The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (Feinstein)
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
General Requirements for Personal & Laboratory Safety
1. Smoking is prohibited in all areas.
2. Eating & Drinking is prohibited in the lab areas.
3. Food or beverages are not permitted in laboratory refrigerators/freezers.
4. Application of cosmetics in lab areas is prohibited.
5. Contact Lenses, especially soft lenses, will absorb certain solvents. Contact lenses offer no
protection from a splash and may concentrate caustic materials against the cornea or prevent tears
from washing the caustic material away. It is strongly advised not to wear contact lenses in the labs.
6. Safety goggles:
a. Safety goggles are to be worn by personnel performing the following functions:
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Heating liquid in a test tube
Pouring and handling caustic and corrosive materials
Toxic or hazardous reagents preparation
Handling or using volatile solvents
b. All personnel in each lab will be advised of the location of safety goggles and instructed
to wear them when performing the functions listed above. All new employees will be
instructed in the use of eyewashes by their supervisors.
7. Clothing: Lab coats should be worn when working in the lab.
8. Shoes: Footwear should be comfortable; rubber soled and covers the entire foot (lace or loafer style).
Opened-toed shoes are prohibited in the lab. See the Feinstein’s Personal Appearance/Uniforms/
Protective Equipment Policy.
9. Headphones: Use of personal listening devices, such as headphone or earphones is prohibited unless
work related.
10. Hair shall be secured back and off the shoulders in such a manner as to prevent it from coming into
contact with contaminated materials or surfaces and to prevent shedding of organisms into the work
area. This is especially true in bacteriology work. It is also important to keep hair out of moving
machinery such as a centrifuge.
11. Hand washing: Hands should be washed frequently during the day, during specimen processing,
after removing gloves and before leaving the lab.
12. Personal hygiene: Close attention should be paid to hazardous habits of hygiene such as nail biting,
head scratching, putting pens/pencils into mouth, etc.
13. Gloves should be worn when using hazardous materials.
14. Mouth pipetting is prohibited. There are pipetting aids (i.e., bulbs, syringe, or mechanical pipetting)
available for every task. The use of mechanical pipetting systems for all materials is encouraged.
15. Exits and aisles must not be obstructed in any way. No equipment, chairs, supplies or trash are
permitted in exit routes or areas.
16. Good housekeeping:
a. Lab benches and work area must be kept neat and orderly.
b. Items not in use should be put away. Remove all unnecessary clutter.
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17. Glassware:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Do not use broken or chipped glassware. Discard it or order new.
Do not leave pipettes sticking out of bottles, flasks, or beakers.
Do not attempt to remove stoppers on glass tubing by force.
Decontaminate glassware by autoclaving when necessary.
Heated glass containers should be handled with heat-resistant gloves.
All glassware, broken or not, should be disposed of in special containers labeled for
“broken glassware”. Do not use these containers for disposable plastics e.g., pipettes.
18. Centrifuges:
a. Do not operate any centrifuges (regardless of size) unless the covers are closed.
b. Do not centrifuge uncovered tubes of hazardous materials.
c. Tubes must be counterbalanced.
19. Autoclaves:
a. Personnel should not operate autoclaves until they have been properly trained.
b. Do not open until both temperature and pressure are back to normal. Do not stand in
front of the door when opening.
c. Use heat resistant gloves when putting items into or removing items from the autoclave.
d. Loosen caps of any containers to allow equalization of pressures inside the containers.
This prevents explosions, boil-over and implosions.
e. Do not move heated liquids until they have cooled down. Moving such liquids while hot
can lead to “flash-ups” of hot fluids and cause serious burns.
20. Needles and Sharps Handling Procedures:
a. To best prevent needle stick injury:
 Used needles shall not be recapped or bent. If recapping is required by a specific
procedure, it must be accomplished by a one-handed technique or mechanical
device.
