Three tips for better response to spills
Three tips for better response to spills
Managers familiar with a chemical spill last year at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, WA, and incidents at other outpatient surgery programs say you can learn from others’ experiences and be better prepared for a chemical spill at your facility.
Consider these suggestions:
- Know the hazardous chemicals you’re working with.
While the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) requires material safety data sheets (MSDS) to be on-site and available to employees, some facilities are taking that requirement to a new level with MSDS software.
Providence St. Peter Hospital uses a product from Dolphin Software in Lake Oswego, OR. "You put in the name of the chemical, and it will bring up the MSDS sheet for that chemical," says Paul Fitzpatrick, MHA, MT (ASCP) SC, director of laboratory services.
"It will list the chemical properties, hazards, and protective equipment." (For more on software, see source/resource below.) The advantage to using the software is that with many computers located in the hospital, there is more access to the information than with paper copies, Fitzpatrick says.
Know how to dispose of the drugs and chemicals you use, and follow standards from your state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when disposing of them, says Dionne Williams, industrial hygienist at OSHA in Washington, DC.
- Store smaller amount of hazardous chemicals, if possible.
At Providence St. Peter, 5-gallon containers of formalin formerly were used in the sterile processing area of outpatient surgery.
"It doesn’t take long for even a small spill to evaporate into the air and become a serious hazard for employees," says Margaret Cunningham, CIH, supervisor of the Olympia office of the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, which investigated the hospital’s response to the spill.
Lynda Moelhman, MPH, industrial hygiene inspector at the Olympia office, says, "We calculated parts per million in whole first level were enough for whoever responded to be wearing a supplied air respirator."
The Olympia office prefers that outpatient surgery providers use small prepackaged containers of formalin, which Providence St. Peter now uses. "If that gets turned over, what’s the most you’ll lose? About half a cup," Cunningham points out.
Another problem with the large volume formerly used at Providence St. Peter was that the hospital didn’t have secondary containment or a method to absorb the volume of spilled formalin, Moelhman says.
"There are granules you can buy that can suppress the formaldehyde that can go into the air, but they didn’t have the quantity they needed," she says.
If you purchase hazardous chemicals in large volume and put them in smaller containers, items such as funnels will help eliminate spills and splashes, Williams advises. Also be sure to label the smaller containers so users know what is in them, she adds.
- Hold disaster drills for chemical spills.
In October 2003 at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne in Fitzroy, Australia, 12 people were evacuated, and three were treated for eye irritation, when staff were setting up for surgery and noticed a leak of peracetic acid from sterilization equipment. Twelve firefighters, wearing chemical splash suits and breathing apparatus, responded and had the spill under control within 30 minutes.
One of the reasons the response went well was there are well-documented procedures — which staff clearly understood, says Gary Robertson, former manager of occupational health and safety at St. Vincent’s. Robertson responded to the incident when it occurred.
"These emergency procedures are regularly exercised to ensure staff members are competent and confident," he says.
Mike Griffin, communications manager at St. Vincent’s, says the hospital’s occupational health and safety protocol was "well-drafted, well-implemented, and well-educated so people knew exactly and immediately what to do when an incident occurred."
The occupational health and safety department at St. Vincent’s provides each department, including outpatient surgery, with at least one annual evacuation exercise, Robertson says.
A debriefing is conducted at the end of each exercise, and a formal report is forwarded within a few days from the occupational health and safety staff to the same-day surgery managers and occupational health representative in that department to be displayed, he says.
"Departments also are encouraged to undertake internal exercises on a quarterly basis," Robertson adds.
Source/Resource
For more information on the spill at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, contact:
- Gary Robertson, Manager, Occupational Risk, Melbourne Health Materials Handling Centre, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3050. Phone: 61 03 9342 8036. Fax: 61 03 9342 8050. E-mail: [email protected].
For information on medical safety data sheet (MSDS) software, contact:
- Dolphin Software, 9 Monroe Parkway, Suite 150, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. Phone: (800) 275-6737 or (503) 635-6455. Fax: (503) 635-3824. The prices are $1,500 for a setup fee, $75 for a monthly per-site fee, and approximately $6 for each MSDS download.
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