January 2020 – Page 2

By the Numbers: Injuries and Exposures in the Lab

Finding information about the number of Laboratory Acquired Infections (LAIs) and other laboratory injuries in the United States is difficult. Many events are not reported, and of those that are reported at the facility level, only some are required to be reported to national agencies. A report by the CDC cites four studies that collectively identified 4,079 LAIs resulting in 168 deaths occurring between 1930 and 1978. Again, those are just the reported occurrences, and the data says nothing about other injuries in the lab such as slips, trips, and falls, or lacerations.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides benchmark injury and exposure data for clinical laboratories, but this information too, is limited to that which is reported. That said, the information may still be of value—it can be used to compare your lab’s reportable injury data to labs across the nation. This can provide one form of assessing your overall lab safety.

The BLS provides annual clinical lab workplace injury data in the form of a rate. That rate is obtained via a calculation:

(Number of injuries and illnesses X 200,000) / Employee hours worked = Incidence rate

Incidence rates can be used to show a relative level of injuries and illnesses among different industries and within the same industry. Because a common base and a specific period of time are involved, these rates can help determine both problem areas and progress in preventing work-related injuries and illnesses. In this equation, the number of injuries and illnesses comes from your log of work-related incidents reported on your department’s OSHA 300 log. The worked hours from your lab should not include any non-work time (even if it is paid) such as vacation, sick leave, or holidays. You can estimate the worked hours on the basis of scheduled hours or eight hours per workday. The 200,000 is a constant—it represents the equivalent of 100 employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year, and provides the standard base for the incidence rates.

It takes time for national annual injury and illness rates to be calculated, so the most recent data from the BLS today is from the year 2018. Back in 2014 the rate for clinical labs was 3.4, and in 2015 it went down to 3.3. In fact, the BLS lab data shows a steady decline in reported incidents over the past twelve years. The most recent rate is 3.1. That’s good news that could mean that lab safety awareness is improving across the country.

How does your laboratory data compare to national numbers? It’s a good idea to use the calculation so that you can see how your lab is doing. If your injury, exposure and illness numbers are on the rise, it’s time to take action. Look for the causes of the incidents and implement methods of prevention. If you see a pattern of the same type of incidents, you may need to execute a safety stand-down around that specific process.

Now that you can compare your reportable data to a benchmark, what about the non-reportable events in your lab? They should get attention as well. Events like closing a finger in a drawer or cutting a finger on a clean microtome blade should always be reported to lab management and the occupational health department, but they may not be required to be reported elsewhere. They still need the same follow-up in the lab, however, and as a lab safety professional, you should be an integral part of the process to engender safety success in the lab.

While there is no national data to compare to for all types of lab injuries and exposures, it is still helpful to collect the information and calculate your lab’s rate. You can keep track of that overall rate and look for trends and make improvements on all incidents in the laboratory. Be sure to promote a culture of transparency and non-punitive reporting so that all lab accidents can be documented.

Knowing how many LAIs and other injuries in laboratories are occurring across the nation is no easy task. The best place to begin is within your own lab. Collect the data and become more familiar with this indicator that can guide you to the right path to improved employee safety in the lab.

–Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ) has over 25 years experience as a certified medical technologist. Today he is the Laboratory Safety Officer for Sentara Healthcare, a system of seven hospitals and over 20 laboratories and draw sites in the Tidewater area of Virginia. He is also known as Dan the Lab Safety Man, a lab safety consultant, educator, and trainer.

Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) – Another Valuable Membership for Technologists

This past November, I was lucky to attend the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) annual meeting held in Baltimore, MD. It was the 25th Anniversary of the association and it was interesting to see how it had grown over time. I went to a session moderated by members that had seen AMP in its infancy and it was remarkable to hear how the first meeting was a group of people that could fit in one of the small conference rooms, and how it had grown to offering this meeting for hundreds of people from all around the world. They have been on the forefront of the field of Molecular Diagnostics and have worked hard for many causes affecting those in the field. They discussed important events in the history of the association, such as when AMP, along with other groups, sued Myriad Genetics, Inc, on the practice of gene patenting. Myriad had filed patents for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and thus they were the only ones who could test those genes for patients. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that genes are products of nature, which cannot be patented, and this has led to an increase in choice for patients. This, among many other activities, is the way AMP continues to impact the field. They even had a Day of Advocacy the day before the annual meeting began when a group traveled to nearby Washington D.C. to visit with lawmakers about current issues.

