How do employers protect workers from waste anesthetic gas exposure?

Employers can protect workers from exposure to anesthetic gases by:

• Inspecting equipment regularly for damage, breaks, or irregularities.
• Maintaining and turning on local ventilation systems.
• Ensuring equipment is properly connected.
• Checking the patients’ breathing circuit for negative pressure and positive pressure relief as part of the daily machine checklist.
• Filling vaporizers under an active hood before or after the anesthetic procedure.
• Using the lowest gas flow rates possible for the proper functioning of the anesthesia delivery system and for patient safety.
• Verifying proper mask fit for patients.
• Eliminating residual gases through the scavenging system as much as possible before disconnecting a patient from a breathing system.
• Turning anesthetic gas off before disconnecting and turning off the breathing system.