2009 Occupational Health Hazards in the Interventional Laboratory: Time for a Safer Environment

February 2, 2009—This document is a consensus statement by the major American societies of physicians who work in a laboratory environment and reviews available data on the prevalence of occupational health risks and summarizes ongoing epidemiologic studies designed to further elucidate these risks.

Its purpose is to affirm that the interventional laboratory poses workplace hazards that must be acknowledged, better understood, and mitigated to the greatest extent possible. Vigorous efforts are advocated to reduce these hazards. Interventional physicians and their professional societies, working together with industry, should strive toward minimizing operator radiation exposure, eliminating the need for personal protective apparel, and ending the orthopedic and ergonomic consequences of the interventional laboratory work environment.

 See also SCAI Multi-Society Position Statement on Occupational Health Hazards of the Catheterization Laboratory: Shifting the Paradigm for Healthcare Workers’ Protection.