UNREPORTED LAB ACCIDENTS MAKES FOR FALSE CLAIMS OF SAFETY IN LABS

Experts say US needs better tracking of lab accidents

 

Robert Roos News Editor

 

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/bioprep/news/jan0512labsafe.html
 

Jan 5, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – In releasing safety guidelines today for workers in medical diagnostic laboratories, a panel of experts convened by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the nation needs a system for "nonpunitive" surveillance and reporting of laboratory-acquired infections (LAIs).

 

Except for requirements in the CDC's Select Agent Program, which covers certain dangerous biological agents and toxins, such as Bacillus anthracis, there is no national system for reporting medical laboratory exposures and resulting infections, says the lengthy report.

 

"Because of the lack of an official surveillance mechanism for reporting LAIs and because of the fear of punitive action by an oversight agency if injuries are reported, the data needed to determine the extent and cause of LAIs are unavailable," the report states. "In addition, there is a dearth of science-based insights on prevention of LAIs."

 

 The panel calls for a "voluntary, nonpunitive surveillance and reporting system with the potential for anonymity to be implemented in the United States."

 

The comments are part of Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Diagnostic Laboratories, which was released by the CDC as a supplement to Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It was prepared by a "Biosafety Blue Ribbon Panel" of experts from the CDC and a number of university and private labs.

 

 The report is intended to supplement the fifth edition of Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, which was not specifically designed to address the routine operations of diagnostic labs in human and veterinary medicine.

 

The new guidelines are not designed to replace existing guidance, but have the general aims of improving safety in clinical labs, encouraging lab workers to think about safety issues they might not have considered, and encouraging them "to create and foster a culture of safety." The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that workers in human and animal diagnostic labs number about 500,000, the report says.

 

 Given the shortage of solid data, the number of LAIs is unknown, but "Laboratory exposures occur more often than is generally suspected," the report says. It notes that hepatitis B has been the most frequent lab-acquired viral infection, with a rate of 3.5 to 4.6 cases per 1,000 workers, which is two to four times the rate in the general population.

 

 The five most common ways that lab workers acquire infections on the job, according to the guidelines, are:

• Parenteral inoculations with syringe needles or other contaminated sharps
• Pills and splashes onto skin and mucous membranes
• Ingestion or exposure through mouth pipetting or touching mouth or eyes with fingers or contaminated objects
• Animal bites and scratches (research laboratories or activities)
• Inhalation of infectious aerosols

But the first four of those routes account for less than 20% of infections, the experts found. Studies over the years have shown that in many cases no specific exposure events were identified, which suggests that unsuspected infectious aerosols may play a large role in LAIs.

 

The guidelines address all functions of human and animal diagnostic labs, including microbiology, chemistry, hematology, and pathology. They include a specific section addressing veterinary lab issues not shared by human labs.

 

Recommendations intended for all laboratories include "use of Class IIA2 biological safety cabinets that are inspected annually; frequent hand washing; use of appropriate disinfectants, including 1:10 dilutions of household bleach"; risk assessments for many activities; written safety protocols that address chemical-related risks; the need for negative airflow into labs; and lab areas in which use of gloves is optional or recommended.

 

Each section of recommendations was reviewed by CDC experts and relevant national organizations, such as the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Microbiology, American Clinical Laboratory Association, Association of Public Health Laboratories, and several others, the report says.

 

CDC. Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Diagnostic Laboratories: recommendations of a CDC-convened, Biosafety Blue Ribbon Panel. MMWR 2012 Jan 6;61(01):1-101 (supplement)

 

 

OSHA Continues to Fail Whistleblowers Report Says

Report blasts OSHA efforts to protect whistleblowers

By Lisa Rein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 22, 2010; A21

The federal agency responsible for worker safety and other protections for tens of millions of Americans has failed for decades to establish a system to shield whistleblowers from retaliation from their employers, according to government auditors.


The Government Accountability Office's report criticizes the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for "ineffective" whistleblower protections that have persisted 20 years after auditors first reported weaknesses.

The stakes have only grown for workers and the public over the last decade, as OSHA - created to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for employees - has expanded its mission. The agency is now charged with enforcing 18 whistleblower laws, covering private employers in the areas of nuclear power, transportation, securities, consumer product safety and the environment.

