1.2 - Safety and Rules in a Biology Laboratory

In order to ensure the safety of all lab users, there are a few standard operating procedures (SOP) that must be followed to avoid unintended accidents. Students must adhere to some of the general safety rules whenever they are in the lab. They need to also recognize and understand some of the protective equipment present in the lab to protect or help themselves when accidents occur.

Figure 2 - This is the basic protective equipment that must be worn by all lab users in order to protect themselves from any chemical or biological hazards. Before and after each experiment, it is very important to wash our hands with soap and water.

PPE :

• Safety goggles:

  • To protect our eyes from hazardous materials.

• Lab/Face mask:

  • To prevent us from inhaling toxic gases or pathogenic organisms.
  • To prevent saliva or respiratory droplets from contaminating the specimens/tissue or cell cultures.

• Lab/Surgical gloves:

  • To protect our hands from corrosive or dangerous materials in the lab.
  • To prevent contamination to the specimens/tissue or cell cultures.

• Lab coat:

  • Lab coats are designed to be long in order to protect our arms and hands from any chemicals that we are working with.

• Long pants & Covered shoes:

  • Wear long pants and covered shoes to protect us from any chemical spillage or splashes that can be hazardous.

Figure 3 - It is important for all to study and know the methods of using the emergency shower station and eye wash station. When chemical spillage comes in contact with our body or eyes, immediately wash off the hazardous substances with water.

Figure 4 - The use of fume hood , laminar flow and biosafety cabinet is important when the experiments involved hazardous fumes, volatile liquids, pathogenic organisms or in need of a sterile condition. Fume hood is needed when we deal with hazardous gases such as concentrated hydrochloric acid. Laminar flow is used when a sterile condition is needed, for example, when dealing with cells/tissues cultures. Different classes of biosafety cabinets are used based on the level of protection needed and the specimens of interest.

Biological Waste Management

After every experiment, wastes must be disposed properly. Biological wastes which may contain blood, blood products or biohazardous agents have to be disposed separately from other wastes as they may cause harm to the environment. The methods for managing different categories of biological wastes are simplified in the table below (Table 1).

Categories

• Category A (sharp wastes):

  • Example: Biomedical wastes which include any kind of tools that can puncture or lacerate the skin such as needles, scalpels, blades and other materials that can cut the skin.
  • Management: Sharp wastes must be disposed into sharp bin. It is not compulsory to sterilize the bin.

• Category B (non-sharp wastes):

  • Example: Non-sharp items like gloves, masks, tissue papers, petri dishes and others.
  • Management: Non-sharp wastes need to be placed inside heat resistant bags and autoclaved for decontamination before disposed into biohazard bin.

• Category C (animal carcasses):

  • Example: Organs, tissues, cultured cells, or dead animal models such as mice and rats.
  • Management: Animal wastes ought to be wrapped in tissue papers and packed inside a biohazard plastic bag and frozen.

• Category D (liquid wastes)

  • Example: Culture media, blood, animal excreta or other liquid media.
  • Management: All liquid wastes have to be autoclaved before disposal. Sterilized liquid wastes must be disposed instantly.

Table 1 Most of the biomedical wastes need to be autoclaved and stored in a proper storage place before scheduled disposal by the company. Autoclave is most commonly used for sterilization and decontamination. This process is done at a very high temperature (121°C) and pressure (15 psi) for 20 minutes to thoroughly kill all foreign organisms or materials that may be present on the lab equipment.

Accidents in the Laboratory

Sometimes, accidents can still happen in the lab due to carelessness, negligence or stress. There are a few general steps that can help in managing accidents if they do occur in the lab.