Food and Drinks in Lab Environments

Consuming food and drinks in laboratories and storing food in laboratory equipment increase the chance of contamination and accidental poison ingestion. The accommodation of eating and drinking in lab environments brings a unique set of safety considerations and challenges for facilities managers, depending on lab space design and layout.

Regulations and good practices clearly prohibit food and drink in laboratories, including their storage in laboratories or in the laboratory equipment. But, what do you do with open space, when office or cubicle areas in the laboratories are not well defined or separated from the work area? What do you do when there are offices with doors adjacent to the laboratories or when an open concept layout offers cubes and desk areas throughout the laboratory or adjacent to the laboratories? What practices and procedures need to be in place?

Although this article will not cover all aspects of this complex issue, it will provide a first pass list of things to think about. Make sure lab practices address food and drinks in lab areas. Additional policies and best practices that can prevent problems include:

• Apply For Lab Use Only labels to items that are common household items and not necessarily only found in the lab. Examples of these items include plastic containers, aluminum foil, toothbrushes, non-fat dry milk, bottled water, and Pyrex dishes. Labeling these items avoids confusion.
• Remove the appearance that food and drink are being consumed in the laboratory. Make it a practice to immediately remove food-related trash like candy wrappers or soda cans when they are found in lab trash containers. At no time should it appear that it is okay to consume food and drinks in the lab.
• Advise employees that if policies allow them to carry food and drink through the laboratory, they must directly proceed to their desk area with no stops when passing through the laboratories. It is equally important that employees transporting food are not stopped by coworkers to answer questions or offer advice.
• Keep lab items outside of desk and office areas. This may entail keeping office and desk area doors closed and posting signs that lab-related items, such as vials, containers, lab coats, and notebooks, are not allowed in the office or desk area.

Addressing this issue involves a multi-pronged approach. It entails best practices and clear policies that are documented, communicated, and enforced. Policies and procedures need continual improvement as workflow evolves, new hazards are added, and headcount grows.

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