Spill Procedures for Custodians
Small Spill: a few drops of blood or fluid
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Large Spill: a small puddle of blood or fluid
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Catastrophic Spill: a large amount of blood or fluid spread over a large area
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Personal Contamination
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Needle in Regular Trash
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Spill Procedures For Laboratory Staff
Spill of Human Blood or Body Fluids (other potentially infectious materials)
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Spill of Potentially Infectious Microorganisms (within Biosafety Cabinet)
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Spill of Potentially Infectious Microorganisms (outside of Biosafety Cabinet) Spills of infectious agents, especially those requiring biosafety level 2 containment or higher, outside the biosafety cabinet present a considerable risk of infection to laboratory workers. The laboratory in which the spill occurs should be vacated immediately by all occupants. Any laboratory worker requiring medical attention should be escorted to the local Occupational Health Center for medical evaluation and treatment. The laboratory supervisor should report the spill to REHS by phone at 848-445-2550 as soon as possible, and then complete an accident report in the accident database at http://myrehs.rutgers.edu as soon as possible. The laboratory should remain vacant for at least 30 minutes. This allows aerosolized droplets to settle and the building's ventilation system to exhaust droplets which are airborne to the external environment. In some instances (e.g., buildings with recirculating ventilation systems) the ventilation system servicing the affected portion of the building may need to be shut down to prevent the dissemination of contaminated air. In general, the steps taken to clean and decontaminate spills of an infectious agent outside the biological safety cabinet are identical to those taken when cleaning spills of blood and other potentially infectious material. Additional precautions may need to be taken depending on the particular properties of the spilled agent as well as the volume of the spill. A more thorough discussion of the cleaning and decontamination of spills of infectious material in laboratories may be found in the biosafety guide. |
Personal Contamination
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