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Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996)

Notices

Guideline for the Compilation of a Mandatory Code of Practice for the Prevention, Mitigation and Management of COVID-19 outbreak

Annexures

Annexure 9: Handling of occupational hygiene personal sampling with regards to COVID-19

 

ANNEXURE 9: Handling of occupational hygiene personal sampling with regards to COVID-19

 

(For Information purposes)

 

N701 Annex 9 page header

 

1. SCOPE

 

This document outlines and addresses the preventative measures for the Coronavirus/COVID19. This document will specify the preventative measures and the care to be taken when handling, preparing, issuing, retrieving and decontaminating sampling equipment for KDOHC.

 

2. POLICY

 

It is the policy of KDOHC to ensure all the activities underlined in this procedure be performed and are undertaken to ensure health and safety of all KDOHC employees, clients and service providers and suppliers. Note that the specifications in this procedure should be seen as a minimum requirement  only.

 

3. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

 

https://youtu.be/JKpVMivbTfg

Parliament Highlights. Gan Kim Yong speech

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC 24/7: Saving Lives. Protecting People

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov

 

4. DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

 

Decontamination solution - Solution of Bleach/bleach and water (20ml Bleach per one litre of water)

N701 Annex 9 4 picture

 

5. PROCEDURE

 

5.1 Issuing of equipment

 

Issuing of equipment will be done in accordance with company policies and procedures, with the following recommendations:

 

Always assume that equipment is contaminated

 

Receive equipment box from the laboratory
Fit re-useable, impervious gloves (it may be necessary to remove all jewellery and watches)
Take equipment out of the equipment box
Close the equipment box as soon as possible after removing the equipment
Wipe all the equipment with a decontamination solution consisting of a Bleach and water solution
Conduct calibrations and sample assembly as per normal with your gloves still on
Before approaching employee to issue sampling equipment fit your mask and goggles to protect your T-zone (figure below)
Issue equipment
Return to the office and decontaminate your re-usable gloves before taking it off
After decontamination, take it off and let it dry
REPEAT THE PROCESS WHEN RETRIEVING EQUIPMENT
When back at the office after retrieving of equipment, place all noise dosimeters inside a Ziplock bag, seal and put it in the equipment transport box
If dosimeters stay on the site, decontaminate (wipe) with a cloth soaked in decontamination solution and submerge the windshield in the decontamination solution
Wipe the sampling pumps and the rest of the equipment with a cloth soaked in decontamination solution
Decontaminate the outside of the equipment transport box

 

T-zone

N701 Annex 9 5 picture

 

5.2 Collecting equipment transport box from sites

 

Always assume that equipment is contaminated

 

Fit re-useable,impervious gloves (it may be necessary to remove all jewellery and watches)
Open the equipment box
Inspect the equipment
If noise dosimeters are not contained inside Ziplock bags OR when cyclone grid pots are not fitted to the cyclone anymore, assume the entire box is contaminated inside and seal the box immediately with a cable tie
Mark the equipment box with a special sticker indicating that the content should be considered as potentially contaminated
Inform the client that the box is potentially contaminated and that they should put the box in quarantine for a period of 14 days
Take of your gloves and put it in a refuse bag, seal and transport it back to the laboratory
If satisfied, take the box and put in the refuse bag with the contaminated gloves to return to the laboratory

 

5.3 Decontamination and unpacking of equipment transport boxes at the laboratory

 

Outside decontamination

 

Receive the equipment transport boxes at a table outside the lab
Fit a clean pair of gloves and goggles
Take out the equipment transport box and wipe it with decontamination solution
Submerge the contaminated gloves and Ziplock bags into the decontamination solution and hang out to dry
Wipe all the equipment with decontamination solution and put it on a transport tray
Spray the equipment box inserts (sponges) with decontamination solution

 

Inside decontamination

 

Take sample equipment into the lab on the transport tray
Take equipment to Wet lab for post calibration checks
Fit a clean pair of gloves
Remove the cyclone and grid pot from the sample cassette  and submerge both in the decontamination solution
Place the cyclone and the grid pot now into the ultrasonic both for further cleaning
Disassemble the sample cassette by firstly removing the Top inlet and Extension sections of the cassette
Take the filter with the mentioned two sections of the cassette to the weighing facility
Remove your  gloves and submerge the contaminated gloves  into the decontamination solution and hang out to dry
Take the filter out of the cassette and place it in a petri dish
Take the sampling cassette back to the wet laboratory and submerge in the decontamination solution before placing it in the ultrasonic bath for further cleaning
When the pumps are dry, return to the charging docking stations

 

5.4 Decontamination of noise dosimeters

 

Remove the windshield and submerge in decontamination solution
Place in the fume extraction hood and allow to dry
Wipe noise dosimeters with decontamination solution
Wipe down transport trays
Remove your gloves before moving equipment

 

5.5 General notes

 

When preparing equipment to be transported  to the client, consider all equipment, originated from laboratory, to be decontaminated
All working surfaces in the laboratory will be wiped down at the end of each shift
Laboratory personal to wear gloves when working with control cards
Issuers of equipment on the sites need to wear gloves when handling/completing control cards

 

5.6 Decontamination of Office environment

 

Decontaminate the following items in the office environment by one dedicated person per day:

 

All doorknobs and handles
Toilet handle
All water taps
Keyboards, mouse, printer control panel and telephones
Door remote, alarm control pad
Light switches
Tabletops (all working surfaces), Kettle, microwave, fridge
All utensils, cups, glasses,plates etc. to be washed after use with soap and water
Designated cutlery and crockery to be provided for each employee
Only paper towels to be allowed in the bathrooms and kitchen.

 

5.7 Company vehicles

 

All company vehicles to be cleaned by KDOHC employees once a week (no external cleaning companies to be used)
Vehicles to be disinfected on the inside on a daily basis
Visitors to sign register
Visitors to disinfect hands on arrival
A poster will be displayed on the front door stating that if you experience any symptoms of the Corona/COVID-19 virus, please refrain from entering. Consult your doctor
When suspecting that an office employee is sick or symptomatic,  make the laboratory manager aware and get suspected employee to seek medical advice

 

6. RECORDS

 

All records are kept as per QM No. 8.4/F-01.