Hazardous waste safety—what you need to know to make sure that safety is not compromised in any operations involving these materials in the laboratory

"Employees have rights and responsibilities under workplace safety laws that apply to their own actions and conduct on the job. The main objective of this session is to inform workers about their rights and responsibilities for a safe and healthy workplace, and how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the General Duty Clause can help workers and employers prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. By the time the session is over, workers will be able to describe the purpose and mission of OSHA; identify OSHA’s strategies and the employer’s responsibilities for improving workplace safety; describe the purpose and use of the General Duty Clause; and explain worker rights and responsibilities to protect workplace safety and health."

When working in a laboratory, safety is always the prime concern. An essential initial step when performing any laboratory operation is identifying the hazards that you may face. This requires knowing the job well enough to break it into components and accessing all the information and knowledge at your disposal to recognize the hazards you may encounter for each step. This training session focuses on hazard identification. If you learn these lessons well, you’ll not only protect yourself but also create a safer workplace for everyone at the laboratory.

Your job in health care involves helping others. But sometimes doing your job could put you at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. We will talk about what bloodborne pathogens are, how you might be exposed to them, the precautions you can take to successfully prevent exposure, and what to do if you are exposed. Fortunately, your chance of being exposed to bloodborne pathogens on the job is small. But keeping that risk to a minimum is important to us all.

This training session covers electrical safety for unqualified persons. “Unqualified” persons are machine operators, operators of powered industrial trucks, construction workers, and others who are not qualified to perform electrical work but who still face the risk of electrical shock and need to know important information about the hazards of electricity to prevent serious injury. This course is meant to supplement hands-on or classroom training that your employer must provide to familiarize you with the specific electrical hazards of your job.

Unfortunately, workplace emergencies are a fact of life. Fortunately, they don’t happen often. But when they do, the result can be very bad for us and for our patients. To minimize injuries, loss of life, and damage to the facility, we must all be prepared to act effectively in a variety of possible emergency situations.

Healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, physicians' offices, dental practices, blood banks, veterinary hospitals/clinics, and medical research facilities and laboratories, generate medical wastes. As a healthcare worker, you may be exposed to medical wastes on the job. For example, patient care workers, housekeepers, maintenance personnel, and others may all be involved in handling medical wastes or at least come in contact with these materials. Some medical wastes can be hazardous to your health. This course is designed to explain the hazards of medical wastes, the precautions you can take to protect yourself from harmful exposures, and the procedures you must follow to protect yourself and your facility coworkers from the hazards of medical wastes.

Millions of workers like you wear respirators in workplaces across a wide variety of industries to protect against poor oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays. But just wearing a respirator is not enough. You need to know how to properly fit, use, inspect, and maintain your respirator to fully protect yourself from these respiratory hazards. If you don’t, these hazards can cause cancer, lung impairment, lung diseases, or even death.

Stress can be harmful to our health and increase mental health challenges. Mental health challenges can include clinical mental illness and substance use disorders as well as other emotions like stress, grief, or feeling sad and anxious. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to manage stress, as well as improve mental health and well-being. This session is intended for all employees.