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Protection, exposures, spills and fire

15 min

  • Choose PPE and handling controls for a task's splash, sharps, or aerosol risk
  • Choose the immediate response to a blood or body-fluid exposure
  • Use the SDS and hazard label to choose chemical handling and spill precautions
  • Choose the required response to a fire or equipment emergency

Read the full reference

Try first

Try first

You will uncap a rack of blood tubes at the open bench, and caps can spray a fine mist as they come off. None of the tubes carries an infection label. What protection do you use?

The next section explains it.

Right. The next section explains why.

The next section explains it.

The next section explains it.

Get the idea

Laboratory safety decisions are made quickly and usually by the person at the bench. Each one starts with how the hazard could reach you or someone nearby.

Protection

Under universal precautions, all blood and other potentially infectious material is handled as infectious, because a label or history cannot show which specimen carries a bloodborne pathogen.1 Protection is chosen for the task's route:

When the taskProtection
Could send splashes, spray or droplets to the eyes, nose or mouthA mask with goggles or a face shield, and work done in a way that keeps splashing and droplets to a minimum1
Uses sharpsSafety devices and puncture-resistant containers2
Makes infectious aerosols, such as vortexing or opening culturesA certified biological safety cabinet, with sealed centrifuge cups opened inside containment2

After an exposure

After a needlestick or a splash of blood onto skin or a mucous membrane:1

  1. First aid at once. Wash skin with soap and water, or flush the eye, nose or mouth with water.
  2. Report immediately through the facility's urgent pathway.

The report cannot wait, because the employer must then offer a confidential medical evaluation, and source testing and any prophylaxis decision depend on time.1 Waiting until the end of the shift loses that time.

Chemicals and spills

The hazard label and the safety data sheet (SDS) say what a chemical does and how to handle, store and clean it up. SDSs must be available to workers on every shift.3

  • A small spill of a known chemical, within the worker's training, is cleaned up with the specified PPE and the spill kit.4,7
  • A spill of unknown identity, a large one, one giving off toxic vapor or one reacting violently is isolated. The emergency plan and its trained responders take over.4,7

Fire on equipment

A fire on energized electrical equipment is a Class C fire. It needs an electrically nonconductive agent, such as carbon dioxide or a dry chemical rated for Class C.5 Water conducts current and can shock the user.

A portable extinguisher is used only when all of these hold:5,6

  • the user is trained
  • the fire is in its earliest stage
  • there is a clear exit behind the user

When any of those is missing, raise the alarm and follow the evacuation plan.5,6

References
  1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.1030: Bloodborne pathogens. Accessed September 23, 2026.
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. 6th ed. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2020. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/labs/bmbl/index.html
  3. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.1200: Hazard Communication. Accessed September 23, 2026.
  4. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.1450: Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories. Accessed September 23, 2026.
  5. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 29 CFR §1910.155: Scope, application and definitions applicable to this subpart. Accessed September 23, 2026.
  6. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.157: Portable fire extinguishers. Accessed September 23, 2026.
  7. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 29 CFR §1910.120: Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. Accessed September 23, 2026.

Watch one

A centrifuge spinning capped blood tubes stops, and through the lid you see that one tube has broken inside its sealed safety cup. How do you handle it?

  1. Leave the lid closed and let aerosols settle for the time your procedure sets.

    Opening at once can release aerosol from the broken tube into the room.

  2. Put on gloves, a fluid-resistant coat and eye and face protection.

    The broken tube is a splash, sharps and aerosol risk together.

  3. Carry the sealed cup to a biological safety cabinet and open it there.

    The sealed cup still holds the aerosol, and only containment keeps it from the room when the cup is opened.

  4. Pick up the glass with forceps or tongs and drop it into a sharps container.

    Broken glass cuts through gloves.

  5. Disinfect the cup and the cabinet surface with an EPA-registered disinfectant as labeled, then report the incident.

    A disinfectant works only at its labeled strength and wet contact time.

