Safety Clothing in Laboratories

[Chris Davey <cdavey@med.phys.ualberta.ca>]

Following an inspection of our lab facilities, I recently sent this
message to our lab workers:

>One of the basic lab rules is:
>"Wear a Lab Coat when working with radioactive materials"

>This is fairly fundamental safety advice, both for radioactives, and, no
>doubt, for biological hazards, too.  However, the value of a lab coat is
>questionable, to say the least, if the lab worker is wearing shorts, and
>or sandals, as a large proportion of skin is directly exposed to
>accidental spillage, scratches, needle punctures, etc.

>At the risk of sounding humorous, I reiterate:

>This is not the beach.  Safety equipment is not optional.

>Please cover up.

>Will all lab supervisors and grant project leaders please monitor
>and enforce this?

>Following basic safety standards should keep us all free from
>contamination.

I checked our lab rules, as provided by the Atomic Energy Control Board,
and found that, beyond the requirement to wear lab coats, no other safety
or protective clothing is identified as necessary.

Is there any standard, either international or national, that does specify
items beyond lab coats?  If there is not, I'll have to develop one
locally, but this would not have as much clout, unfortunately.

Regards,

Chris Davey

        RSO  Cross Cancer Institute  11560 University Avenue
        Edmonton   Alberta   Canada  T6G 1Z2
        (403)432-8616   fax 432-8615    email cdavey@med.phys.ualberta.ca
        pager number 005, just call (403) 432-8771 and ask for that pager