"For over 20 years, we have repeatedly found that [the agency] lacks sufficient internal controls to ensure that standards for investigating whistleblower complaints are consistently followed," the 46-page GAO report, released last week, concludes.

Auditors described "significant internal control problems" in the whistleblower protection program, adding, "The problems appear systemic, and sustained management attention is needed to address them."

Workers who report on waste, fraud or other prohibited or unlawful practices in the workplace can play a crucial role in making sure federal laws are enforced. But whistleblowers risk reprisals from their employers, including demotion, reassignment and firing, auditors said. Federal laws establish a process for workers who believe they have faced retaliation to report their concerns to investigators.

As President Obama took office in January 2009, auditors conducting one in a long line of reviews of the whistleblower program reported that OSHA investigative teams were short-staffed and lacked adequate training and resources to do their jobs. The investigators also had insufficient oversight by superiors to ensure that complaints were properly investigated. The GAO recommended changes to address the problems.

When auditors returned a year later, most of the problems remained. While some regional offices took whistleblower complaints more seriously than others, many investigators still lacked formal training. The agency's national headquarters lacked accurate files and data to ensure that a case brought to regional office was investigated.

The program is also not routinely audited, and audits that were performed "lacked independence," auditors found.

OSHA has hired 25 new investigators this year, but the process of assigning them to regional offices was "not transparent" - some areas of the country are underrepresented, with a high number of complaints awaiting investigation.Money for the whistleblower program is often not tracked separately from OSHA's general budget, auditors found.

Asked Tuesday why the problems have lingered for two decades, OSHA spokesman Jason Surbey cited a "lack of resources" and said the agency is conducting a "top to bottom" review of the whistleblower program - even though numerous reviews have been done over the years.

"The agency is working hard to ensure that whistleblowers are protected from retaliation," Surbey said in a statement. "The objective is to identify any weaknesses and inefficiencies in the program and improve the ways it conducts this very important activity."

OSHA's director, David Michaels, has been on the job just nine months.

The GAO report comes as efforts heat up in Congress to strengthen whistleblower protections across government. The House has twice passed legislation that would give federal employees the right to sue agencies that retaliate against them for exposing improper actions or policies. Opposition in the Senate to applying such a provision to national security workers is under negotiation.

The new financial regulatory law contains a provision offering cash rewards to individuals who report violations of securities law, while the new health-care law offers protections to caregivers or medical staff who challenge breakdowns in patient safety or denials of coverage by insurance companies.

The Center for Public Integrity reported in July that since 2002, when Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law, the Labor Department tossed out 1,066 whistleblower claims of corporate fraud and upheld 25 claims. Michaels said then that he had ordered a review of the agency's handling of those cases and other whistleblower statutes.

"OSHA failed to deliver on nearly all the commitments made by the Obama administration for so many corporate whistleblowers," said Tom Devine, a whistleblower advocate and legal director of the Government Accountability Project. "We hope the [report] will be a healthy wind at the back of those toiling inside the agency."

Becky McClain Speaks on Biotechnology and Public Health and Safety

On July 17, 2010 in San Francisco, Pfizer injured biotech molecular biologist Becky McClain discussed her firing for making OSHA complaints and also the potential and real dangers of unregulated development of products in the biotech and nanotech industry without proper oversight. The first US conference on biotechnology and health and safety was sponsored by the California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day www.workersmemorialday.org Additional presentations at the conference are Biotech, CA Osha & Health And Safety Presentation With Dr. Larry Rose http://blip.tv/file/3916683 The Toxic Environment, Public Health, ACOEM And Pfizer:Presentation By Dr. Jack Thrasher http://blip.tv/file/3921769 Conflict of Interest By Judge Says Sandi Trend, Mother of Injured Agraquest Biotech Worker Bell http://blip.tv/file/3924484 Dina Padilla Speaks At Biotech & Health And Safety Conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_-_XEnaiNg It was also endorsed by Council For Responsible Genetics www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org For additional information go to http://www.cpab.info/

http://www.blip.tv/file/3960030

OSHA GONE BAD--Workers Suffer

Workers At Risk: Regulatory Disfunction At OSHA
http://www.progressivereform.org/articles/OSHA_1003.pdf


