Here I go - in for a penny; in for a pound!
I'm going to be honest and say that I have worked in labs (recently)
where - yes the staff will keep covered coffee/tea/water bottles by
their cutting areas.  Supervisors do NOT condone this practice and if
seen the tech risks a write up or other disciplinary action.  As a
supervisor I used to let the staff keep their coffee/tea in my office
so that they could slip in and grab a sip.  This worked until one day
a surgeon came into the gross room with a cup of coffee and when asked
to take it out of the room essentially told me to go to hell and how
to get there.  After that my staff had a difficult time with the
"rule" as they called it.  There is a reason for these rules and you
need to think about why it's there.  It may seem like over-kill, but
would you want to risk it?

As to Terry's response to the contact lenses I can personally attest
to the 'no contact lens' rule.  Back in the early 80's (when I was
young and dumb) I was a wearer of soft contact lenses, one day the
lenses turned cloudy and dried up on my eyes.  It was a very scary
event.  Lenses need moisture and in the lab all the hydrocarbons
(xylene, formaldehyde etc) take moisture out of the air causing the
lenses to just dry out.  I can't even wear contacts anymore as a
result.

Vikki




On 2/14/08, WWmn916@aol.com  wrote:
> Dare I ask this question,
> Does anyone use closed topped and safety mugs at their microtome station when
> cutting slides...etc.?  Would cutting paraffin blocks constitute Blood Borne
> Pathogen concerns?  I fully understand not eating while paraffin is flying all
> over the place......but closed containers with coffee for those of us who
> work sleep deprived hours?  Someone save us!
>
> Anonymous
>
>
>
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