If you are a technologist working in a Molecular lab, this meeting is, I believe, the most relevant one for any technologist to attend. If you are not a member of AMP, consider this a shameless plug for membership. The great thing about it is that the association really does its best to be for every one of its members. At the annual meeting, there are sidebars for each type of member, from technologist to trainees, to pathologists. I attended a lunch for trainees and technologists that included two speakers that described their journey through their different careers in the field. They were available to speak with after the session as well. I also attended an informal talk on the exhibit floor that explained the tools available for technologists through AMP, such as the technologist list serve, where I can email every technologist on the membership list for AMP if I have any questions or issues. They also described the website that guides techs to different types of certification tests and links to study guides. These were both great places to network with other technologists as well. The best thing about a technologist membership? It’s discounted compared to the pathologist membership – it’s only $75 a year and provides access to an account that has continuing education opportunities, as well as a digital subscription to the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. Besides my membership to ASCP, I believe being an AMP member is key to staying up to date in this amazing field.

-Sharleen Rapp, BS, MB (ASCP)^CM is a Molecular Diagnostics Coordinator in the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at Nebraska Medicine.

Patient Advocacy: Introduction

“I do not really understand what pathology is,” I said during my first round of interviews at ASCP. “In fact, I have a website page in front of me that describes it and I still do not really get it. I want to be upfront about that before we go any further in my interview process,” I followed. Needless to say, I got the job, but that experience really stuck with me. As I learned more and more about pathology and laboratory medicine, I was amazed that I had not known more about it. I had been to the doctor all my life, I had received some serious diagnoses, and I thought I was pretty well-versed in what my medical care entailed.

In the last few years that I have been with ASCP I have become passionate about educating patients about the role the medical laboratory plays in patient care. Without that understanding, patients will be less empowered and less likely to advocate for themselves. Their family doctors might order tests that they do not want or not order ones they that do. They might not understand certain results, which means that they are less likely to take an active role in their care. The more we education patients and their caregivers about pathology and laboratory medicine, the higher quality health care we create. Educated patients are empowered patients and it is imperative that education includes the laboratory.

Through directing the ASCP Patient Champions program, I have been fortunate to meet incredible patients, all who have some understanding of the role the laboratory played and plays in their care. Hearing them say that without the laboratory, they would only be a memory, is incredibly powerful and humbling. The active role these patients play in their care has allowed them to be more resourceful and more hopeful. For some of them, seeing their own slides has been a cathartic experience because they could suddenly see the enemy they were fighting. Others are now educating new patients about their lab tests and taking time from their own busy schedules to volunteer at hospitals and clinics.

It can also be an inspirational experience for laboratory professionals and pathologists to hear how they impacted a patient’s life. I have personally shed many tears when interviewing patients so I can only imagine what it is like to hear from someone whose life you have impacted, let alone meet them in person. It can also really help patients to have their diagnosis be explained by someone working in the lab and to understand why their blood is drawn or why a biopsy is needed.

This new series on Lablogatory called Patient Advocacy, will explore the topic of patient advocacy from laboratory professional, pathologist, and patient perspectives. Each month, you will hear how patient interactions have impacted lives and what we can do to make more people aware of the crucial role the medical laboratory plays in patient care. You are all changing and saving lives every day. Let’s learn together how we can increase our patient advocacy to help them even more.

-Lotte Mulder, EdM, is the Senior Manager of Organizational Leadership and Patient Engagement at ASCP. She earned her Masters of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2013, where she focused on Leadership and Group Development. After she graduated, Lotte started her own consulting company focused on establishing leadership practices in organizations, creating effective organizational structures, and interpersonal coaching. She has worked in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the U.S. on increasing leadership skills in young adults through cultural immersion, service learning and refugee issues, and cross-cultural interpretation. She is currently working toward a PhD in Organizational Leadership.