• Resilient work environment and culture is one that is capable of responding to a variety of stresses without compromising effectiveness
• Organizational resilience is "the ability of an organization to anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to incremental change and sudden disruptions in order to survive and prosper" (BSI: What is Organizational Resilience? [Accessed 18 January 2021])

Contributed by Lewis A. Hassell, M.D. (adapted from Deloitte: Bridge Across Uncertainty, Cranfield: Organizational Resilience)

In the pursuit of resilience in a laboratory, which of the following would be considered counterproductive or even destructive of the ability to respond to a crisis?

1. Arranging affiliation agreements with child care services and personal fitness coaches that employees can access at reduced rates
2. Providing content rich feedback to employees in performance evaluations that cover areas for improvement as well as kudos for progress and successes
3. Holding occasional disaster drills that cover scenarios likely to be experienced in the region of the lab's operations
4. Leaders who walk around and regularly correct personnel handling or processing specimens that are not covered in standard operating procedures
5. Cross training key personnel involved in IT and data processing

D. Leadership should be present in an organization to support and resolve problems and empower employees to make decisions. Their presence to address issues and educate can be valuable but failure to adjust procedures that are incomplete or engendering a lack of confidence in an employee's ability to make decisions in their position is potentially destructive to resilience.

Comment Here

Reference: Building resilience in the workplace

In preparing for a strategic planning session, your organization surveys employees to assess their view of the organization and the environment. Several employees note that the organization has a rigorous sense of integrity and determination to do things right. In organizing this for your SWOT analysis, which category would this statement fit best?

1. S
2. W
3. O
4. T

A. S stands for strengths; a sense of integrity and determination to do the right things are both features of a healthy organizational culture that should enable an organization to be better positioned to succeed amid stresses. In SWOT analysis, the first 2 components, strengths and weaknesses, are inward looking, while OT, opportunities and threats, are both outward looking.

Comment Here

Reference: Building resilience in the workplace

Which of the following scenarios is least likely to benefit from a root cause analysis?

1. Addressing the cause of blood product administration to the wrong patient
2. Daily monitoring of personnel punctuality to ensure adequacy of shift coverage
3. Explaining the reason for difficulties in personnel recruitment and retention
4. Increased turnaround time for surgical pathology reports
5. Investigating a complaint regarding frequent specimen mislabeling

B. Daily monitoring of personnel punctuality to ensure adequacy of shift coverage. RCA is most practical when used as an investigative tool to uncover and address the chief underlying reason(s) for an undesired event, trend or outcome. It has less utility as a proactive surveillance tool. The daily monitoring of personnel punctuality to ensure adequacy of shift coverage is an ongoing surveillance activity; unless a negative trend is discovered, RCA is not likely to be directly applicable. The underlying reason (root cause) for increased turnaround time in surgical pathology, specimen mislabeling or incorrect blood product administration may originate from systemic issues beyond what may be immediately visible and thus these scenarios may benefit from RCAs. Similarly, difficulties in personnel recruitment and retention may be due to reasons other than labor market forces (such as institutional / departmental reputation, conflicting personalities, safety concerns, onboarding problems, human resource conflicts) and as such, may benefit from RCA.

Comment Here

Reference: Causal analysis

• The work performed in clinical and anatomical pathology laboratories is made possible through the use of several different types of hazardous chemicals
• The hazards posed by these chemicals vary, and proper chemical management is imperative to ensure the safety of laboratory personnel

Administrative requirements:
• Name a Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) for the laboratory
  • Responsible for chemical management administrative duties
  • CHO should be in job description
  • Perform task assessments for processed involving chemicals
• Assemble a safety committee
  • Perform safety audits
  • Discuss safety issues / incidents


• Chemical spill handling:
  • Provide spill response training for all staff that handles chemicals
  • Confine or contain the spill
  • Small quantities of inorganic acids or bases - use a neutralizing agent
  • Small quantities of other materials - absorb with towels or spill pillows
  • Large quantities of inorganic acids or basis - flush with large amounts of water
  • Mop or sweep up the spill (see figure 2)
  • Dispose of waste in proper receptacles
  • If spilled chemical is volatile, let it evaporate
  
  
• Annual review of chemical management:
  • Analyze effectiveness of your chemical hygiene plan
    • Review chemical inventory
    • Review training
    • Review chemical incidents
  • Use substitutes for hazardous chemicals where possible
  • Reduce hazardous waste volumes
  • Remove outdated chemicals

Contributed by Dan Scungio, MT (ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ)