Safety education in the laboratory

Bloodborne pathogens and dangerous chemicals present safety hazards to laboratorians. Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations provide rules to reduce the hazards in the clinical laboratory, some laboratorians view the regulations as unrealistic and burdensome to their daily tasks. The role of the safety educator is to continue to impress on the laboratory worker the purpose of the regulations. The regulations are designed to protect health care workers from risk of exposure or injury and consequent contraction of bloodborne diseases which can result in serious illness and possibly death. As man-dated by the OSHA regulations published in 1991, our laboratory has instituted an annual safety education program to address all safety issues.