Protecting MU’s Health, Safety, and the Environment Spring 2011

Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE): Its In This Issue

Maintenance, Storage & Use the help of

Personal Protective Equipment
Lessons from Emergency Planning 2
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properly
Got Mercury? 4
A comprehensive personal protective equipment selected, Good News for rDNA Research 5
(PPE) program not only can be one of the easiest worn and New Dosimetry Contract 6
safety and health programs your department can maintained
implement and maintain, but it also can be one of PPE. In
the most beneficial. some cases
it’s also
Before we even consider PPE we must follow the the law!
hierarchy of controls (Engineering, Administrative According to state law all employees are required
and then PPE). First take the hazard out of the to wear at least safety glasses in our laboratories.
work areas by instituting engineering controls, Most laboratories also require gloves and lab
e.g., ventilation hoods, gas cabinets, guarding, coats, plus other unique PPE. In the United
etc. Then, consider administrative controls, e.g., States, thousands of people are blinded each
limit the amount of time an individual is allowed to year from work-related eye injuries that could
work with or is exposed to a given hazard. Last have been prevented with eye protection.
is personal protective equipment. Since PPE can According to OSHA, eye injuries alone cost more
fail, and relies on the worker to use it properly, than $300 million per year in lost production time,
and leaves the hazard in the workplace, PPE is medical expenses, and worker compensation.
always our last line of defense against workplace
contaminants and physical hazards. Common types of PPE include the following:

We use PPE when engineering controls are not • Eye and face protection, e.g., safety
adequate to control exposures, during emergency glasses, safety, goggles, safety side
and clean-up procedures, to supplement shields, face shields, laser and
engineering and administrative controls, and welding shields;
sometimes simply for comfort.
(Continued on page 3)
Why do we use PPE? Experience tells us that
we can prevent most workplace injuries with
E N V I R O N M E N T A L H E A L T H A N D S A F E T Y N O T E S

Director’s Desk Third, provisions should be made to back up

essential written and electronic records. What
would you do if your work area records were
damaged by fire or you lost your computer
Safety Lessons from records? It ought to go without saying that
Emergency Planning backups should be kept in an alternate location.

The February blizzard gave us a lot to talk about, Fourth, make sure you know how to contact
but most would just as soon not go through the emergency responders in the event of an
experience again. Our campus has put a lot of emergency. The quicker the response, the less
energy into emergency preparedness and that the consequences of the emergency. Also,
energy paid off in a big way when the blizzard hit. communicate with important contacts in the event
Because of previous planning activities, decision that your normal communication resources (office
makers were well-equipped to make good, timely phone, office computer, etc) are not available.
decisions about campus operations. Many thanks
go out to those employees who put so much Last, having an emergency plan can prevent
effort into clearing streets, walks and parking lots, hazards and enable a more efficient response
as well as those that provided other essential in the event of an emergency. Fortunately,
services for campus. Our personal and work emergencies don’t happen very often. Spending
lives were greatly disrupted, but I think all of us some time preparing for emergencies is time well
can see that things could easily have been much spent not just for you, but for those around you.
worse. For emergency resources a good start would be
to visit our EHS web page: http://ehs.missouri.
Now that the blizzard is behind us, what safety edu/other/er/
lessons can we apply going forward? First,
significant and potentially hazardous disruptions Peter Ashbrook
to our work can occur due to factors that are not
controllable. However, many of these hazards
can be anticipated and steps can be taken to
reduce or eliminate undesirable consequences.
For example, if you have an emergency eyewash Guidance to Faculty for
and safety shower in your laboratory, it should
be readily accessible at all times. Don’t pile Emergencies
up stuff that blocks access. Likewise with fire
EHS periodically receives requests from faculty about
extinguishers—keep them readily accessible
procedures in the event of an emergency. In response
and make sure you know how to use one without
we have prepared a handout that summarizes
having to spend a lot of time on refresher training procedures in the event of different types of
if a fire occurs. emergency situations. This handout can be found at:
http://ehs.missouri.edu/other/pdf/faculty_er_guide.pdf
Second, good planning and written procedures
help lead to better and more efficient work, Teaching assistants and other non-faculty instructors
facilitate analysis of potential hazards, and may also find this of interest.
help restore normal operations in the event of
unexpected disruptions.

