear such
as gowns, jackets, gloves, boots, etc., when employees work in certain areas.
This is especially true in hospitals where the nature of many work areas requires
employees be protected from explosive gases, blood and other body fluids and
tissues, and electrical hazards, and in any other common sites, where accidents
may occur from falls and from being cut by broken glass and other devices.
Hazards Found in Medical Laboratories
Medical laboratory training programs are required to expend considerable time
and effort in educating the student of laboratory science as to the multitude of
possibilities for injury and infection. There are several categories of potential
hazards in the typical medical laboratory. Biological, chemical, and physical components—in
this order of precedence—are all threats to safety in the laboratory
environment. The use of toxic chemicals, some of which carry the risk of those
exposed developing respiratory problems or even death if inhaled, requires the use
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