Wait for aerosols to settle, protect face, hands and clothing, open the sealed cup only inside a biological safety cabinet, remove the glass with tools, disinfect as labeled and report it.

Your turn

Problem 1 of 3

Blood splashes into an employee's eye. What comes first?

Correct. Immediate flushing removes blood from the mucous membrane. Prompt reporting through the urgent pathway and confidential medical evaluation follow.

Incorrect. The record matters, and it comes after first aid. Every minute spent on paperwork leaves blood on the eye.

Incorrect. Reporting is urgent, but flushing takes minutes and removes blood from the eye. The exposure procedure puts first aid ahead of reporting.

Hint
  1. Every minute of delay leaves blood on a mucous membrane.
  2. First aid and the report both happen right away, in a fixed order.

Review Blood and body-fluid exposure

Problem 2 of 3

A bottle breaks on the floor. Its label is unreadable, and the liquid gives off an irritating vapor. What is the first response?

Incorrect. Without the chemical's identity, the worker cannot choose protective equipment or absorbent from the safety data sheet, and the vapor is already an exposure.

Incorrect. A neutralizer suits a known acid. An unknown chemical may react with it and release more vapor or heat.

Correct. Unknown identity and a hazardous vapor each call for the designated emergency response. Isolate the area and call the trained responders.

Hint
  1. Without the chemical's name, the SDS cannot tell you what PPE or absorbent to use.
  2. The vapor is already reaching people in the room.
  3. Ask whether this spill is within what a bench worker is trained to clean.

Review Spill and splash response

Problem 3 of 3

Smoke and a small flame come from the power supply at the back of a running analyzer. The nearest extinguisher is a water extinguisher. You are trained in extinguisher use. What do you do?

Alarm first, then a nonconductive agent on a fire still in its earliest stage. If the fire grows or no Class C extinguisher is at hand, evacuate.

A wet towel carries current just as a water stream does, and it puts your hands on energized equipment.

Water conducts current, so spraying energized equipment can shock you and spread the fire. This is a Class C fire.

Used water on an energized electrical fire

Water conducts current, so spraying it on energized equipment can shock the user and spread the fire. A Class C fire needs a nonconductive agent such as carbon dioxide or an approved dry chemical, and de-energizing the equipment turns it into a fire of the underlying class.

Review Fire, equipment, and physical hazards

Use it

  • Late in an evening shift, a phlebotomist hands you a used needle on a holder with its safety feature not engaged.
  • As you take it, the needle slips and punctures your glove and fingertip.
  • Two hours of work remain, and the bench is backed up.
  • The phlebotomist asks whether they should recap the next needle before passing it over.
Decision 1 of 2

What do you do about the puncture?

Evaluation, source testing and any prophylaxis decision depend on a prompt report. Two hours of waiting spends time they need.

Delayed exposure reporting until the end of the shift

Confidential medical evaluation, source testing, and any prophylaxis decision depend on a prompt report, made when the source information is still at hand. Waiting until the shift ends loses that time. Washing or flushing comes first, and the urgent report follows at once.

First aid comes first, and the urgent report follows straight away so the confidential medical evaluation can start.

The first aid for a needlestick is washing with soap and water, and the injury still has to be reported at once.

Review Blood and body-fluid exposure

Decision 2 of 2

How do you answer the phlebotomist about the next needle?

Two-handed recapping moves a hand toward the needle point, which is how many needlesticks happen.

A warning does not change the route. A used needle passed by hand can still stick either person.

The engineering control and a nearby container remove the sharp from the work before anyone has to handle it.

Review Biological hazard controls

The injury came from a used needle passed by hand with its safety feature open.

  • For the injury already done, the clock matters. Washing followed by an immediate report is what keeps the evaluation on time.
  • For next time, the fix sits at the draw site. Engage the safety feature and discard there.

Keep

Sources checked