Several patients' attendants have complained that most of the employees deployed at laboratories of Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH) are unaware of international standard set to protect others from receiving virus.
They claimed that due to the ignorance of such untrained staff regarding adoption of safety measures threats of getting virus are increasing and many attendants feel insecure as no one in the hospital was taking care of this aspect. According to them, many laboratory technicians conduct sensitive tests without adopting set procedure due to which many attendants who daily visit hospital are at high risk.
They said lab staff even avoid to use gloves during procedures and their was no culture of wearing identification badge with the name and photograph, which assists everyone to quickly identify authorised personnel.
"It is responsibility of hospital's management to protect patients, visitors and staff from hazardous or potentially hazardous chemical spills," they said. Shabih Abbas, who visited the hospital for check up of his father complained "It is really astonishing that when I visited laboratory for getting date of test, I have to wait alongwith those patients who were carrying severe communicable diseases."
He added "I remained there for a long time but lab staff didn't advise me to sit in safe place." He suggested that the lab staff must allocate separate place for such patients to protect the health of others as using such places for sitting may cause health complications in healthy persons.
He said such practice is being exercised in all standard hospitals both inside and outside the country. Another patient's attendant, Abdul Rauf apprised that hospital management didn't place even a single information material in the lab to educate visitors adopting precautionary measures.
He stressed that hospital management must ensure that staffs deployed at labs are well aware of hazards in the workplace and they should not allow unauthorised personnel access to the laboratory. He added laboratories should be locked when unattended for safety of others. Visitors at hospital suggested that all biological waste should be collected, separated, packaged, labelled, recorded and disposed of in strict way while appropriate action should be taken on discovery of unsafe equipment, working conditions or practices in the labs.
He said where large numbers of specimens are received, a separate designated area must be provided for their receipt and appropriate gloves must be worn when handling all specimens. Gloves should be discarded before answering phone or opening doors, he added. Dr Faisal Karim, an expert in lab management said that laboratory safety measures address several health problems and suggested country's hospitals to adopt universal safety measures for achieving a safe and healthy working environment.
He said good laboratory practices must be understood and observed by all individuals involved in the laboratory. He described control measures essential for protecting all laboratory occupants from potential biological, chemical and physical hazards. He said hospitals' management must conduct regular workplace inspections and promote educational programmes to increase health and safety awareness for concerned staff.