I apologize to all I have offended.  I am speaking from my experience.  The
safety officers that I deal with in my hospital are RN's - with limited
knowledge of laboratory practices, much less histology.  I rely heavily on
our laboratory representative to be my voice of reason.  You are absolutely
correct - I shouldn't assume that all safety officers are ignorant of
histology procedures.  

Sheila

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	MacDonald, Jennifer [SMTP:jmacdonald@sach.org]
	Sent:	Wednesday, June 28, 2000 1:17 PM
	To:	'Vinnie Della Speranza'; 'Tapper, Sheila'
	Cc:	'histonet'
	Subject:	RE: Cryostat knives



		I share the duties of safety officer for our laboratory.  I
must
	disagree with the below statement!  This may be the case with this
person
	but please don't generalize.  I take safety very seriously but I am
	practical about it.  

		My suggestions for Vinnie:
			Use disposable knives.  Remove the knife when
cleaning the
	cryostat.  Change the knife when it needs it.  It is really not
practical,
	or necessary to change the knife between cases.  As with any sharp
the
	person weilding the tool should use common sense.  We do not store
the
	package of knives in the cryostat as they became impossible to
separate and
	get out of the container.  It only takes a few seconds for the
disposable
	blade to get cold.

		Jennifer MacDonald

	> Unfortunately, my experience with safety officers is not good!
They seem
	> to
	> be so sure of their solutions, regardless of their experience and
	> knowledge
	> specific to histology, that they often look foolish.   
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