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EHS web site: http://ehs.missouri.edu
E N V I R O N M E N T A L H E A L T H A N D S A F E T Y N O T E S

PPE Continued competent personnel. Immediately remove

any damaged equipment from service until
• Hand protection, e.g., gloves and a competent person or a manufacturer’s
barrier creams; representative can certify the equipment for
• Head protection, e.g., hard hats; use. If not authorized by a manufacturer to
• Hearing protection, e.g., earplugs and repair PPE, do not attempt to fix it.
ear muffs;
• Foot protection, e.g., boots with The costs associated with the maintenance
metatarsal guards and/or steel toes, of PPE are the responsibility of the
slip and puncture-resistant soles; employer.
• Body protection, e.g., high-visibility
Storage for PPE
vests, coveralls, welding leathers, life
jackets or buoyant work vests,
Where PPE is provided, adequate storage
chemical suits and skin protection (sun
facilities for PPE must be made available for
block)
when it is not in use, unless the employee
• Respiratory protection, e.g., half-face,
may take PPE away from the workplace,
full-face and supplied-air respirators
e.g., footwear or clothing. All PPE must
and two-strap irritant dust masks; and
be stored in a clean and sanitary condition
• Fall protection, e.g., personal fall arrest
ready for use. Accommodation may be
systems, harnesses and lanyards.
simple, e.g., pegs for waterproof clothing
Employees can provide their own PPE. The or safety helmets, and it need not be fixed,
employer (MU in our case), however, must e.g., a case for safety glasses, a container in
ensure the PPE is adequate for the job and is a vehicle, or zip-lock bags on a designated
maintained properly. shelf. Storage should be adequate to
protect the PPE from contamination, loss,
Maintaining PPE damage, water or sunlight. Proper storage
often requires a dry and clean place that
An effective system of maintenance of PPE is not subject to temperature extremes. A
is essential to make sure the equipment hard hat hanging in the back window of
continues to provide the degree of protection a truck, for example, may suffer sun and
for which it is designed. Therefore, the heat damage that prematurely ages the
manufacturer’s maintenance schedule shell, reducing worker protection. Where
(including recommended replacement periods PPE may become contaminated during
and shelf lives) must always be followed. use, storage should be separate from any
Inspect PPE before each use. With most PPE, storage provided for ordinary clothing.
it only takes a few minutes to inspect the
equipment for any breaks, tears and visible Provision and Replacement of PPE
signs of stress or damage. Maintenance may
include: cleaning, examination, replacement, Some departments maintain a supply of
repair and testing. You may be able carry out PPE. Individual units may arrange for the
simple maintenance (e.g. cleaning), but more supply of required PPE to staff. Regardless
intricate repairs must only be carried out by of the arrangements for supply, it is a

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EHS web site: http://ehs.missouri.edu
E N V I R O N M E N T A L H E A L T H A N D S A F E T Y N O T E S

PPE Continued Got Mercury?

management responsibility to ensure that
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. If released
correct PPE is available and a program is
into the environment it may bioaccumulate
in place. When considering arrangements
in some of the fish that we eat – the
for providing replacement PPE it must be
number one source for mercury exposure
remembered that unless a task requiring
and poisoning in humans in the 21st
PPE can be stopped, avoided or delayed
century. Other exposures may also result
until new PPE is obtained, replacement
from breaking mercury-containing devices
PPE must always be readily available.
(e.g., thermometers) or using mercury-
Duties of employees containing compounds. For a number of
regarding PPE years, EHS has actively worked with the
campus community to eliminate as much
Employees must take reasonable steps to elemental mercury from the campus as
ensure that PPE provided is properly used. possible. However, we’ve had to make one
For example: notable exception through the years: when
ASTM International (originally known as the
• PPE must be worn and used in American Society for Testing and Materials)
accordance with the instructions standards or other rules and regulations
provided; required the use of a calibrated mercury
• Employees must take all reasonable thermometer. Recent information received
steps to ensure that PPE is returned indicates that the rationale for this exception
to proper storage after it has been will soon be invalid.
used (unless the employee may take
PPE away from the workplace e.g. In 2006, ASTM was first petitioned to
footwear or clothing); reevaluate standards that required the use
• PPE must be examined before use; of mercury, culminating in a 2008 strategy
• Any loss or obvious defect must be for phasing out these mercury standards.
immediately reported to their A timeline was developed in conjunction
supervisor; and with US Environmental Protection Agency
• Employees must take reasonable (EPA), the National Institute of Standards
care of any PPE provided to them and Technology (NIST) and a host of
and not carry out any maintenance other agencies. NIST estimates that
unless trained and authorized. approximately 300 of the 700 standards that
required the use of mercury thermometers
If you have any questions about proper have been amended to also allow the use
selection, use and/or storage of PPE, visit of non-mercury and digital technologies,
our web site (http://ehs.missouri.edu/ppe/) and that the remaining standards should
or contact EHS at 882-7018. be addressed within three years. To help
accelerate the overall process, NIST
David Dorth
announced in February 2011 the institute
Safety Representative
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EHS web site: http://ehs.missouri.edu
E N V I R O N M E N T A L H E A L T H A N D S A F E T Y N O T E S

