Department of Biology Safety and Security Information

                  

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Topics addressed below include:

·       Chemical/Biological Safety Training

·       Radiation Safety Training

·       Animal Care Orientation

·       Biological Safety

·       Bloodborne Pathogens

·       Human Cell Lines

·       Points of Emphasis for safety in the department

·       Map showing training locations at the Health Sciences Center

·       Questions and answers about biological safety

·       Building Security (information will be added at a later date)

Additional safety information is available from the Office of Environmental Safety and Services

 

Chemical/Biological Safety Training

 

New laboratory personnel are required to attend a two-hour chemical/biological safety training session.  After completion of the initial training, a one-hour refresher lab safety training session is required annually.  A training schedule will be periodically updated.  More information about chemical safety, including a link to a chemical waste transfer form, is available at the OESS web site.  [back to topic list]

 

Radiation safety training

The Office of Radiation Safety provides a five-hour safety training session about once a month.  The latest schedule is at the OESS web site.  [back to topic list]

 

Animal Care Orientation

Before working with animals on approved Animal Usage protocols, lab personnel must attend a one-hour animal care orientation session.  The schedule is available at the Department of Comparative Medicine web site.  [back to topic list]

 

Biological safety

 

Authorization from the Institutional Biosafety Committee is required before use of biological agents that could potentially harm humans.  Use of replication-deficient viral vectors (e.g. adenovirus, lentivirus, etc.) requires IBC approval.  NIH has recently issued guidelines for biosafety when using lentiviral vectors.  More information about principles of biosafety is available from the CDC’s “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories  (BMBL)”  web site.  More information about biological safety at SLU is at the OESS web site and in the Questions and answers about biological safety

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Bloodborne pathogens

 

If your work includes activities that may result in exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (e.g. human cell lines, human tissues, etc.), you may need to complete bloodborne pathogens training and develop a written exposure control plan for your lab.  See the OESS training web page for more information.  [back to topic list]

 

 

Human cell lines

 

Unless human cell lines have been specifically found to be free of HIV, hepatitis viruses, and several other bloodborne pathogens, they should be used with the same care as is accorded to cell lines and tissue samples that are known to contain bloodborne pathogens.  More information about human cell lines is available from OESS.  [back to topic list]

 

 

Points of emphasis

 

A checklist of lab safety issues is available on a copy of the Environmental Safety Laboratory Safety form.

 

Safety issues that have drawn recent attention of Office of Environmental Safety Services staff visiting our department include:

 

·       Volatile chemical waste should be stored in labeled waste containers, not allowed to evaporate under a chemical hood.

·       Each lab is only allowed to have one waste container for each type of waste that is collected.

·       Waste containers should be properly labeled (PI, room/building, phone number, chemical contents of waste, date the collection was started, and date the collection was ended).  A waste container may only be used for one year before it should be transferred to OESS.

·       Please also focus on the following:

1.    Has everyone in the lab attended Lab Safety Training?

2.    Is lab-specific safety training documented for all lab personnel?

3.    Are the chemical inventory and MSDS (for all hazardous chemicals) available?

4.    If you have an eye wash station, is it being checked and documented weekly?

5.    Is the fume hood too crowded?

6.    Are emergency numbers posted by the phone?

7.    Are the vacuum system flasks labeled properly (e.g. identify contents)?

8.    Are there any obvious hazards or unsafe work practices?

9.    Is the SLU emergency response guide posted?

10.                       Have you posted a sign on the lab door indicating PI contact information, when the lab is available to housekeeping staff, etc.?

11.                       Are you using hazardous biological agents, including human cell lines, that require Institutional Biosafety Committee approval?  Click here to find more information about what types of biological agents are hazardous.

 

         

 

 

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Campus maps

  map of Health Sciences Center area

 

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Questions and answers regarding biological safety

 

Is Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) approval required for use of any agent that is Risk Group 2 (RG2) or higher?  Yes, actually, it is required for some Risk Group 1 (RG1) agents also depending on what you are doing with them.  RG-2 agents (requiring Biosafety Level 2 procedures), definitely.

 

Is IBC approval required for use of replication-deficient viral vectors (e.g. adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, or lentivirus) for transduction of mammalian cells?  Yes, Replication deficient adenovirus is actually considered an RG2 agent according to the NIH Guidelines.  We are not so much interested in the vector as we are about the genes that are being delivered and expressed.  AAV has recently been associated with liver carcinomas as published recently in Science.

 

Are the viral vectors listed above all Risk Group 2 (RG2), requiring Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) handling procedures?  Yes.

 

Is IBC approval and bloodborne pathogen plan (BBP) required for use of any human cell line?  IBC approval is required for research involving biological agents.  If a laboratory only works with human cells or other materials covered under the BBP Standard, with no association of other biological agents, and has taken the BBP training, no IBC application is required.

 

What are the general guidelines for biosafety practices?  Check the CDC summary.

 

Are there Biosafety Guidelines for work with recombinant DNA in plants?  Yes.  Check the plant biosafety guidelines and/or refer to the “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories  (BMBL)”  web site.

 

 

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