Biosafety in the laboratory - VIB

In addition to following these safe working practices, it is important to
1. keep a detailed laboratory notebook, containing a daily account of all biological materials
used and all manipulations performed
2. routinely check the biological material you work with. If you receive material from a
colleague, you should always check whether it is indeed the material you expected to
receive (check the strain, the plasmid and its restriction pattern). It is equally important
to check your own strains on a regular basis. Alternatively, you can start from a new,
clean stock on a regular basis.
Any basic laboratory facility where the safe microbiological techniques are applied, meets
the requirements of containment level 1. The laboratory itself does not need to be equipped
with more than the basic facilities, such as a floor, wall, ceiling, smooth, readily cleanable
work surfaces and a sink. Containment levels 2, 3 and 4 require a number of additional
precautions, a.o.:
• gloves should be worn when experiments are being conducted
• access to the laboratory is restricted to authorised personnel only
• an insect and rodent control programme is in effect
• all liquid effluents released from sinks and showers should be inactivated
• additional measures to prevent the creation of aerosols should be taken, for instance,
procedures with a potential for creating aerosols should be conducted within a safety
cabinet
• clothing should be decontaminated before leaving the facility
• etc...
An overview of the requirements of containment levels 1 to 4 is given in annex 1.
The use of gloves
There are many misunderstandings regarding the use of gloves and in many cases gloves
provide a false sense of safety. For level 1 activities gloves are not required. The application
of the safe microbiological techniques is sufficient to work safely. Gloves are no basic
requirement for level 2 either. But they should be worn when direct contact with the biological
material poses a hazard, or prick or cutting injuries might occur, for instance when
people are working with sharps and biologically hazardous material. Gloves are mostly
used to prevent contamination of the experiment with micro-organisms, DNA or RNA present
on your hands. One should not forget, however, that gloves can bear this material
just as well, especially when they have been worn for a longer period of time and when
they have been in contact with all kinds of materials. Thus, when using gloves, laboratory
staff should keep the following guidelines in mind:
Containment: a combination of infrastructure and working practices 27