• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Blogs » Think Tank » Four Dry Ice Safety Guidelines for Transporting Sensitive Vaccines

Think Tank
Think Tank RSS FeedRSS

Coronavirus / Logistics / Quality & Metrics / Regulation & Compliance / SC Security & Risk Mgmt / Healthcare / Pharmaceutical/Biotech

Four Dry Ice Safety Guidelines for Transporting Sensitive Vaccines

December 18, 2020
Bob Fawley, SCB Contributor
Vaccines
Photo: Bloomberg

We've reached the vaccine distribution threshold of the coronavirus pandemic — where manufacturers, logistics companies and healthcare providers must consider new safety measures for everyone involved. Businesses have taken several precautions to help protect workers from an infection from the virus itself. But delivery drivers could be at risk from another hidden danger associated with the shipment of the vaccine.

Several vaccine options need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures, and dry ice is the ideal solution for maintaining low temperatures over a sustained period. Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2), and is commonly used in research areas to allow for rapid cooling of materials. As dry ice warms, it sublimates (passes directly into a gas without becoming a liquid) at -78.5 degrees Celsius (-109.3 degrees Fahrenheit). This quick shift to a gas state can pose worker safety hazards, including frostbite and asphyxiation from high levels of CO2 , and these hazards should not be taken lightly.

Many shipping companies are well acquainted with handling dry ice, and know how to take proper precautions as a regular part of their handling of hazardous materials. However, the volume and frequency of dry ice handling is due to increase significantly with shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine. This will increase the number of people placed at risk as they handle the packaged vaccine. It will be critical to communicate protocols and implement safety measures.

Following are a few guidelines that can help keep everyone safer when working with dry ice:

  • Be careful when handling dry ice, and avoid direct contact with the skin. Dry ice can lead to frostbite, where the skin cells freeze and become damaged very quickly if the skin makes direct contact. Make sure workers are wearing the proper personal protection equipment, from goggles and face shields to thermally insulated gloves and a lab coat. Ensure they have tongs to handle the dry ice whenever possible.
  • Make sure workers understand the asphyxiation hazard associated with CO2. Dry ice changes from solid form into its gaseous state at any temperature above -109 degrees Fahrenheit. This process can release substantial volumes of CO2, which can displace oxygen quickly in the air around the dry ice, causing difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness and death. Have workers wear a portable gas detector that can warn them when CO2 levels in the air are too high. Choose one that’s comfortable to wear, simple to use and alerts with a combination of signal warnings — vibration, light and sound. A small, lightweight detector can help protect workers by immediately making them aware of the potential hazard, without impeding their work progress. Simple, straightforward operation can minimize device training requirements.
  • Make sure workers are aware of the potential hazard of the container bursting. Due to the rapid emission of large volumes of CO2, any dry ice stored in a closed container such as vaccine packaging can pressurize that container. Given enough time at normal room temperature, the vaccine package may burst if the gas isn’t able to escape.
  • Ensure that everyone who handles the package understands the occupational exposure limits for dry ice. The eight-hour, time-weighted average is 5,000 parts per million (ppm) with a 15-minute, short-term exposure limit of 30,000 ppm.

By following proper safety precautions and providing workers with advanced, portable gas detectors, companies involved in the supply chain can help to safely and efficiently distribute a much-needed vaccine to respond to the global pandemic.

Bob Fawley is senior customer marketing specialist for Honeywell’s Gas Analysis and Safety business.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden to Join Global Covax Initiative; India to Ship Vaccines to South Asian Nations

    Coronavirus
  • AT&T

    How the Pandemic Has Altered AT&T’s Global Sourcing Strategy

    Coronavirus
  • container port

    New Global Visibility App Sees Delays Before They Happen

    Logistics
  • Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Watch: Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing