Medical Labs, Hospitals & Research | OSHA CPL 2-2.69

Transport Standards for Air Tubes in Laboratories

Using Pneumatic Air Tubes in Laboratories:

Be Safe; Use the Standards

                Pneumatic air tube technology is wide used in a number of occupations and one of the largest is the medical field. Hospitals, pharmacies and medical supply companies; all of them use pneumatic air tubes to transport medications, biological samples and small medical supplies. These often need to be transferred within the same building and it often needs to be done quickly and air tubes far outstrip elevators or people carrying them on foot.

                There is another important factor to using air tubes to transport medical materials, safety; even more so then in banks or factories; where you can just stick an envelope or package of forms in a canister and send it on its way. Moving medications, blood samples or test tubes is a little more complex. There are a different set of standards. Different organizations offer tips and rules for using pneumatic transport and often individual hospitals and companies have their own internal rules and guidelines. K.L. Security and safeandvault.com want offer you some examples of those codes and guidelines that will allow you and your company to use pneumatic air tube technology to the full advantage.

OSHA CPL 2-2.69  - What it means and how it works

                The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have some guidelines concerning the use of pneumatic air tubes with medical items. The primary concern is the leakage from a sealed specimen into the carrier transporting it and potentially into the tube system itself. You can see how this would be worrisome because of the dangerous or infectious nature of many medical samples. OSHA states that many systems have eliminated this threat by placing padded inserts inside the carriers to prevent test tubes, bottles or specimen containers from being knocked around while in motion. Any employee who might potentially open one of those containers must also be trained to regard the contents as biohazardous in nature. They must wear protective gloves to prevent any contamination or infection from leaking contents. They must also be trained to decontaminate the carrier and the air tube itself if necessary. The containers must be properly labeled to ensure safe handling and there must be a compliance officer who has looked over the system and given the employees a train session on how to safely use the pneumatic air tube system. These guidelines come from OSHA CPL 2-2.69 – Enforcement Procedures for the Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens. More information about rules can be found on Swisslog’s (makers of pneumatic tube systems) website.

                In the United Kingdom, there has been a great set of standards for the medical usage of air tube systems written by the Department of Health and the Health & Safety Executive. One of their guidelines to take stock of what will be transported in the carrier to be aware of the different risks from different types of specimens; such as blood, biopsies or other forms of biological samples. Then they examine the form of secondary containment that the specimen is packaged in while in the carrier. Is it made of glass, plastic or a transport bag? The manual has a section on “specimen packing” where they advise the use of absorbent padding and wadding paper. Carrier design is important too, there is more than one type of them. The HSE suggest carriers with a snap-top rather than those with screw-on tops or straps. More details can be found here, it’s a document worth reading.

                Individual hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies also often have their own in-house rules and regulations concerning the use of pneumatic air tubes. The guidebook from Massachusetts General Hospital is a great example. It is divided into ten sections with addendums and they cover virtually each issue concerning the medical use of air tubes. They pay a lot of attention to the do’s and don’ts of what items can and cannot be transported in the tube system. They also cover sending and receiving, carriers and packaging, special procedures, cleaning tubes and carriers and training personal in the proper use of the system. Use this as a guide to what clients or customers would be looking for and as a jumping-off point for devising your own system. More information can be found here.

                Don’t be intimidated; there are more rules and regulations when using pneumatic air tubes in a medical setting but when it comes to safety, there is no such thing as too much. K.L. Security and www.safeandvault.com are here to not only to show you great air tube systems but to make you know why you may need them.