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Barefoot workers, bacteria found at factory that made big-brand eye drops | Ars Technica
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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I don't really see how people chosing to be barefoot has anything to do with their ability to make eye-drops, unless the aforementioned people are using their feet to do it
Being barefoot could potentially introduce extra risk of contamination from shedding skin cells; this may or may not matter depending on which part of the plant they’re working at. In clean room environments, people usually wear special clothing that prevent cross contamination; these include special coat, hair netting, and extra layer of covering around the shoes. But if the said employee works in the office on administrative tasks, far away from clean areas of production, who cares?
I see. I figuered as long as they'd wear hair nets, masks, coats and gloves it shouldn't matter what's going on with their feet- but I suppose that could make sense? Idk, It still feels like a strange thing to be fixated on...
I didn't read the article, though
I work in a hospital pharmacy, and I had to compound some custom eye drops for a patient the other day. I have to wear a hair net, beard net, shoe covers, a gown, and sterile gloves to even enter the cleanroom. Being barefoot in a cleanroom for sterile manufacturing is a hard no.
I'd think the reason for foot protection in a hospital setting is more to protect you from their illnesses, or drop damage (say, a needle or other sharp object)
I suppose I must confess. I've worked in dental, so I'm familair with sterilization proceedures/ ppe. I remember learning to wear hard shoes (hardly any one does in reality) to avoid what I mentioned above
It's strange that employees would be barefoot, but I still don't really see how feet are any more dangerous than any other part of the body, especially given that they're surely not handling the materials with their feet!
I can accept that I'm wrong, it just seems strange to highlight the bare feet as a primary issue unless somehow the bacteria in the drops are a type most often found on feet
You'd be surprised how much microorganisms get around
And now I'm imaging them all in a bus, driving upward from someone's toes, with a bumper sticker that says:
"Destination: EyeDrops"
More like they're all uncontrollably spreading in the wind like leaves in an autumn storm, landing everywhere.
They were supposed to cover everything including the feet.
Roger that
Eye drops are made of feet!