Team:Bordeaux/Template:PolicyPracticesSafety

Safety

To avoid confusion about the terms "biosecurity", "biosafety" and "biohazard", some people gave a definition of each of these terms.

• Biosafety describes principles, technologies and containment practices put in place to avoid accidents and unintentional exposure to pathogens and toxins.

• Biosecurity describes the protection measures put in place and management of important biological materials in laboratories, in order to prevent them from being accessed without authorization.

• Biohazard includes, in this case, both biosafety and biosecurity.

Reference : http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Biosecurite-dans-les-laboratoires

The team who worked in the lab has received instructions of lab safety with safety training.

• We learned about acting in case of an accident, where to find emergency showers, fire extinguishers and emergency doors.

• Some requirements were discussed as wearing gloves and lab coat for most procedures. In some cases, during the use of ethidium bromide, nitrile gloves are mandatory. Other experiments must be conducted with safety glasses. It is also recommended to wear clothes offering a minimum of protection.

• We also learned about working with chemicals products and how to dispose of them. Most products used are classified as non-hazardous (even for the sulfation protocol). Chemical products are just irritants and so handle it with gloves. In the lab, there is a specific solvent cabinet for liquid wastes.

• Moreover, all biological waste will be autoclaved before disposal. All work is done on benches or under open-front hoods.

• We worked with non-toxic organisms as Escherichia coli (BL21) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Invsc1) but, all waste that has been in contact with bacteria was put to bacterial waste in aseptic conditions.