Clinical laboratories require a tremendous amount of energy to function. From continuous ventilation to temperature-controlled storage, water consumption, and high volumes of waste, routine laboratory operations carry a significant environmental footprint.
In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the important issues that affect your job every day. Today, he talks about national lab safety trends...
Protective gowns are a foundational element of laboratory and infection prevention safety programs, yet documentation practices around PPE procurement can be inconsistent.
Hazardous waste is a routine byproduct of medical laboratories, and proper handling and disposal are critical for workplace safety and regulatory compliance. Federal legislation enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requires laboratories...
In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the important issues that affect your job every day. Today, he talks about how too much experience can...
Thermal events tied to medication management devices are drawing heightened regulatory scrutiny—and hospital safety, facilities, and clinical engineering leaders should take notice.
Laboratories are a unique environment from an OSHA training standpoint. They include complex chemical and biological materials, potentially harmful equipment, and large numbers of staff.
In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the important issues that affect your job every day. Today he talks about ventilation in...
For many hospital safety and quality leaders, accreditation once followed a predictable arc: a ramp up to survey day, stress during the survey visit, and then a return to normal operations. That approach is becoming increasingly misaligned with how OSHA inspectors, accrediting bodies, and...
Laboratory compliance programs have never suffered from a lack of policies. Instead, what they often struggle with is consistency—particularly during busy handoffs, staffing shortages, and routine operational pressure. As regulatory expectations tighten and inspections increasingly focus on how...
