23 December 2011

Scenario 1: Biosafety Laboratory (BSL) Level 3

This particular blog post is in reference to BSL 3. The code of practice and protocols for BSL 1 and 2 is still applicable for BSL 3, but there are various modifications made due to more infectious or dangerous specimens being used in BSL 3.


The following protocols are the modifications that are applicable for BSL 3.


Code of practice
1.       The international biohazard warning symbol and sign displayed on access doors must identify the biosafety level and the name of the laboratory supervisor who controls access, and indicate any special conditions for entry into the area, e.g. immunization.


2.       Laboratory protective clothing must be of the type with solid-front or wrap-around gowns, scrub suits, coveralls, head covering and, where appropriate, shoe covers or specified shoes. Laboratory protective clothing must not be worn outside the laboratory, and must be decontaminated before laundering. Change into specified laboratory clothing may be warranted when working with specific agents.


3.        Usage of potentially infectious material must be conducted within a biological safety cabinet.


4.       Respiratory protective equipment may be necessary for specific laboratory procedures or working with animals infected with certain pathogens.


Laboratory design and facilities 
1.       The laboratory must be isolated from other areas of the building with unrestricted human traffic flow. There should be facilities for separating clean and dirty clothing and a shower may also be necessary.


2.       Anteroom doors may be self-closing and interlocking so that only one door is open at a time. A break-through panel may be provided for emergency exit use.

3.       Surfaces of walls, floors and ceilings should be water-resistant and easy to clean.

4.       Openings should be sealed to facilitate decontamination of the room(s).

5.       The laboratory room must be sealable for decontamination. Air-ducting systems must be constructed to permit gaseous decontamination.

6.       Windows must be closed, sealed and break-resistant.

7.       A hand-washing station with hands-free controls should be provided near each exit door.

8.       There must be a controlled ventilation system that maintains a directional airflow into the laboratory room. A visual monitoring device with or without alarm(s) should be installed so that staff can at all times ensure that proper directional airflow into the laboratory room is maintained.

9.       The building ventilation system must be so constructed that air from the containment laboratory – Biosafety Level 3 is not recirculated to other areas within the building. Air may be HEPA filtered, reconditioned and recirculated within that laboratory.

10.   Exhaust air from the laboratory (other than from biological safety cabinets) is HEPA filtered then discharged to the outside of the building and dispersed away from occupied buildings and air intakes. Audible or clearly visible alarms to notify personnel of air filtering system failures should be installed.

11.   All HEPA filters must be installed in a manner that permits gaseous decontamination and testing.

12.   Biological safety cabinets should be sited away from walking areas and out of crosscurrents from doors and ventilation systems.

13.   The exhaust air from Class I or Class II biological safety cabinets, which will have been passed through HEPA filters, must be discharged in such a way as to avoid interference with the air balance of the cabinet or the building exhaust system.

14.   An autoclave should be available. Infectious waste to be removed for decontamination and disposal must be transported in sealed, unbreakable and leakproof containers according to national or international regulations, as appropriate.

15.   Backflow-precaution devices must be fitted to the water supply. Vacuum lines should be protected with liquid disinfectant traps and HEPA filters.

16.   Alternative vacuum pumps should also be properly protected with traps and filters.

17.   Facility design and operational procedures should be documented.


The following images would illustrate the design of a typical BSL3 laboratory.
Image obtained from Biological Safety: Principles and Practices (4th ed.) pg 283


Image obtained from Biological Safety: Principles and Practices (4th ed.) pg 284


Image obtained from Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations (2nd ed.) pg 192


In the following blog post, we'll be discussing about BSL 4.





References:

DiBerardinis, L. J., Gatwood, G. T., Baum, J. S., Groden, E. F., First, M. W. & Seth, A. K. (1993) Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations. (2nd ed.). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Fleming, D. O. & Hunt, D. L. (Eds.). Biological Safety: Principles and Practices. (4th ed.). Washington, DC: ASM Press.

Furr, A. K. (2000) CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety. (5th ed.). FL: CRC Press.

IUPAC-IPCS (1992) Chemical Safety Matters. UK: Cambridge University Press

Jackson, L. (Executive Producer), & Alboum, S. (Producer, Director). (2008). The Chem Lab: Safety in Every Step. [Motion Picture]. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Leonard, D. (n.d.). Elements of Safety: Orientation to Laboratory Safety. [VCD] Singapore:SafetyMax Corp. Pte Ltd.

Safety Sense: A Laboratory Guide. (2nd ed.). (2007) USA, NY: Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press.

Salerno, R. M. & Gaudioso, J. (2007) Laboratory Biosafety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group

University of Colorado. (2011). Laboratory Safety. Retrieved from http://orgchem.colorado.edu/safety/labsafety.html

World Health Organization. (2004). Laboratory Biosafety Manual (3rd ed.). Retrieved from WHO, Geneva: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/Biosafety7.pdf 

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posted by Michelle, Bernadette, Shanna, Karen, Su Wei, Shi Ting @ 16:24 0 Comments

Scenario 1: Biosafety Laboratory (BSL) Levels 1 and 2

Biosafety laboratories are classified into four different levels; namely levels 1 to 4. BSL 1 and 2 are relatively similar, whilst BSL 3 and 4 have certain modifications to increase protection against the pathogens and infectious or dangerous specimens that are dealt within the laboratories.


