Annual Laboratory Incident Notification Canada Report

Friday October 15th saw the release of the (annual) regular article on incidents in Canadian labs that are licensed under the Human Pathogens and Toxin Act (HPTA). 

The full report can be accessed here 

Forty-two incidents involving 57 individuals were reported to Laboratory Incident Notification Canada in 2020. There were no suspected or confirmed laboratory acquired infections. The annual incident exposure rate was 4.2 incidents per 100 active licenses. Most exposure incidents occurred during microbiology activities (n=22, 52.4%) and/or were reported by the hospital sector (n=19, 45.2%). Procedural issues (n=16, 27.1%) and sharps-related incidents (n=13, 22.0%) were the most common occurrences. Most affected individuals were exposed via inhalation (n=28, 49.1%) and worked as technicians or technologists (n=36, 63.2%). Issues with standard operating procedures was the most common root cause (n=24, 27.0%), followed by human interactions (n=21, 23.6%). The median number of days between the incident and the reporting date was six days.

Conclusion: The rate of laboratory incidents were lower in 2020 than 2019, although the ongoing pandemic may have contributed to this decrease because of the closure of non-essential workplaces, including laboratories, for a portion of the year. The most common occurrence type was procedural while issues with not complying to standard operating procedures and human interactions as the most cited root causes.