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 2025, when it will be updated with the new theme for next year’s version.
For more information, visit the ABSA International Biosafety and Biosecurity Month website.
ABSA International Biosafety Month
Sponsored by the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) International, October 2024 celebrates the 11th anniversary of the International Biosafety Month initiative with the spotlight on training ideas, stewardship and engagement, how to foster positive relationships within the research community, and supporting responsible and ethical research through our profession.
The Yale EHS Biosafety group is committed to ensuring that individuals working with biohazards and regulated biological materials have the essential information needed to minimize or prevent exposure and comply with various regulations, standards, and guidelines.
This year, we are focusing on the following initiatives:
- Magnets with QR Codes were developed to link to specific EHS websites, documents, and videos, these QR codes provide easy access to different topics:
- Sharps injury prevention (work practices, safe alternatives, magnet)
- Stay inspection ready (checklists, magnet)
- Point of contact/Find my Safety Advisor (magnet)
- Laser safety
- Biomedical waste guidance (waste pickup, resources, magnet)
- Sticker with QR Codes: The QR code on the emergency eyewash sticker directs researchers to instructional videos for various types of eyewashes across Yale’s campuses. Since 2024, EHS safety advisor technicians have been posting thousands of emergency eyewash stickers in laboratories campus-wide.
- ‘My Location’ Magnet: This magnet ensures researchers know their exact location, aiding in faster communication with emergency personnel for quicker response times.
- QR Code Magnet Distribution: At Yale’s Vendor Fair in October 2024, EHS had stands at three campuses—Medical School, West Campus, and Science Hill—to distribute these QR code magnets to researchers. We encourage the use of these magnets on various laboratory equipment, providing easy access to safety information via cell phones.
To boost participation at the vendor fair booth, EHS hosted a raffle where researchers could win Lego sets (BSC, lab bench, or chemical fume hood). To enter the raffle, researchers needed to scan the QR code to find their safety advisor or fill out their ‘My Location’ magnet. Several hundred magnets were distributed through this process.
Additionally, EHS provided researchers with safety glasses lanyards during the event to increase compliance with wearing safety glasses in the lab.
The remaining magnets will be distributed by your safety advisor during the next lab inspection. If you would like to obtain some magnets sooner, please feel free to contact your safety advisor.
