Difference between revisions of "Team:Bilkent-UNAMBG/Safety"

Safety

Institutional Safety Regulations

As the Bilkent team we conduct our work in the laboratories provided to us by UNAM (National
Nanotechnology Research Center) and all the members who work here are required to go through a
biosafety training. The basic guidelines and the safety orientation can be found here. Laboratory
Safety Committee (LSC) at UNAM develops and manages these environmental and laboratory safety
programs to ensure a safe working place for all and minimize the environmental and health impact of
the laboratory hazards.

Biosafety Level 1 Safety Criteria Applied

Our project is done at a BSL-1 setting and all the standard precautions are taken. You can learn more
about the laboratory biosafety level criteria given by the CDC. Members are instructed how to use the
containment equipment properly and they wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) –white coat and
gloves- at all times.
The K-12 strain of E.coli is used in our experiments and this is a Risk Group 1 lab strain. K-12 can’t
survive in the human digestive system and doesn’t produce toxins. Work with K-12 strain can be
conducted in BSL-1 setting with the regular safety precautions. All cultures, stocks and other
potentially hazardous materials are decontaminated with an effective disinfectant (such as bleach) and
disposed of in their appropriate biohazard waste. Work surfaces and equipment are also
decontaminated with disinfectant after the work is completed.