Hazardous Drugs During Preparation
Employees can be exposed to hazardous drugs during preparation because of ineffective engineering, or work practice controls, or personal protective equipment (PPE). Below are best practices when preparing hazardous drugs:
- The outside of bags or bottles containing the prepared drug should be wiped with moist gauze.
- Entry ports should be wiped with moist alcohol pads and capped.
Employees can be exposed to hazardous drugs during preparation.
- Transport should occur in sealed plastic bags and in containers designed to avoid breakage.
Shipped hazardous drugs that are subject to Environmental Protection Agency regulation as hazardous waste, are also subject to Department of Transportation regulations.
Non-liquid Hazardous Drugs
Handling non-liquid forms of hazardous drugs requires special precautions as well.
- Tablets which may produce dust or potential exposure to the handler should be counted in a BSC.
- Capsules, such as gel-caps or coated tablets, are unlikely to produce dust unless broken in handling. These are counted in a BSC on equipment designated for hazardous drugs only, because even manual counting devices may be covered with dust from the drugs handled. Automated counting machines should not be used unless an enclosed process isolates the hazard from the employee(s).
- Latex gloves should be used while preparing HDs unless the drug-product manufacturer specifically stipulates that some other glove provides better protection
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-5. The outside of bags or bottles containing the prepared drug should be wiped with _____.
You forgot to answer the question!