Please click the link above for an EXCELLENT white paper on an analysis of disfunction at OSHA by CPR Member Scholars Thomas McGarity, Rena Steinzor, and Sidney Shapiro, and CPR Policy Analyst Matthew Shudtz

No Consequences to Breaking Safety Rules Results in Workers' Deaths

Sixteen workers are killed a day in the United States because of reckless negligence on the part of their employers. Under existing laws, these employers get a slap on the wrist, or walk away scot-free. Meanwhile, workers who blow the whistle face threats and retaliation at the workplace.
Click here for a link to a video called 16 Deaths Per Day.

Public Trust in Public Health and Safety

Here is a link to a "must read", tongue in cheek article regarding public rights to public health and safety,.... or rather the lack of it. It is worth a read since it holds many truths about how our legal and regulatory systems are designed to enhanced unfettered corporate interests, crippling the public's trust and rights to public health and safety. Written by Carolyn Raffensperger...it is a winner.

http://www.sehn.org/pdf/sep-oct2007.pdf

OSHA INADEQUATE IN PROTECTING WORKER SAFETY

In a disturbing article published in the LA TIMES regarding amputations and deaths due to workplace injuries, it is apparent that OSHA remains inadequate to protect worker’s rights and safety.

Excerpts from the article state that “…employers learn they can 'game the system.' " …” the OSHA process is stacked against regulators and employees.”

What happens is that companies appeal any violation that have been cited against them and the appeals board often dismisses or reduced fines. Coerced settlements are used also.

"The (appeal) board's actions have done more than save companies money. They have undermined Cal-OSHA's efforts to prevent future accidents, according to labor advocates, inspectors and state documents. "

OSHA's inability to enforce violations and to correct unsafe work conditions, unfortunately, has led to documented repeated injuries, deaths and amputations at companies that had been previously cited for workplace safety violations, but later dismissed by the board of appeals.

California OSHA’s appeal board had a backlog of 2500 cases indicating a serious problem with worker safety. There is pressure to dismiss these cases in order to get them off the docket.

For the complete story go to this link.

Other links:
http://watchdogonscience.blogspot.com/2009/04/osha-fails-to-protect-worker-safety.html
http://blip.tv/file/2061380

Federal Task Force on Biosafety Needs Broader Oversight For Public Health and Safety

A Report of the Trans-Federal Task Force on Optimizing Biosafety and Biocontainment Oversight was finalized on June 2009. This report outlines the need to optimize biosafety oversight in BL3-BL4 high and maximum containment facilities.

Unfortunately the report for oversight does not cover infectious agents used in BL2 laboratories which are more numerous in number, found in every major research institute and which also pose significant worker and public health and safety threats.

Some information in the report is a bit shocking. The government doesn’t even have a current registry of all BL3-BL4 labs where extremely hazardous and contagious biological agents are being used. In addition, the government does not have a centralized incident-reporting analysis for injuries or mishaps in biological laboratories.

Some of the information in the report is also a bit skewed in my opinion. For example, the report includes a table of injury statistics in R&D facilities from OSHA which I find to be unreliable data. The result of this OSHA study gives the impression that R&D facilities have a much lower average of injuries than general private industry. But “not all private R&D facilities were surveyed, and no Federal high or maximum containment research facilities were surveyed”

Also, through my own personal experience, I am more than skeptical regarding OSHA data. When I was employed as a biologist working in R&D in 2002, at least 5 people became ill (incapacitating, headaches, nausea or vomiting) from an exposure from a biological hood and NOT one of the illnesses was reported to OSHA. So much for trusting OSHA data and the dangers at R&D facilities.

Although the report does a good job summarizing the current agencies and regulations which impact biological laboratories, it is a bit slanted in not reporting the weakness of the laws and oversight. For example, the report gives a good summary of the OSHA laws but never mentions that the statute of limitations are so restrictive that the OSHA law is impractical for scientists to report safety problems or illness in biological laboratories.

Similarly they mention that the State of Connecticut instituted a law regarding agents capable of infecting humans. But what they do not mention is that this law does not cover genetically engineered agents or recombinant DN A infectious agents.

