Should all bottles/tubes in lab be labeled when transfered from original labeled bottles?

Should all bottles/tubes in lab be labeled when transfered from original labeled bottles?

You're posting in an ISO 9001 forum, so may we assume that your question is related to the standard? If so, there is no such requirement. In the realm of common sense (and perhaps legal and regulatory requirements), whether or not containers should be labeled depends on what's in them, and the types of liquids in use in general.

Should all bottles/tubes in lab be labeled when transfered from original labeled bottles?

If you're talking about hazardous type materials (chemicals) then most likely YES under 29CFR 1910.1200. Depending upon the type lab it is there may be many other regulations that come into play as well especially if you're into biologicals or things of that nature.

Let me ask you this....Why would not want to know what was in a bottle/tube? Doesn't it just seem to make sense to do so?

If you have any other method (other than labelling) to identify the chemicals, .....umm probably, you may do away with labelling. Keep an eye on 'unsafe acts', 'near miss incidents' leading to hazardous situations, due to improper (or no) identification.

In the medical lab it shall be.

Should all bottles/tubes in lab be labeled when transfered from original labeled bottles?

If you are working in a GLP environment, everything should be traceable i.e. labelled, certainly if it is to be left e.g. on a lab bench etc rather than just part of a transient analytical process. Such things would automatically be picked up on a GLP audit – well I would have (pharmaceutical environment background!).:2cents:

Hi Mguilbert,

You may find the following of benefit: -

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19993106.htm

Under Good Laboratory Practice, all decanted material should be labelled as original container for both identification and traceability purposes.

Regards,

Jo

I not expert enough to say what ISO has to say about it, but I have worked in a variety of lab situations. The voice of experience says, "YES - 100% of the time, no deviation!!"

It doesn't have to be a complex or permanent lable - there are many good, easy to write on, easy to peel off tapes to choose from.

You never know who might walk through and move something.
You never know what you might get called away to do or how long it will take.
Someone else may end up being the one to have to dispose of whatever was left and would want to be able to do so safely.
No one's memory is perfect - it too high a risk to not lable
:D Way better safe than sorry.

Many chemicals have expiration dates on them so that information would need to be transferred also. It would probably be better to avoid transferring to another bottle since it does complicate traceability unless completely documented.

Bill Pflanz

The large labeled bottle of liquid media is decanted into several smaller bottles for ease of use and set on a table for approx. 5 minutes to reach room temp. The liquid in thee bottles is then used and put into labeled containers. The lab is a secure microbiological lab, all employees know by the color of the media what is in the bottles.

P.S. This is to the ISO 9001 standard.

Hope this answers some of you questions.
Thanks again for all of you help.

P.S. This is to the ISO 9001 standard.


????????? Not sure what you mean by this, because ISO doesn't say anything about this!

I tend to agree with SMRyan.

It's not unusual to rely on people 'who just know', but as you will be aware, some ISO 'practices' are there for prevention and one day, there's going to be a problem.......You might want to consider the risks involved in not labeling these secondary containers in some structured manner, so that you can grasp the significance of such a situation and, therefore, whether you need to do anything about it.

P.S. This is to the ISO 9001 standard.

I'm delivering a 9001 Lead Auditor course next week and I have to remember to provide this illuminating tid-bit that I wasn't previously aware of:lol:

If you're talking about hazardous type materials (chemicals) then most likely YES under 29CFR 1910.1200. Depending upon the type lab it is there may be many other regulations that come into play as well especially if you're into biologicals or things of that nature.

Let me ask you this....Why would not want to know what was in a bottle/tube? Doesn't it just seem to make sense to do so?

If you are operating under 29CFR 1910.1200 requirements, then ISO would require labeling under statutory and regulatory requirements, no?:2cents:

If you are operating under 29CFR 1910.1200 requirements, then ISO would require labeling under statutory and regulatory requirements, no?:2cents:

Yep...primarily as obligated in policy committment and to interested parties but possibly under 7.2.1 as well.

Yep...primarily as obligated in policy committment and to interested parties but possibly under 7.2.1 as well.

Thanks Randy, with the "ISO doesn't require that comments, I was concerned that we might forget that ISO does require whatever else is required by law. Even we have to label every container we use to store, transfer or transport "stuff" in. I've even written it up when we found a bunch of unmarked drums that somebody moved out of their area in the middle of the night and left in someone else's.:mg: (smooth move slick, like somebody wouldn't notice 5 - 55 gallon barrels moved into their area overnite? :bonk:

Should all bottles/tubes in lab be labeled when transfered from original labeled bottles?

On a pragmatic basis, maybe not;

BUT

When looking at RTK (Right to Know) requirements from OHSA, the typical interpretation is that every bottle needs to be labeled AND there must be MSDS for each. Even white out and wood have MSDS.

Best thing, limit the excess bottles and tubes if you can, and label the ones you have left, and make sure you have MSDS for each and that folks are trained on where to find the RTK information, and document that. Then you should be adequately covered.

Hope this helps.