Posted By Richard Chalkley Our laboratories handle 33P labelled compounds for use in a radiometric assay. We do have good procedures and policies in place but accidents do happen and there is the occasional spill which is duly dealt with and recorded. Recently we had a very small spill but an employees shoes were contaminated. As they were unable to be cleaned they have been quarantined for decay (the usual procedure which SEPA are happy with). As a result of this spill the lab staff have asked for dedicated laboratory footwear. I have my own opinions on this but would gladly hear what others are doing in this regard. For information Phosphorous 33 is a weak beta emitter, half life 25.6 days, max penetration into air of 42cm. Thanks as always, Richard.

Posted By Alison Hodgetts Hi Richard, You've got a duty to supply suitable PPEif staff are exposed to a risk that is not already adequatly controlled. Over shoes are a good idea and can be used in areas when chemcicals are being used that can cause contamination/damage to footwear. Going all out and getting safety shoes is obviously good but does have a can of worms... cost, people not liking shoes, people forgetting to wear them etc.

Posted By Stephen D. Clarke Hi Richard, Whenever I've worked in a radiation laboratory in the past the wearing of disposable over shoes has always been a requirement of entry to lab.

Posted By Merv Newman having dropped the winchester (sulphuric acid which took out my trousers, my socks and my shoes, I am all in favour of standard safety shoes in a lab environment. Booties are a good idea if contamination is a problem (it contaminating you or you contaminating it) but, yes, they do tend to be a bit slippery. And I don't know of a bootie supplier who can offer a non-slip sole. Buyers go for lowest cost disposables (probably similar material to surgical masks and head caps) so maybe suppliers have little incentive to look for "safer" materials or construction. I visited a lead processing plant in italy a couple of weeks ago. Had to wear "over-wellies" Bloody dangerous. Merv

Posted By MichaelM Richard It may be a bit late, but I just came across your thread. I worked in a laboratory environment where we used chemicals, biologicals and radiation e.g. 32P ATP. We originally started off with overshoes to stop contamination being brought into or out of the lab areas, in addition to lab coats, gloves, safety glasses etc We moved approx 8 years ago to lab shoes with steel toe caps. This protected toes, as stated earlier, from falling 2.5 litre winchesters and also from chemicals as they were resistant to chemicals (at least for enough time to get them off). They were also worn in the radiation suite. I remember only one occasion of a spill that was bad enough to cause a lab coat and shoes to go in the decontamination bin and the employees clothes were taken to with a bunny suite being worn to get them home. If this happened with radiation or chemicals etc then the company payed for replacement items to the same standard. We also wore dosimeters although we didn't legally have to do this for the levels being worked with, but it gaveus a sense of control and also kept the staff happy. Hope this is of use. Michael