HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Read responses to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Burton, J L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Burton, J L

Health and safety at necropsy

Correspondence to:
Dr J L Burton, Academic Unit of Pathology, E-Floor Medical School, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield S10 2RX, UK;
j.l.burton{at}shef.ac.uk
ABSTRACT
The postmortem room is a source of potential hazards and risks, not only to the pathologist and anatomical pathology technician, but also to visitors to the mortuary and those handling the body after necropsy. Postmortem staff have a legal responsibility to make themselves aware of, and to minimise, these dangers. This review focuses specifically on those hazards and risks associated with the necropsy of infected patients, with foreign objects present in the body, and with bodies that have been contaminated by chemicals or radioactive sources.

Keywords: health and safety; necropsy; mortuary; hazard

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; OR, adjusted odds ratio; TSE, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy; v-CJD, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R J Flavin, N Gibbons, and D S O'Briain Mycobacterium tuberculosis at autopsy--exposure and protection: an old adversary revisited J. Clin. Pathol., May 1, 2007; 60(5): 487 - 491. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B Swift and G N Rutty The exploding bullet J. Clin. Pathol., January 1, 2004; 57(1): 108 - 108. [Full Text]

eLetters: