Doing What We’ve Always Done

By Dan Scungio bio Scenario: The reference cytology lab has always had limited storage space for supplies and specimens. They use tall wire racks to store the many liquid-based cytology specimen vials. The vials contain small amounts of flammable chemicals, and the shelves are seven feet high. They have followed this storage procedure for 10 years. It took Jan four years to get her clinical lab staff to a decent point of compliance with regard to PPE use. They were pretty good now about donning lab coats and gloves, and even the use of face protection while handling open specimens has improved greatly. There were, however, many staff members who refused to give up wearing mesh sneakers while at work. Given the amount of work she put in already to get them this far, Jan felt that battling the shoe issue would not be worth her time or energy. The safety officer in the hospital lab had a clinical background, and didn’t really understand details about anatomic pathology safety issues, so he usually stayed out of that area. The staff had nice ventilated cabinets for specimen storage which helped decrease the formaldehyde vapors in the area. Because there was no […]