The other major weakness in the report is that it does not address our poor whistleblower laws which currently are so weak they provide no protections for scientists and protections for public health and safety. In addition, important human rights issues such as the lack of worker’s right to obtain appropriate exposure records necessary for medical care after incurring a biological exposure was purposely left out of the report.

Despite the fact of its deficiencies, the report is a step in the right direction in an attempt to clarify some objectives needed for better governmental oversight on the most dangerous biological research laboratories in the United States. In short, the report identifies eight new objectives to increase biological safety in these labs. They are listed below:

Summary of Objectives

1. Enhance the overarching framework for biosafety and biocontainment oversight of high and maximum containment research through improved coordination of oversight activities.

2. Encourage a robust culture of accountability characterized by individual and institutional compliance with biosafety and biocontainment regulations, guidelines, standards, and policies.

3. Develop a national strategy to enable and ensure the appropriate training and technical competence of all individuals who work in, oversee, support, or manage high or maximum containment research laboratories.

4. Obtain and analyze information about laboratory incidents to enable trend analysis, minimize the number of future incidents, and share lessons learned, with the overall goals of optimizing laboratory safety and oversight.

5. Ensure that biosafety and biocontainment regulations and guidelines cover current and emerging hazardous biological agents, and develop an agricultural equivalent of the BMBL.

6. Ensure that the infrastructure and equipment necessary for biosafety and biocontainment at high and maximum containment research facilities are in place and properly maintained.

7. Develop and support a national research agenda for applied biosafety and biocontainment to improve the management of biohazard risks.

8. Improve and share strategies to ensure effective public communication, outreach, and transparency about biosafety and biocontainment issues.

Corrupt Doctors: The Untold MOLD Story

Sharon Kramer, an expert on mold and ACOEM spoke at a press conference called by the California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day for injured workers at the Downey toxic dump site. She spoke on the conflict of interest between the trade group ACOEM and the need to defend people who are sickened by mold. She also reported on her efforts to get a Congressional investigation on this conflict of interest by ACOEM and the role of Senator Edward Kennedy on deleting this aspect in this important expose in a Congressional study. www.workersmemorialday.org
source: http://www.blip.tv/file/2520407

Dr. David Michaels Nominated as Fed-OSHA Head by Obama

Oh, the business lobbiest are in a boil over David Michaels nomation to head OSHA ... They just cannot tolerate anyone who has a record in taking a stand for public health and safety.

Professor nominated to position overseeing FedOSHA
By Alexandra Berzon (contact), Lisa Mascaro (contact)
Published Tuesday, July 28, 2009 2:06 p.m.
George Washington University professor David Michaels will be nominated as the assistant secretary of labor to run the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the White House said Tuesday.
Michaels, an epidemiologist, has been a notable advocate for workers to be compensated for health risks from chemicals and has also exposed attempts from businesses to block health regulations by making scientific research appear less certain than it is.
His nomination comes as the business lobby has made it clear it has no intention of allowing the Democrats’ labor agenda to advance without a fight.
Alongside its steady assault over the union-backed card check bill, the business community has turned its attention to one of the Obama administration’s labor-friendly nominees to the National Labor Relations Board.
This week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked the Senate for a full hearing to vet Craig Becker, one of the president’s three nominees for the board that administers national labor law.
The chamber has been waging a multi-million-dollar campaign against the Employee Free Choice Act, the pro-union legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize. Unions have been waging an equally strong campaign in support of the bill.
For complete story go to this link.

Bill H.R. 2067---A BOOST TO OSHA LAW--WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS

A new bill, H.R. 2067, was recently introduced into the House which will amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This bill authorizes the Secretary of Labor to prevent employee exposure to imminent dangers, to increase whistleblower protections, to increase penalties for certain violators and for other purposes. Go to this link: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2067/show to read the full bill text.

Changes in OSHA law are way over due. The current OSHA law is outdated and does not provide safeguards to adequately protect workers or the public’s health and safety, especially with the development of new dangerous technologies in biotechnology and nanotechnology.

