October is the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) International’s Biosafety Month. Launched in 2013, this initiative was created to promote awareness of biosafety, biosecurity, and biorisk management as a profession and to help those who work with or around biohazards understand how biosafety precautions work to protect them, their colleagues, and the environment from biohazard risks.
Yale EHS is promoting International Biosafety Month electronically this year through this website, which will be updated anytime new innovative or pertinent information is identified through October 2022, when it will be updated with the new theme for next year’s version. EHS will email announcements regarding updates through the EHS Integrator registration portal.
For more information, visit the ABSA International Biosafety and Biosecurity Month website.
ABSA International Biosafety Month
Innovation in Biosafety and Biosecurity
ABSA International is proud to announce the 8th anniversary of Biosafety and Biosecurity Month in October 2021. The theme for the 2021 Biosafety Month is: ”Innovation in Biosafety and Biosecurity.”
Please also take time to visit the ABSA International homepage, where vast biosafety resources are available for you.
EHS has selected new and existing biosafety and biosecurity information and has linked them in categories relevant to a researcher’s experience level, or by topics pertinent to different groups. Please click on the any category below to get started.
- Important Biosafety Messages for All Researchers
- Helpful Information for Principal Investigators and Lab Managers
- Biosafety Guidance for New Researchers
- Advanced Biosafety Resources
- Field Safety and Outdoor Work Guidance Information
Important Biosafety Messages for All Researchers
- Aerosols: Why Do I Need to Be Aware of Them if I Work with Biohazards?
- Glove Leak Rates
- Avoid Touching Your Face
- Routes of Exposure
- Risk Assessment Recipe
- Gradiations of Risk
Laboratory infections have been recorded since scientists have documented research with microorganisms.
The Overview of Laboratory Acquired Infections provides links to the published references and includes a brief summary of the biosafety breakdowns that contributed to the infections.
The two references below highlight very important messages regarding laboratory acquired infections.
80% of all published lab acquired infections have an unknown or indetermined route of exposure. Pike RM. 1979. Laboratory-associated infections: incidence, fatalities, causes, and prevention. Annu Rev Microbiol: 33: 41 -66.
In the remaining lab acquired infections where the route of exposure is known, in roughly 80% of these cases, the contributing factors have been tied to a break down in biosafety work practices. Phillips, G.B. 1965b. “Causal Factors in Microbiological Laboratory Accidents and Infections.” Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, Misc. publ. 2. AD 615-012N, (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA.) in Harding, A.L. and Byers, K.B. 2006. Laboratory-Associated Infection,” p. 53-77. In Fleming, D.O. and Hunt, D.L. (ed.), Biological Safety: Principles and Practices, ASM Press, Washington, DC.
Helpful Information For Principal Investigators and Lab Managers
- New Principal Investigator Questionnaire
- Principal Investigator Welcome Letter
- Information for Laboratory Principal Investigators
- Principal Investigator Orientation to Yale Biological Safety Manual
- Yale University Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Policy
- PPE Procedures for Labs
- Public Health Agency of Canada-Pathogen Safety Data Sheets and Risk Assessment
- RDNA Animal Experiments Covered Under the NIH Guidelines
- Recombinant DNA Experiments Registration and Approval Guidelines
- Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid (R/SNA) Molecules
- Risk Groups and Biosafety Levels for Research Involving Recombinant and Synthetic Nucleic Acid (R/SNA) Molecules
Biosafety Guidance for New Researchers
In addition to your introductory laboratory biosafety and chemical safety courses, these links provide additional visual demonstrations of how to protect yourself from biohazards.
- World Health Organization (WHO) Introductory Biosafety Training Videos
- Animal BSL-1 Training (Video)
- Safe and Effective Use of the Biosafety Cabinet (Video)
- Working Safely in Your Biosafety Cabinet (Video)
- Laboratory Safety Trainings
- Emergency Procedures
- Training Compliance Assessment
- Yale University Policy for Working Alone in Labs
- Laboratory Safety Rules
- Laboratory Safety Posters
Additionally, the Researcher Competence Verification Form (and training and emergency procedure links above), will help both the principal investigator and lab manager ensure that new employees are provided with baseline information that is needed to begin to work with biohazards in the lab.
Advanced Biosafety Resources
- BSL-2 Enhanced Training (Video)
- Animal BSL-2 and Animal BSL-3 Trainings (Video)
- Responding to a Blood/Body Fluids or BSL-2 Spill (Video)
- BSL-2+ Work Practice SOP
- BSL-2+ (Enhanced) SOP
- Animal BSL-2+ SOP
- Centrifuge Biocontainment Rotors and Safety Buckets for Biohazards