My safety officer is telling me that I must use a splash shield to open tubes for transfusion service testing. He says that even though we use safety top tubes, aerosols are created and we must protect staff. I contend that aerosols are not what those shields protect against, it is splashes. But I must ask you all, is it common practice to use a shield to work behind?

I usually open my tubes with a piece of gauze in case of aerosols. The one time I did use my shield, the whole counter fell down so I haven't use it since.

Some type of barrier is a great idea when opening specimens! But as in all engineering-type controls, it should fit your work situation . I dislike being informed of only one type of barrier available -- and I hate face shields in normal lab conditions, unless absolutely necessary.

We use HemoGard tubes, which, when used properly, offer significant protection against sprays. But we have a pull-down type face shield installed on every workstation that do not obstruct your arms and hands as much.

We have pull down shields available at each work station. I have to agree that they are more useful against splashes than aerosols, but a splash is also more likely to happen when you are opening a sample tube. We really only use the shields when we open the tubes or cutting segments (which we do not do very often - we use the seg-safe devices). Otherwise, the volumes are low enough that a splash is pretty unlikely.

We also use pull down safety shields at all benches when opening tubes, even Hemoguard tubes.

Because there is a risk of aerosol, even with Hemoguard tubes, we must use either vinyl-backed gauze squares or a face shield when removing the stoppers from tubes.