In this particular blog post, we'll discuss about BSL 1 and 2, the practices and PPE (personal protection equipment) required within the laboratories.


BSL 1 and 2


Access
1.       International biohazard warning symbols and signs must be prominently displayed on doors of the rooms where microorganisms of Risk Group 2 or higher risk groups are handled.


2.       No unauthorized personnel in the laboratory work areas.

3.       Laboratory doors should be kept closed.

4.       Children should not be authorized or allowed to enter laboratory working areas.

5.       Special authorization for entry into areas housing laboratory animals should be given.

6.       With the exception of laboratory animals, no animals should be allowed entry into the laboratory.

Personal protection
1.       Appropriate laboratory protective outerwear (such as laboratory coats) must be worn at all times during work in the laboratory.

2.       Gloves must be worn for all procedures involving direct or accidental contact with blood, body fluids and other potentially infectious materials or infected animals. After use, remove gloves aseptically and wash hands.

3.       Wash hands after handling infectious materials and animals, and before they leave the laboratory working areas.

4.       Protective eyewear or face gear (visors) must be worn when necessary to protect the eyes and face from chemical splashes, impacting objects and sources of artificial ultraviolet radiation.

5.       Protective laboratory clothing must not be worn outside the laboratory, e.g. in canteens, libraries, staff rooms and toilets.

6.       Closed-toe footwear must be worn in laboratories.

7.       No consumption of food and drink, smoking, application of cosmetics and handling of contact lenses in the laboratory working areas.

8.       Storage of consumables anywhere in the laboratory working areas is prohibited.

9.       Protective laboratory clothing that has been used in the laboratory must not be stored together with other clothes.

Procedures
1.       Pipetting by mouth is strictly forbidden, appropriate pipetting devices should be used instead.

2.       Materials must not be placed in the mouth. Labels must not be licked.

3.       The production of aerosols and droplets should be minimised.

4.       Refrain from the usage of hypodermic needles and syringes. They must not be used for other procedures, other than their intended use.

5.       All spills, accidents and potential exposures to infectious materials must be reported to the laboratory supervisor. A written record of such accidents and incidents should be maintained.

6.       A written procedure for the clean-up of all spills must be developed and followed.

7.       Contaminated liquids must be decontaminated before discharge to the sanitary sewer. An effluent treatment system may be required, depending on risk assessment for the agent(s) being handled.

8.       Written documents that are expected to be removed from the laboratory need to be protected from contamination while in the laboratory.

Laboratory working areas
1.       The laboratory should be kept neat, clean and not cluttered with unnecessary materials.

2.       Work surfaces must be decontaminated with appropriate disinfection techniques after any spill of potentially dangerous material and at the end of the working day.

3.       All contaminated materials, specimens and cultures must be decontaminated before disposal or cleaning for reuse.

4.       Packing and transportation of specimens must follow applicable national and/or international regulations.

5.       Windows should be fitted with insect-proof screens (especially when kept open to increase ventilation).


These are the protocols and the PPE required for BSL 1 and 2. In the next post, we'll discuss about the modifications for BSL 3.



References:

DiBerardinis, L. J., Gatwood, G. T., Baum, J. S., Groden, E. F., First, M. W. & Seth, A. K. (1993) Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations. (2nd ed.). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Furr, A. K. (2000) CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety. (5th ed.). FL: CRC Press.

IUPAC-IPCS (1992) Chemical Safety Matters. UK: Cambridge University Press

Jackson, L. (Executive Producer), & Alboum, S. (Producer, Director). (2008). The Chem Lab: Safety in Every Step. [Motion Picture]. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Leonard, D. (n.d.). Elements of Safety: Orientation to Laboratory Safety. [VCD] Singapore:SafetyMax Corp. Pte Ltd.

Safety Sense: A Laboratory Guide. (2nd ed.). (2007) USA, NY: Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press.

Salerno, R. M. & Gaudioso, J. (2007) Laboratory Biosafety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group

University of Colorado. (2011). Laboratory Safety. Retrieved from http://orgchem.colorado.edu/safety/labsafety.html

World Health Organization. (2004). Laboratory Biosafety Manual (3rd ed.). Retrieved from WHO, Geneva: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/Biosafety7.pdf 

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posted by Michelle, Bernadette, Shanna, Karen, Su Wei, Shi Ting @ 16:08 0 Comments

Scenario 1

Situation:
Sharon, a VeTech level 2.2 student, has done some lab works in her junior years but she is not aware that there are many different kinds of laboratory safety cabinets and different levels of biological safety laboratories. Recently, she learnt that there are 4 biological risk groups and researchers have to conduct their experiments in appropriate biological safety laboratories and use the correct type of biosafety cabinets according to the risk group that they are dealing with. She wants to know more details about those risk groups, different levels of biosafety laboratories and appropriate safety cabinets. She organizes her classmates into groups to learn about those issues and share information via blogs.

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posted by Michelle, Bernadette, Shanna, Karen, Su Wei, Shi Ting @ 13:47 0 Comments