IMPORTANT SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

THESE ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE!

The University’s commitment to workplace health and safety requires each

one of us using the laboratory, staff and students alike, to take responsibility
for our own actions and each other’s safety. This is particularly relevant in a
microbiology laboratory where one person’s actions can impact on the health
and safety of many others.

RISK ALERT BOXES &

RISK ASSESSMENT DATA TABLE
You are responsible for the safety of yourself and the people around you
whilst in the laboratory. In your Practical manual, each Practical section
begins with a “Risk Alert” summary box that highlights the potential risks
associated with the work you will perform in that week’s class. You MUST
REVIEW this information and the more detailed relevant information in the
“Risk Assessment Data Table” prior to class. You must arrive at your Practical
session fully aware of ALL the potential risks and/or hazards you may
encounter in your experimental work. Failure to bring your “Risk Assessment
Data Table” with you to every Practical class will result in a deduction in your
continuous assessment marks for that day. If your demonstrator feels that you
are ill-prepared and NOT RISK AWARE you will be excluded from the
Practical class.

LABORATO RY RULES
Some of the microorganisms that will be studied in class can potentially cause
disease if mishandled. Therefore, great care should be taken in handling
cultures, slides and other materials that have been in contact with living
microorganisms.

Behaviour and activities in the laboratory MUST COMPLY with the Australian
Standards AS/NZS 2243.3:2010: Safety in laboratories Part 3:
Microbiological aspects and containment facilities. The Standard is
available via the link under COMPLIANCE in your LMS PHAR2812 site. You
are provided with an extract of that Standard and are required to complete
the online Compliance quiz stating that you have read the required
biosafety documents and that you will comply with those requirements.
In addition, participation in these practical sessions necessitates
compliance with the formal requirements of the School of Life and
Environmental Sciences.

The following precautions MUST be observed for the safety of

everyone working in the laboratory
ANY student NOT COMPLYING will be REQUIRED to submit a
statement for a University RiskWare report and will be
REQUIRED TO LEAVE.
As you will gain experience handling potentially pathogenic microbes in this
unit of study, your immune status is important.

IMMUNOCOMPETENCE:
It is your responsibility, and you are strongly advised, to contact the
unit coordinator if you have any predisposing condition or issue that
might be relevant to your participation in these practical sessions.

A written statement of permission from your physician may be required for

immune compromised students before attending Microbiology practicals.

PROTECTIVE CLOTHING AND DRESS

1. A robust cotton/fabric laboratory coat must be worn. You must put on

your lab coat when you enter the laboratory, keep it done up while you are
in the laboratory and remove it when leaving. NO COAT = NO
CLASS. Paper/disposable coats are not an acceptable substitute and
will not be allowed. A zip-loc plastic bag will be provided to you for safe
storage and transport of your lab coat.

2. Safety glasses must be worn at all times in the laboratory.

NO GLASSES = NO CLASS. Please note that prescription
eyewear are not acceptable as safety glasses. If you wear
prescription eyewear you must purchase safety glasses that fully cover
your prescription glasses and fit securely to your face.

3. Substantial closed-in non-absorbent shoes must be worn. Thongs,

sandals, soft top canvas shoes, ‘UGG’ boots and ‘ballet flats’, for example,
are unsatisfactory protection and should not be worn in the laboratory.

4. Hair must be tied back. Hair can catch fire in Bunsen burners or become
contaminated with microorganisms if it is not tied back securely. You will
be supplied with a rubber band for tying back your hair if you do not do so
yourself.

5. Specified personal protective clothing and equipment must be worn.

Any protective clothing or equipment specified in the Practical manual or
by the Practical co-ordinator must be worn. Failure to do so will result in
your exclusion from the laboratory.
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Do not eat, drink or smoke in the laboratory and never place pencils,
pens, equipment handles, labels or other materials in your mouth.

2. Mouth pipetting of liquids is banned. A rubber teat or filler must be used

at all times.

3. Personal electronic devices are NOT PERMITTED in the laboratory

including laptops, mobile phones, tablets and iPads.

4. Know where the nearest emergency exit is.

5. Do not sit on the benches.

6. Store bags, coats, umbrellas etc away from your work area under
your bench. Do not put any bags or other personal items on top of the lab
benches, excepting minimal necessary equipment (eg laboratory manual
and pen). Store valuables securely.

7. Do not take cultures from the laboratory.

8. Any culture spill or biological accident must be reported to a

demonstrator immediately so that appropriate clean-up actions can be
taken.

9. Any personal accident must be reported to a demonstrator

immediately so that appropriate action can be taken.

10. Inoculated media must be properly labelled (ie with name, date and the
type of specimen) and put in the appropriate location for incubation or
discard.

11. Turn Bunsen burners off when not in use to keep the laboratory cool
and prevent wastage and pollution.

12. At the beginning of each Practical class wipe your bench down with
disinfectant and paper towel.

13. At the end of each Practical:

• Discard all used tubes, plates, pipettes, cultures etc in the correct
place.
• Clear the bench top of all equipment except the disinfectant bottle.
• Swab down bench top with disinfectant and paper towel.
• Wash your hands with antiseptic soap before leaving the laboratory.

At ANY time when needing to leave the laboratory:

First, remove your lab coat and safety glasses and
wash your hands with antiseptic soap BEFORE leaving the laboratory.
 REMEMBER:
FAILURE TO COMP LY WITH A NY OF THESE
RULES WILL RESULT IN YOUR EXCLUSION FROM THE
LABORATORY

EMERGENCIES

In case of an EMERGENCY alarm, remain CALM, your demonstrator will

escort you to the designated emergency exit for assembly on the lawn in front
of the Molecular Bioscience Building, G08.

CORRECT DISPOSAL OF WASTE

For a convenient summary of the correct disposal of waste in this
microbiological laboratory, see following page.

In essence:

• Contaminated glassware: eg cultures in glass McCartney bottles/flasks

→ stainless steel buckets for autoclaving and recycling
• Contaminated plastics: eg cultures in plastic Petri dishes/swabs/tongue
depressors
→ autoclave bag for sterilisation and disposal
• Contaminated ‘Sharps’: eg Pasteur pipettes/scalpel blades/syringe
needles
→ yellow ‘Sharps’ bucket for sterilisation and disposal
• Contaminated glass pipettes
→ plastic pipette canisters containing disinfectant for sterilising and
recycling
• Used paper hand towel and general rubbish
→ rubbish bins for discard