Personal protective equipment, or PPE, serves as an important barrier of protection against laboratory-associated hazards. While PPE does not eliminate hazards, it can be critical for preventing exposures and releases when safety practices or engineering controls fail. Here are three things you should know about PPE that you may not have considered before:
1. Gloves expire.
Have you ever put on an old latex or nitrile glove and had your fingers poke right through? The materials that disposable gloves are made of will degrade over time and do have expiration dates. We recommend that all PPE, including gloves, are examined periodically and discarded if expired.
Bonus biosafety tip: Biological spill kits, which should be available in labs, will often include PPE. Remember to check the condition and expiration date of the gloves stored with biological spill kits and discard if expired.
2. Side shields on your safety glasses can save your eyes.
Proper eye protection for BSL-1 and BSL-2 lab work includes safety glasses or prescription glasses with side shields installed. Although normal prescription glasses can offer some protection against eye hazards, side shields offer additional peripheral protection. This extra protection is important because lab hazards may not always be in front of you. Equipment malfunctions, breaking glass, as well as splashing or spraying of biohazardous material can happen anywhere/anytime in the lab.
Bonus biosafety tip: Occupational Medicine provides prescription safety eyewear services for UW-Madison. Information about getting fitted for prescription safety glasses can be found here.
3. Extra clothing may come in handy.
Though not considered laboratory-provided PPE, clothing that covers the legs and closed-toed shoes must always be worn as part of the University of Wisconsin laboratory dress code requirements. Because laboratory PPE often does not cover every inch of clothing worn, accidents could happen that lead to the contamination of personal clothing with hazardous biological materials. If this occurs, the clothing would likely need to be autoclaved or disinfected. Keeping spare clothing in the lab for emergency use (or even for days you forget to wear long pants!) can solve this issue.
Bonus biosafety tip: Keeping dedicated closed-toed lab shoes at work is also advisable, considering that shoes could be affected by spills as well. In addition, using dedicated lab shoes may help prevent accidental release of biological materials and ensure that lab safety dress code expectations are met, even on days you wear sandals to work.
Last, remember under circumstances when PPE fails, this may warrant use of the First Report of Biological Exposure or Release Event form. All laboratory personnel should be familiar with how to access this form and when to use it. Click here to learn more.
by Megan Dixon and Dave Dyer
Megan Dixon is a Biosafety Specialist in the IBC and Laboratory Operations team. She joined EHS in 2024 and supports the research community by reviewing biosafety protocols and doing laboratory visits.
Dave Dyer is a Biosafety Specialist in the IBC and Laboratory Operations team. He joined EHS in 2021 and supports the research community by reviewing biosafety protocols and doing laboratory visits.
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