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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: Abbreviations Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2010 11:50:27 -0700 Author: Eric Clark

Next by Date: Subject: Re: Abbreviations Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2010 15:53:23 -0400 Author: Andrew Gross

Eric,
 
All of these are good points.  I quite agree that this is a very com plex area.  I didn't spend 13 years of my life editing a database th at tried to correlate all of them (the common ones; for better or for wor se) for no reason.  Labeling has the purpose of letting everyone kno w, whether lab personnel on a day-to-day basis or emergency responders, just what they are dealing with.  There's a way to handle an ything safely, but as we used to say in Spanish "cacahuete occurri o" or "bad things happen."  Murphy is alive and well.  If it can go wrong, it will, and at the least opportune moment.
 
Labels, placards, DOT numbers, STCC Codes, CAS numbers, RTECS Num bers, etc. all have their places.  I'd hope the bottom line  ;is that everyone who uses chemical substances or might have to re spond to a release incident all know, to the best of our abilities, wha t they're dealing with.  A little knowledge my be  ;a bad thing; but a lot of knowledge is better.
 
Just for "grins"; what is a "DI" wash?  A reference to a dead and by some lamented member of the British Royal Family, Distilled Water, D isinfectant International, Distinguished Informal , or what?  I' m sure you and your colleagues know perfectly well what is meant, but sup pose I (as an old volunteer firefighter) had to respond to a cxhemic al spill/release in your laboratory, would I know?  How would I kn ow? 
 
And was "HIV" a container of certain types of infectious agents, or somet hing else?  Firefighters (most of whom are paramedics and some of wh om I've trained myself) know about protecting themselves from blood-borne p athogens; if this was not the case, perhaps another label might  have been more appropriate?
 
What we all have to do in our own setting is to promote health and safety , as best we can.  We must also remember that depending on circums tances, others may be required to respond to our location(s) and we must strive to protect them as well.
 
Another medical/old firefighter/emergency response person's 2 cents.
 
Alan
ahalltoxic**At_Symbol_Here**msn.com
 

 
> Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2010 11:50:27 -0700
> Fro m: erclark**At_Symbol_Here**PH.LACOUNTY.GOV
> Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Abbreviations> To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
>
> Good point, Bradle y. The firemen who inspected the lab recently wanted an NFPA fire diamond w ith "0,0,0" on the 600-gallon DI water tank, I can understand that. O f course they don't care about the DI wash bottles on the bench (although t hey did notice the one that was labeled HIV - for the lab section).
> ; Our Chemical Hygiene Plan has a list of lab-specific acronyms and abbre viations right up front. But that still doesn't really solve that shorthand labeling problem we see from time to time. [But then everyone in the lab s eems to know what a container that's labeled "128" is, right? (it's vesph ene diluted down 1:128).] Thanks to this discussion string, I'll be creat ing reagent-specific label templates for things we make up all the time - l ike the profiled hazardous waste streams. It's a complex field folks. (Hope you don't mind that I used a few undefined acronyms.)
> http://ww w.acronymslist.com/
> Top Five:
> Chemistry Acronyms (143 83)
> NASA Acronyms (8940)
> Uncategorized Acronyms (5754)< BR>> Atmospheric Research Center Acronyms (4622)
> Text Langua ge Acronyms And Abbreviations (1855)
>
> Eric Clark, MS , CCHO, CHMM
> Safety & Compliance Officer
> Lo s Angeles County Public Health Lab
>
> >>> Bradley Harris <harris626**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM> 4/2/2010 8:15 AM >> ;>
> Using Abbreviations should be dependent on several item s, including hazard levels, and the amount of chemical. For example, a small container with non hazardous chemicals used in a small laboratory c ould have an abbreviation. If there is a gallon, or 55 gallons of the sam e chemical the container should have a full label.
>
> tea ching abbreviations in school seems to undermine the information given from the full chemical name.
>
> Brad
>
>
> On Apr 1, 2010, at 9:20 PM, Alan Hall wrote:
>
&g t; > Use simple chemical formulas: NaCN, KCN, Ca2Cn2, etc, I won't argue: use abbreviations that might kill somebody, BAD idea.
&g t; >
> > Whoever has to walk into a HAZMAT incident do esn't have time to look for a bunch of abbreviations. Lives may be on the l ine. The AHLS Course stresses some of that. Those who have not worn Level A or Level B might consider that others have and will continue to due so. Ba d labels, some of us might be invoked, whether needed or not.
> >
> > Alan
> > ahalltoxic**At_Symbol_Here**msn.com
> ; >
> >
> > Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 19:5 0:48 -0400
> > From: JAKSAFETY**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM
> > Subje ct: Re: [DCHAS-L] Abbreviations
> > To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU < BR>> >
> > One of the major problems is going to be distinguishing TLAs from FLAs. ... Jim
> >
> > **********************************
> > James A. Kaufman, Ph. D.
> > Kaufman & Associates
> > 101 Oak Str eet, Wellesley, MA 02482
> > 508-574-6264 Fax: 508-647-006 2
> > Res: 781-237-1335
> >
> > > >
> >

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