Team:Hong Kong-CUHK/Safety

All of our team members have received laboratory safety training in May 2015.

The training focuses on biological safety and general & chemical safety.

Specific topics learnt include:

Safety laws and policy Principles of biological Safety
Fire safety and emergency procedures Risk group and biosafety Level
Electrical safety Laboratory practices
Safety information resources including MSDS Bioaerosol
Chemical handling requirements and waste disposal procedures Biosafety cabinet
Use of personal protective equipment Sterilization
Practicing safe science Biowastes
Use of fume cupboards Genetically manipulated organisms

In detail, regarding Biological and Related Safety, we have learned:

Risk‐grouping of microorganisms by type
Biosafety levels
Abbreviated laboratory biosafety level criteria
Handling blood and other "Products" of human origin
Biosafety cabinets
Hazards from "Microbial" aerosols
Working with recombinant DNA
Treatment of biological waste and spill cleanup
Autoclave safety and disinfection
Clinical Waste Disposal

For the laboratory safety training requirements of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, please refer to:

  • Safety Training Requirement

    • Rules and Regulations

    Mr. WAN Yu Kwan & Mr. YIP Sung Tat from the University Safety Office of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is one of the persons responsible for biological safety at our institution. The University Safety Office has done a regular safety check of the lab and the rectification has been carried out by department. We discussed our project with university safety office every year, for evaluation of the project safety issue.

    For the biosafety guidelines of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, please refer to:

    For biosafety regulations of Hong Kong research laboratories, please refer to:

    Risks of our Project

    Current Risks

    1. Regarding the Safety and Health of People Working in Our Lab

    The organisms that we handle are all from Risk group 1, which are in low risk ‐ generally do not cause disease in healthy adult humans. There should not be any severe risks if all steps are handled properly according to biological safety guidelines. On the other hand, there may be risks if the biological waste and spill are not treated properly, or if the recombinant DNA steps are not handled properly.

    2. Regarding the Safety and Health of the General Public & the Environment

    Since the organisms we handle are in Risk group 1, and exist in the natural environment, they do not give high risk to the general public even if they escape from our lab. Any production, such as magnetosome (nano‐magnet) from our lab is far from sufficient to cause public or environmental harm.

    3. Regarding Security through Malicious Misuse by Individuals, Groups or Countries

    Our project does not bear high risk to be maliciously misused by individuals, groups or countries, as it does not have any direct threat to human‐being and human society.

    Future Risks

    As far as we foresee, there will not be any severe new risks arising from the project's ongoing progress. Our project does not have any severe direct risks toward lab workers, the general public, the environment and malicious misuses.

    Measures to Reduce any Risks

    - We ensure that every member of the team has finished the lab safety training course before working in the lab.

    - Teammates have been trained on proper handling of biological and chemical materials before doing lab work alone.

    - In the lab, personal protective equipments (PPEs) are advised to wear according to the requirements.

    - The instructors and advisors have acquired level‐2 biological and chemical lab safety training, to ensure further safety

    - Biological and chemical wastes are disposed properly according to the respective guidelines.

    - We have considered safety issues while choosing the organisms to be use.

    - Also, we have constantly communicated with our supervisors during regular lab meetings, or whenever a problem comes into our concern to ensure the safety of our work.