 Whenever possible use needleless sharps or sharps with a built-in safety device to
reduce the risk of injury
 Never aim a needle at yourself or recap a needle with two hands.
 Do not walk around with uncapped needles or sharp tools.
 NEVER DISCARD SHARPS IN ORDINARY TRASH CONTAINERS
 Sharps containers should be placed as close as possible to the point of use.
b. All contaminated pipettes, tubes, glassware, and other sharps must be discarded in
puncture-proof, leak-proof biohazard sharps containers that are used solely for this
purpose (SHARPS ONLY). These puncture-resistant containers are accessible in all
areas where needles and syringes are utilized.
c. DO NOT overfill sharps containers (beyond 3/4 full).
d. Containers should never be shaken or lifted form the bottom.
e. Containers that are 3/4 full or more should be capped, removed and replaced with a fresh,
clean, sanitized container. Containers must all be placed with the biohazard symbol
facing outward.
f.
All containers are to be inspected for appearance, sticker placement, and locks.
g. NEVER reach into a container of used sharps.
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h. Employees who have sustained an exposure to blood or body fluids should follow postexposure protocol (see Employee Health Service Policy).
i.
An outside commercial vendor will supply and remove these containers weekly.
Contact Environmental Services (ES) (x 2160) if additional containers are needed.
21. Sharps Injury:
a. If you have sustained a sharps injury, follow the procedure below:
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Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water
Notify your Supervisor
Complete an incident report
Go to the Emergency Department within 30 minutes of the incident
b. If blood spills or splashes on your hand:
 Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water
 Notify Supervisor
 Complete an incident report
 Go to the Emergency Department within 30 minutes of the incident
c. If blood spills or splashes in your eyes:
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Be aware of location of eye wash station
Flush eyes with large amount of water
Do NOT use soap or other chemicals
Notify Supervisor
Complete an incident report
Go to the Emergency Department within 30 minutes of the incident
d. If blood spills or splashes into mouth or onto mucus membranes:
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Rinse immediately with large amount of water
Notify Supervisor
Complete an incident report
Go to the Emergency Department within 30 minutes of the incident
e. If blood spills or splashes on equipment or furniture surfaces:
 Using personal protective equipment, area is wiped first with spill kit, then
cleaned thoroughly with an EPA approved Tuberculocidal Solution
f.
At the Emergency Department, they will:
 Do a Hepatitis Screen to check if you have HBV antibodies (unless you know
your HBV Ab status)
 Ask for a consent to do HIV screening
 Evaluate the risk for HIV for possible prophylaxis against HIV infection
 Have you follow up the results with an Employee Health physician
 Keep all information confidential
22. Good Laboratory Practices: The following practices, precautions and procedures apply to all
laboratories working with hazardous chemicals. (See also the Feinstein’s Chemical Hygiene Plan
(CHP) - General Chemical Safety Procedures posted on HealthPort.)
a. Know the materials you are working with and their hazards. Read labels and Materials
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) carefully. Contact the Feinstein’s Safety Office if more
information is needed.
b. Be prepared for emergencies: know what actions to take. Make sure that spill kits are
available for small spills.
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c. Know the location of safety showers, eyewash stations, fire extinguishers, and alarm pull
stations.
d. Use the minimum amount of hazardous chemical necessary.
e. Never smell or taste a chemical.
f.
Inspect gloves and fume hoods before beginning a procedure.
g. Do not allow the release of toxic substances into warm rooms and cold rooms.
h. Inspect equipment for damage before adding a hazardous chemical.
i.
Avoid direct contact with any chemical. Keep chemical off clothing, including shoes.
j.
Do not engage in behavior that could distract others.
k. Keep work area clean and uncluttered.
l.
Label all secondary containers.
m. Wash hands with soap and water after handling any chemical.
n. Promptly clean up small spills.
o. If a chemical spill is such that it is immediately hazardous and cannot be handled by onsite personnel, evacuate the area of the spill and dial 1099 for further assistance.
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