PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) IN THE LABORATORY

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1 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is the last line of defense against exposure to hazardous materials. Exposure control strategies such as elimination/substitution, engineering controls, and administrative controls should be the first consideration to reduce exposure. PPE must always be used in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing strategies and should never be the only mode of controlling exposure. According to WorkSafeBC regulations, SFU is responsible for ensuring a safe workplace to protect all workers, which includes providing and maintaining PPE. WorkSafeBC mandates that workers wear appropriate apparel and use appropriate eye, face, hand, and foot protection when working with hazardous materials. If you have any questions regarding the selection of appropriate personal protective equipment, please contact EHRS. Please refer to the checklist below for a list of required PPE when working with chemical, biological, radiological and laser hazards. PPE HAZARD Chemical Biological Radiological Laser Lab Coat Safety glasses Note: safety goggles when risk of splashing Gloves Hair tied back Long pants Closed-toed/heel shoes Page 1 of 5

2 Laboratory Attire SFU requires lab coats to be worn in labs when hazardous materials are present. Appropriate laboratory coats should be worn, buttoned, with the sleeves rolled down. Be sure that your lab coat is appropriate for the hazard you are working with: Cotton-polyester lab coat, for use with acids, caustics or materials that are not very flammable or combustible; 100% cotton lab coat, for use with flammable or combustible materials; Nomex lab coat, for use with pyrophorics, highly flammable or combustible materials, and large quantities of flammable or combustible materials; Contact EHRS if you are not sure which lab coat is the most appropriate. Lab coats should be left in the laboratory to minimize the possibility of spreading hazardous material to public assembly, eating, or office areas. A lab coat which is known or suspected to be contaminated must be successfully decontaminated before laundering. If the lab coat is contaminated with radioactive material, contact Radiation Safety. For information on lab coat rental, purchase and laundering contact Science Stores. Personal clothing that leaves large areas of skin exposed (e.g. shorts, skirts, short sleeves) should not be worn in laboratories where hazardous chemicals are in use. Long pants and long sleeves must be worn keeping in mind that personal clothing needs to fully cover the body. Long hair needs to be tied back. Within a Laser controlled area, no jewelry or accessories with reflective surfaces may be worn. In some cases, X-ray protective clothing (e.g. lead (Pb) equivalent aprons and/or thyroid guards of thickness appropriate to the application at hand) may be necessary when working with X-ray generating equipment. Appropriate Footwear Fully enclosed footwear must be worn in laboratories where chemicals are used or stored. It is not acceptable to wear sandals, flip flops, open-toed shoes, or any other footwear that does not fully enclose the foot. Shoes should have soles that provide traction in slippery or wet environments to reduce the chance of falling. When working with radioactive materials, keep in mind that leather soled shoes are absorbent and difficult to decontaminate. Rubber soled shoes with tread are preferred. Socks should cover the ankles so as to protect against chemical splashes. High heels should not be worn in the laboratory. If additional hazards are present that could result in foot injury, such as the potential for falling heavy objects or electrical shock, specific CSA-approved footwear may be required. Page 2 of 5

