[Histonet] hood for manual special stains

[Bernice Frederick]

All,
A good source for safety issues in the histo lab is Maureen Doran. She is
the safety person for the NSH. I'm sure her contact info is on the site. If
not I know it is on the Illinois site (www.ilhisto.org) She is always at the
NSH symposium and usually does a class, not only on safety but on zoonoses
(the nasty ones)
Bernice


Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP)
Northwestern University
Pathology Core Facility
ECOGPCO-RL 
710 N Fairbanks Court
Olson 8-421
Chicago,IL 60611
312-503-3723


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Maria
Katleba
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 1:47 PM
To: Mark Love; histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: RE: [Histonet] hood for manual special stains

Why would anyone open a new lab, give cytology a hood yet have a complete
disregard for histology area?

I am so glad I work for Queen of the Valley Medical Center... they actually
do care about ALL of there employees, no matter what department they work
in.

To answer your question about fumes hoods and special stains:

I am sure there are many histotechs that are subjected to fumes from the
special stains they do. This is because no one thinks about the consequences
of us breathing heated GMS solution (heavy metal in vapor form) or phenol
from the heated AFB solution you just used...or the formaldehyde
(carcinogenic fumes) from the retic stain... Should I go on?

This may be to norm out there, but its very very wrong and asking us
histotechs to work under unsafe conditions!

You must do you specials under a hood for your safety and/or be given proper
PPE (personal protective equipment)!

Print this e-mail and have your boss, medical director, (or whoever else
thinks it's ok for an employee to be subjected to potentially harmful fumes)
call me.  I will be glad to talk to them about the danger of working in an
unsafe condition.

Have them look at the following OSHA Guidelines:

Section III Chapter 3 Health Hazards/ Ventilation

Section VI Chapter 1 Healthcare Facilities

Section VIII Chapter 2 Personal Protective Equipment

This is not much help, but maybe it will open someone's eyes to the
legitimate concern you bring up.

Good luck!

Maria Katleba HT (ASCP), MS
Pathology Dept. Manager
Queen of the Valley Medical Center
707-252-4411 x3689


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Love
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:34 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] hood for manual special stains


The hospital where I work just opened a new lab. The histology department is
now combined with cytology and is made up of me, a second histotech, a
cytology prep tech, and our cytotech supervisor. We didn't have a hood in
the old lab, so we did our manual special stains on a workbench with weak,
overhanging vents that looked like lamps. The one hood in our new department
completely belongs to the cytology prep tech. She has her centrifuge and a
lot of other equipment in it, and my supervisor does not want me or the
other histotech to share it. Some of our workbenches have small vents built
into the walls, but when I do my specials there, I still smell chemicals. Do
most histotechs today use hoods to do manual special stains or am I being
too wishful?
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