Biohazards equipment

Quality systems require that facilities and equipment should be appropriate to the activities undertaken. Surfaces that are easy to clean and maintain in hygienic condition are a requirement in many situations. For example, cloth-backed chairs would not be acceptable in a laboratory that handled potentially biohazardous materials. Equipment should be checked at installation to demonstrate that it can perform its desired function. This is frequently done using an Installation Qualification, Operational Qualification and Performance Qualification (IQ /OQ/PQ) commissioning process. Routine maintenance and calibration programmes are then required to ensure that equipment continues to deliver the specified performance. 

Sometimes in the design of a BSL-4 facility, the full letter of health and safety codes/requirements for the protection of workers can not be met. This is where health and safety specialists must compromise and use their ingenuity to meet the intent of the requirements. For example, it is not always possible to provide a secondary means of egress from each area. Two change facilities are not cost effective or practical. A viable alternative is the use of airlocks with built-in liquid disinfection systems which are not hazardous to humans, but destroy the biohazard. These airlocks must be clearly identified as others are often used for transportation of equipment and other materials and contain hazardous disinfection systems. 

A laboratory must provide adequate and, if necessary, separate space for the performance of routine and specialized procedures. Examples of specialized procedures include aseptic surgery, necropsy, histology, radiography, handling of biohazardous materials, and cleaning and sterilizing of equipment and supplies. 

Parts 58.41 through 58.51 cover the physical facihties of the laboratory. The inspector must determine whether or not the facilities are of adequate size and design for completed or in-process studies. The physical parameters and systems of the facilities as they are used to accommodate the various operations employed in the GLP studies are examined. Investigators also deal explicitly with the environmental control and monitoring procedures for critical areas, especially the rooms used for animal housing, the test article storage areas, and the laboratory areas in which biohazardous material is handled. The procedures and methods for cleaning equipment and areas critical to study conduct as well as the cur-... 

All gloves, masks, shields, and TiVek gowns are disposable and should be left with the responding EMS crew in the appropriate biohazard bag obtained from such crew. In the event that no EMS crew is present, all contaminated disposable equipment shall be collected, put in a red plastic biohazard bag, and disposed of at a hospital. 

Safety precautions. Instructions for collection and processing of biohazardous samples, chemical safety, and the use of chemical hoods and personal protective equipment (gloves, face shields). 

A set of equipment and procedures used to prevent or minimize the exposure of humans and their environment to biohazardous agents or materials. 

Chemicals or Biohazards Involved Equipment Involved / ID Number ... 

Workers in hotels and other buildings can encounter biohazards during cleaning of rooms, washrooms, linens, or equipment or handling waste and waste containers. 

Allner, K. (1985). Laboratory and equipment design for containment of biohazards. In. Comprehensive Biotechnology. The Principles, Application and Regulations of Biotechnology in Industry, Agriculture and Medicine. (Cooney, C.L. and Humphry, A.E. eds). Pergamon Press New York, pp. 468-485. 

They are imposed by multiple agencies to protect the public s health and safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is one of the agencies that set standards in biohazard cleanup laws. According to OSHA, persoimel associated with the biological cleanup must be trained, immunized, and properly equipped to do so. 

In addition, contaminated equipment which is to be serviced or shipped must have a readily observable label attached which contains the biohazard symbol and the word biohazard along with a statement relating which portions of the equipment are contaminated. 

Control of aseptic environment, operation in a biohazard/laminar flow hood is easily implemented, as is the optimum placement of ancillary equipment... 

Physical containment of biohazards is achieved through the use of primary and secondary barriers. Primary barriers, the first line of defense against the release of a biohazardous agent, are the measures used to contain the experimental material, and include both techniques and equipment. In the context of this chapter, however, they refer to the use of items of equipment, particularly safety cabinets. Primary barriers are used to provide physical separation of the worker and experimental materials to prevent injury to the worker, provide physical separation of the experimental work from the environment to prevent contamination of the work, and control the release of aerosols created by the work which could pose a hazard for the researcher. 

The basic facility usually consists of a general laboratory with certain design features and operational practices intended to limit the possibility of exposure to and release of biohazardous agents. However, no containment equipment is required and specialized ventilation systems are unnecessary. The facility must be checked to be certain that it does indeed provide for sufficient control and containment of any agent to be used. 

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