As we begin a new year, we have two important roads to travel. The first is to see where we went in the year prior. January is a great time when we can sit down and draft our year-end reports. We look back at safety audit scores, calculate our injury and exposure rates, and we compare ourselves to industry standards and measure our success and ability to meet those goals.
The other is the road ahead. We can take what we’ve learned and lay out a path to improve what we saw in the past year(s). So, I’d like to challenge all of you to a commitment to improving lab safety, a New Year’s resolution. But what is a resolution exactly? Is it simply a decision or is there more to the definition of the word? Let’s pause for a second and take a deeper look into the meaning behind this word resolution.
A few synonyms for resolution are the act of resolving (an issue), answering (a question), solving (a problem), or analyzing (a situation). When we make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, what are we trying to do? We’re trying to resolve the problem of unhealthy eating habits, or to analyze our exercise routine. Maybe you are trying to resolve safety issues in your lab. What can you do? It is easiest to start with the low hanging fruit, of course, but you also need to be on guard that the fruit doesn’t come back. This year I challenge you to reach a little higher by resolving safety culture issues that lead to the return of that low hanging fruit.
When it comes to PPE compliance, the best thing you can do is be there for your staff. What does that mean? It goes beyond just having PPE available for your staff, that is something that is required. To truly be there for your staff with regard to PPE means that you approach staff and talk to them about PPE issues. It also means that you demonstrate or model proper lab attire and act as the gold standard for PPE usage. Your staff will pay attention to your behaviors, and they will mimic your actions. That means when you’re having huddles or leading a meeting in the lab, make sure to don a lab coat. If you have to print something from the computer, don’t forget to reach for that lab coat and gloves – if the equipment is in the lab area, it’s surfaces should be treated as potentially contaminated.
Another great way to show the staff you’re interested in safety is to bring it up often. Make sure you normalize discussions around PPE in your huddles and monthly meetings. There’s a reason why weight loss apps and programs that incorporate community involvement tend to work better than just telling ourselves, that’s it no more chocolate for the rest of the year. We all know that’s not going to work. Neither is putting up a sign in the department that reminds staff to wear PPE or assigning another computer-based learning module around PPE usage. It takes a little more effort to resolve the overarching issue of compliance in order to make a lasting difference.
I don’t know about you, but one thing I’d like to solve is the issue we see in the lab regarding the use of cell phones and other personal electronic devices. What options do we have as lab leaders? Some labs have gone to extremes to ban all cell phones in the lab. There have been success stories in some labs, and these policies have backfired horribly in others. To resolve this problem, we first have to start with what we want to accomplish. Overall, keeping cell phones out of dirty areas is of the greatest importance. We know why it’s a bad idea to introduce this electronic device in the lab area that is contaminated with viruses, bacteria, fungus, and who knows what else. The real question is how – how do we get staff to truly understand the risks of using cell phones in the lab, and how do we keep them from the behavior of wanting to pull their cell phones out inside of a contaminated workspace.
The noted behaviorist and lab biosafety expert, Sean Kaufman, compares the addiction to cell phones and social media to that of nicotine. Years ago in workplaces, five or ten-minute smoke breaks were quite common and occurred every hour or two. Kaufman suggests that it may be appropriate to bring that back, giving staff a cell phone break or an “e-break” instead. At first this practice might seem like it could jeopardize the lab’s productivity. However, when you think about how often staff are stopping work and glancing at their phones, it might actually improve productivity and restore engagement in the work (fewer distractions, fewer mistakes, and less negative impact to laboratory results).
They say it’s true that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. In published studies, the use of positive reinforcement has shown greater success when trying to change behavior. Certain forms of positive reinforcement such as verbally praising proper behavior in the moment can work. Some labs have developed a point system where staff can earn points for being “caught” in good safety moments. Staff can then take points which they accumulate and redeem them for prizes such as T-shirts, pens, etc.
But what if positive reinforcement just doesn’t cut it? At times it is necessary to hold staff accountable. I ask you this year to go out and look at your labs and notice how many times you see somebody on their cell phone. Then ask yourself what is an acceptable number of occurrences? One? Ten? If you ask your staff to not use their cell phones and they continue to do so, ask why they’re not following procedures, but more importantly, why they are not listening to your request. Remember, as a lab manager or leader, you are ultimately responsible for safety in the lab. If you turn a blind eye to somebody using their cell phone, chances are they will continue to repeat that behavior. They will continue to use their cell phones until something bad happens. Before you know it, that employee could accidentally report an incorrect result on a patient because they were distracted, or they may become ill because of a pathogen they brought home on the phone. If something like that were to happen, who do you think would be at fault? Is it the employee or the manager who noticed the unsafe behavior and allowed it to continue?
Sure, you can make a resolution or commitment to improve your lab safety. You know there are issues, you want to fix them, and deep down you really know what you have to do. But it’s not easy. They say one of the best ways to ensure that you follow through with a commitment is to let others know of your plan and to have them help hold you accountable. As mentioned before, community-based programs tend to work better than going at change alone. Rather than make a resolution to improve your lab safety, start with making a resolution to discuss safety in your lab more often. Hold others accountable and allow others to hold you accountable as well.
-Jason P. Nagy, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM is a Lab Safety Coordinator for Sentara Healthcare, a hospital system with laboratories throughout Virginia and North Carolina. He is an experienced Technical Specialist with a background in biotechnology, molecular biology, clinical labs, and most recently, a focus in laboratory safety.
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