This new bill, if passed, unfortunately, will not fix OSHA’s overall problems. Serious issues regarding worker’s rights to safety forums and to exposure records for their health care will remain serious deficiencies.

Nevertheless, this new bill should provide OSHA with extra strongholds that could possibly make OSHA more effective. For example, the addition of whistleblower protections, if effective, will go a long way in protecting public health and safety.

“Will Bill H.R. 2067 pass?” is the big question. With industry’s lobbyists buzzing around DC, busy placing roadblocks to any worker’s rights, it may be squashed in no time.

OSHA FAILS TO PROTECT WORKER SAFETY

OSHA's Failure to Enforce the Job Safety Law Against Employers Who Put Workers in Serious Danger

(by John Sweeney, April 1, 2009)

The safety and health of America’s working men and women should be a top priority of any administration. But, a new report from the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released today reveals that the Bush Administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration systematically failed to enforce the law against employers who put workers in serious danger. The OIG investigation of OSHA practices under its Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) – a program calling for stepped up enforcement against serious violators – found that in 97% of studied enforcement cases, OSHA’s follow-up was deficient or lacking. This failure may well have cost workers their lives. The OIG found that at worksites of 45 employers where OSHA oversight was deficient, 58 workers subsequently were killed by job hazards. The Enhanced Enforcement Program was designed to target employers who were indifferent to their workers’ safety, but OSHA’s leadership under President Bush was apparently indifferent to making the program work. There is simply no excuse for OSHA’s failure to properly designate and inspect dangerous worksites, conduct follow-up inspections and enforce enhanced settlement provisions. This report is an indictment of the Bush Administration’s unwillingness to protect and safeguard America’s working men and women. It also demonstrates that many employers, including some of the country’s biggest companies, are failing to meet their responsibility to protect workers. Fortunately, America has a new Secretary of Labor who is committed to putting the needs of working families at the forefront of her agenda. With workplace fatalities averaging over 5,680 annually, the new administration must not hesitate to robustly execute and enforce the law. This report underscores the need for strong leadership and a renewed commitment to protecting workers’ safety and health at OSHA. The Department of Labor’s report can be found at: http://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2009/02-09-203-10-105.pdf.

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, April 1, 2009

Contact Zack Pesavento 202-637-5018

http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr04012009b.cfm

SAFETY OR MONEY WHILE ON THE JOB? Do you have a choice?

In a statement in an article entitled, US Oil Workers Reach Wage Terms; Criticise Industry’s Overall Safety , the United Oil Workers said,

“Rather than launch a national strike over health and safety that would have hurt the American people at a time of economic crisis, the USW withdrew its health and safety proposal and focused on the economic package.”

Do you think that the United Steelworkers (USW) were ethically correct to focus their negotiations on their economic package while disregarding serious health and safety problems in the workplace?

Do you think in our dire times of economic woe that more and more employers will subject their workers to unsafe work conditions because they can?

STUDY SHOWS DANGEROUS BACTERIAL TOXIN TRANSFER HAS IMPLICATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY AND GE RESEARCH

How can unregulated genetically engineering research lead to dangerous public health repercussions?

A recent study found that common viral parasites can act as secret conduits to transfer toxic and disease-causing genes from one bacteria species to an unrelated bacteria species. One serious public health concern from this discovery is the possibility that new emerging disease could develop through this viral method of DNA exchange between bacterial species. It also raises a red flag regarding public health and safety in genetic engineering (GE) research where all kinds of toxic and disease genes are cloned into bacteria used in plant and animal research. These GE genes could then possibly be transferred to other bacteria via a natural virus causing new emerging disease to humans and animals.

In the study noted above, scientists found that Staph aureus, a bacteria which is often associated with community and hospital acquired methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA) transferred its toxic shock genes to an unrelated bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes via a common virus called a bacteriophage. Listeria, itself, can cause a potentially deadly form of food poisoning while Staph can cause life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome and septicemia. The relatively high DNA transfer efficiency from Staph to Listeria suggests that other cases may very well exist in nature. This can have a major impact on human pathogenicity and new emerging disease. It also carries implications to tighten safety regulations upon the genetic engineering industry.