3 Eye and Face Protection Safety glasses/goggles must be worn whenever there is a risk of eye injury from contact with sharp or moving particles, lasers or where hazardous materials are present. Safety glasses must be CSA certified and provide protection against splashes around the top and sides of the lenses; an example is shown in Figure 1. Ordinary prescription glasses do not offer eye protection in the laboratory and users must wear CSA certified safety glasses over their eye glasses, as seen in the example in Figure 2. These types of safety glasses are deeper, and sit further away from the face, allowing them to sit comfortably over prescription eyeglasses. Figure 1 Standard Safety Glasses Figure 2 Safety Glasses for wear over prescription glasses Safety goggles (Figure 3) form a seal around the face and offer superior protection from chemical splashes or sprays. Safety goggles are better suited for work with hazardous chemicals that present a splash hazard, with vapours or particulates, and with corrosives. Because safety glasses/goggles alone don t provide protection to the face and neck, full-face shields (Figure 4) are required when: Handling explosive, pyrophoric or highly hazardous chemicals Working with an apparatus that has contents under pressure or vacuum (e.g. Schlenk line manipulations) Working with cryogenic materials (e.g. dispensing liquid nitrogen, removing freezer vials from liquid nitrogen) Please note that either safety goggles or safety glasses need to be worn under face shields Furthermore, work with laser or ultraviolet light sources require special safety glasses/goggles or face shields. It is highly recommended that visitor eye protection be available at the entrances to all laboratories. Contact lenses are not recommended to be worn in the lab. If contacts are worn, based on a risk assessment, appropriate additional personal protective equipment must be worn, such as safety goggles. Page 3 of 5

4 Figure 3 Splash resistant safety goggles Figure 4 Face shield Gloves Selecting the appropriate gloves for a particular procedure or experiment is essential to protect against skin exposure to hazardous chemicals, toxic materials, materials of unknown toxicity, corrosive materials, rough or sharp-edged objects, and very hot or very cold objects. One type of glove does not provide universal protection. Before using gloves, always check for discolouration, punctures, or tears and ensure that gloves are not past their expiration date. Make it a practice to replace gloves frequently. The thin latex surgical vinyl and nitrile gloves frequently found in many laboratories may not be appropriate for use as they may be permeable to highly toxic chemicals or solvents because of their composition and thin construction. When handling pyrophoric chemicals, you must wear flameresistant outer glove and chemical-resistant inner gloves: Sigma-Aldrich recommends the use of nitrile gloves underneath neoprene gloves. Cut-resistant gloves, such as Kevlar or leather gloves, are appropriate for handling broken glassware, inserting tubing into stoppers, and handling sharp-edged objects if protection from chemicals is not needed. When working with very hot or very cold materials, gloves must be insulated. For example, when handling and dispensing cryogenic liquids, cryogenic protective gloves are recommended as these are impervious to the liquid being handled but loose enough to be tossed off easily in case the liquid becomes trapped between the skin and glove. Consider double gloving when a single glove material does not provide adequate protection for all the hazards encountered during a procedure. For example, when decontaminating radioactive spills, double gloving is required. Do not wear gloves outside the laboratory, to avoid contamination of common areas and surfaces. It is a policy at SFU that one glove may be worn, if necessary, outside the lab when carrying hazardous materials. However, caution is required to ensure that you use the non-gloved hand to open doors and other enclosures. Keep in mind that the incorrect choice of glove may be much worse than wearing no gloves at all because: (i) the glove may be permeable to the chemical being used and may increase skin absorption by holding the chemical close to the skin; and (ii) the warm, moist environment created within the glove may increase the permeability of your skin to certain chemicals. Page 4 of 5

5 To determine the appropriate glove for the chemical you will be working with, please consult the Glove Permeation Chart. Always replace gloves immediately if they are contaminated or torn. For an example of correct laboratory attire and PPE refer to Figure 5. Respirators All respirator users should receive training and fit testing prior to using this equipment. Please contact the EHRS department for more information. Respirators are required: when working with hazardous fumes, dusts or vapours, where engineering controls are not available or practical, during spill clean-up operations, in the event of a hazardous material release (to be used as an escape respirator). Respirators must only be used in situations that have been reviewed by supervisors and by EHRS before any work begins. Respirators may only be used by personnel who have been APPROPRIATELY TRAINED AND FIT TESTED. They must not be used in situations that are immediately dangerous to life or health, or where there is insufficient oxygen. Please contact Monica Szczepina (mszczepi@sfu.ca, ) if you have any questions about laboratory attire and PPE. Safety goggles or glasses Lab coat Gloves Long pants Shoes that fully enclose foot Figure 5 Correct laboratory attire Page 5 of 5