would no longer provide calibration services This is very welcome news for rDNA
for mercury thermometers effective March 1, Researchers. There are still two types of
2011. these experiments that need to be registered
and eventually approved by the Institutional
If you have retained a mercury thermometer
Biosafety Committee (IBC):
because a standard applicable to one of your
processes required it, you should determine • Breeding experiments involving
if that standard has been updated. EHS transgenic rodents that contain more than
continues to fund a program to replace 50 percent of the genome of an exogenous
mercury-containing devices with non-mercury eukaryotic virus from a single family, in order
alternatives and this may be an ideal time to to prevent inadvertent reconstitution of an
finally remove the remaining mercury devices exogenous virus in the resultant transgenic
in your possession. For more information on rodent; and
EHS’ mercury replacement program go to
http://ehs.missouri.edu/chem/mercury.html . • Breeding experiments in which the
transgenic rodent’s transgene is under the
For more information about this collaborative control of a gamma retroviral long terminal
effort between EPA and NIST, including repeat (LTR), in order to address the small
specific details on migrating from a mercury risk of recombination with endogenous
thermometer to an alternative see: http://www. retroviruses which could potentially result
epa.gov/hg/thermometer.htm in mobilization of the transgene via a
replication-competent mouse retrovirus.
Todd Houts
Assistant Director Please contact EHS Biosafety (882-7018) if
you have any questions on this “new” rDNA
exemption using transgenic rodents under
BL1 conditions. Refer to the NIH website for
additional information: http://oba.od.nih.gov/
Good News for Recombinant rdna/news_events_oba.html#RAC.
DNA (rDNA) Research Also, your EHS Biosafety Team thanks
all MU Researchers, with current IBC
In the Recombinant DNA (rDNA) research applications, for completing their “Annual
world, it seems we see more and stricter Online Biosafety Protocol Survey”. This
regulatory requirements all the time. Some of annual survey keeps MU Researchers in
these requirements are close to crossing the compliance with CDC, NIH and MU policy
line of good and practical science. Well, on requirements.
January 19, 2011, the NIH Guidelines were
revised to exempt most experiments involving Roger P. Riddlemoser
breeding of transgenic rodents housed Assistant Director
under BL1 (Biosafety Level 1) conditions.

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EHS web site: http://ehs.missouri.edu
ENVIR ONME NT A L H EA L T H A N D S A FET Y
8 Research Park Development Building
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

(573) 882-7018
http://ehs.missouri.edu

New Dosimetry Contract and number of dosimeters (whole body, collar,

finger rings, etc).
Last fall MU, along with our other sister campuses
• If replacement Mirion dosimeters are not
and MURR, started working on the review of
available or missing in your tubs from EHS,
our Dosimetry contract with Landauer, which
please call Crystal Childers at EHS 882-7018 as
expired at the end of December. As is protocol
soon as possible so we can rectify this deviation.
for contract renewals, we put the contract out
for competitive bids. As a result of this process, • Please return all Landauer dosimeters and their
we have awarded a three year contract to a holders to EHS as soon as possible. We will
company named Mirion to supply dosimetry to the need to return everything to Landauer as soon
University of Missouri System. as possible as our contract with them ended on
December 31st.
What this means for you is that Radiation
Workers will receive new looking whole body IMPORTATNT NOTE: The fees charged for lost
as well as ring dosimeters (commonly referred dosimetry will increase with Mirion. Lost badge
to as badges) from Mirion. The new dosimetry fees will be charged at $12.00 and any late
badges from Mirion have already been delivered dosimeters will also be charged, but at the same
to EHS and have been sent out to campus and rate as before, $4.00. Thanks in advance for
the hospitals. However, below is a checklist to your cooperation as we make the transition to
make the remainder of this a transition smooth for Mirion.
everyone: Jack Crawford
Radiation Safety Officer
• When the new Mirion dosimeters are received
please check that your staff has the correct type

EHS appreciates campus support of environmental and safety issues.

If you have any special needs regarding the format of this publication,
or have any comments regarding newsletters, training programs or
services, please direct your communications to Rebecca Bergfield, Edi-
tor at the above address.