As mysterious chronic illness rises in our population, scientists and private industry remain to be unregulated in performing dangerous genetically engineered research. This unregulated research carries serious public health consequences and can create new emerging disease. The public should become better informed about this dangerous research, the unsafe work practices, and the lack of rights to scientists to file safety complaints.

MAN BECOMES INFECTED WHILE WORKING AT BIOTECH, AGRAQUEST.

See the horrific story of David Bell and the illness he acquired after biological exposures at work at a biotech company.

This story documents unsafe biological practices at a company called Agraquest which develops microoganisms as pesticides. It is a story of the continued cover-up by the biotech industry and the inadequacy of our legal system to handle public health and safety issues from companies working with biological agents. It tells another continued failure of our workers compensation system and the inability of workers to obtain healthcare from exposures at work. It is a story of the unethical biotech industry and how monetary profits supersede human rights and workers rights.

Biotech Lab workers are becoming ill. They are being abused, terminated and abandoned. The public heath and safety dangers from the biotech industry are being silenced by our legal, media and corporate system. Conflicts of interest, greed and power have created a dangerous working environment within the biomedical and biotech communities. It is a public health threat with no remedy in sight.

ABANDONMENT OF AMERICAN WORKERS

Homicide in the Workplace...

Corporations Marginalize Injured Workers...

OSHA is Defunct...Politicians and Government Agencies Don't Care.

Ralph Nadar Speaks Out....see short video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcQQ12pwTf4

See another video acknowledging under reporting of work related injuries:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmkaJTiqUq8

Failure of System to Give Appropriate Rights to Injured Workers

See video on workers speaking out against such travesties regarding injured workers being denied medical care and rights.

Below is another link to a site about worker's activism against abuses. It has more videos.
http://www.workersmemorialday.org/events.htm

Public Health Threat: Biotech Workers Rights equals NONE.

Biotech Workers Rights Equals NONE.
Dangerous Technologies being developed without oversight or regulations.

Watch this video and hear about David Bell an biotech worker who becomes ill. This is another continuing story of how biotech workers have no rights to safety or healthcare following exposures to dangerous biotech agents. It is about public heath and safety issues posed by dangerus biotech technologies and how OSHA is useless in protecting the public and workers.

Biotech, academic and pharmaceutical industries promote miracle cures for all of us, but to not advocate health and safety for their workers or provide adequate protections for public health and safety while developing these technologies.

Dangers in Research Animal Facility

Monkey Bites Pitt Lab Technician
An 18-pound macaque monkey bit and then mauled the hand of a University of Pittsburgh laboratory technician last week, prompting accusations from the victim and her co-worker that the facility lacks sufficient safety measures.Patricia "Trish" Boyle, 51, of Avalon, was released from UPMC Presbyterian yesterday -- eight days after the Sept. 24 attack. She received numerous stitches and suffered bone, tendon and nerve damage, the latter of which, she said, could be irreparable. For more...go to link (Monkeys in the News)

DANGER IN DNA LABORATORIES: REPORTING VIOLATIONS

BIOSAFETY DANGERS IN THE RECOMBINANT DNA LABORATORY

What do I do? Where do I go for help?

PROTECT YOURSELF:

Before you go to anyone, the first and foremost issue to remember is to PROTECT YOURSELF by wearing protective gear (gloves, safety glasses & labcoat) while in the laboratory at all times. This unfortunately will not protect you fully in certain instances. For example, if your co-workers use techniques that create aerosolized particles, you will need a respirator. Protection can be impossible also if you are designated to have your office directly in the laboratory where you are not afforded personal protection. If this is the case, ask (nicely demand?) your supervisor for an office outside the lab.

UNSAFE BIOLOGICAL LAB PRACTICES ARE DANGEROUS

Do not take your observations of unsafe biosafety practices or unauthorized use of biological agents lightly. Recombinant BL2 (biosafety level 2) DNA labs at your local university or pharmaceutical company are now quite dangerous. Many scientists working in molecular biology BL2 labs do not even realize the dangerous work that is occurring around them. It is now common practice for BL2 research laboratories to generate genetically engineered viruses in order to make specific disease-state cellular or animal models. These viruses can be engineered to contain VSV-G coats enabling the virus to become broadly infectious to human’s eyes, mouth, and through inhalation. Not only can they infect humans this way, but also, other mammals and insects.

Despite your best efforts to protect yourself, you may still be at a high risk for exposure. If your co-workers are not trained (which many are not), not technically skilled or a just plain careless regarding safety protocol, you could be in danger. Also someone might actually bring in an infectious agent into your workspace without notifying you. It can happen. Always protect yourself as best as you can.

GO TO YOUR SUPERVISOR

If you have seen one unsafe lab practice, know many more violations have been performed that you have not seen. It is very dangerous. You must bring these issues forward to your supervisor. If your supervisor does not address and correct the issue(s) immediately (and it should be immediately…not a couple of weeks later), then you have a problem. Make sure that you now start documenting everything from this point forward.

QUIT YOUR JOB OR SECURE AN ATTORNEY

My advice to you at this time would be to quit your job. Getting sick from a biological agent or some “unknown” agent in the lab can cause permanent health problems. You also will have no rights to exposure records to obtain medical care. The research industry will not admit to any wrong doing. You will be abandoned, sick and may even be unable to work. It is not worth it. If your supervisor does not take your biosafety concerns seriously and with immediate action, leave your job if you are able.

If you have a wife, husband or kids to feed and cannot afford to quit your job, then you REALLY have a problem. You are in a sticky situation. The reason being is that there is no effective federal whistleblower’s protection to protect you from retaliation and black-listing. Going “above your boss” regarding addressing biosafety issues, places you in vulnerable situation no matter what. I guarantee, your boss will not be pleased and in fact will be very angry. I do not want to frighten you into doing nothing, to stay in a job and become sick; but before you start shooting fireworks about unaddressed safety issues or public health and safety issues you should be aware of how the system works .

Unfortunately at this point, after your supervisor does not address your safety concerns and you cannot afford to quit your job, it is time to seek council with an attorney to best protect yourself. Unfortunately, hiring an attorney will cost you money (between $300-$1000). But it is a necessary step in order to protect yourself.

OSHA

Do not go to OSHA without consulting an attorney. There are four very real and negative issues regarding OSHA. 1) OSHA’s personnel are not sophisticated enough nor trained to understand recombinant DNA technologies. 2) OSHA provides little to no effective legal protection for today’s biotech worker, since it was originally legislated in 1975 and intended for chemical exposures. 3) OSHA has a history of negligence in duty 4) Going to OSHA can actually harm you further even when you bring forward legitimate biosafety and public health concerns to them.

Despite the fact that OSHA tells you that you do not need an attorney to file a complaint, it is unwise not to have one. Let your attorney advice you on how you should proceed at each step with them.

NIH

Bringing your safety complaints to NIH might be an avenue for those working in academia since academic laboratories are mandated to follow NIH guidelines. But always consult an attorney first. Again, you may very well get black-listed or retaliated against, if your workplace finds that you have contacted NIH. An NIH official might very well be friends with your boss. As you know, it is a small -closely networked world in the scientific community. Have an attorney to council you.

Private industry is not under any jurisdiction to follow NIH guidelines. So, if you work for a biotech company or pharmaceutical company, NIH cannot and will not help you. Seek legal advice immediately.

STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Your state public health department may have some jurisdiction to help you. But again, be careful. Many of the state public health departments give favorable bias toward industries and research facilities that provide jobs in the state. The economy is in a tight position. And the entities that have the money, also have the power and unfortunately, “have the say” even in instances concerning public health and safety. Always seek legal advice before contacting a state agency regarding safety complaints.

FBI

If you suspect bioterrorism or unauthorized use in a recombinant BL2 lab, contact your attorney first. Then, contact the FBI.

Always have an attorney to help guide you. This is a very serious issue. It involves your health and your livelihood. If your place of employment is not taking your biosafety concerns seriously, you basically have three choices: quit your job, seek an attorney’s help or risk a serious illness with very little probability of obtaining adequate medical care. None are great choices. But you have no option but to play the cards you’re dealt. And then hang on.

If you have any further issues or questions or concerns, you may contact me at watchdogonscience@comcast.net

Keep safe.