Biological safety 3 - lab

design, protection, and

barriers
Ibrahim Taib
Dept of Biomedical Science

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Design of laboratories

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Basic Research Laboratories at BSL-
2 (CDC/NIH)

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Basic Research Laboratories at BSL-
2 (CDC/NIH)
• Doors that lock
• Located away from public areas
• Contain a sink for hand washing at areas
where gloves might be removed, can be
foot, knee, or automatically operated

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Basic Research Laboratories at BSL-
2 (CDC/NIH)
• Easily cleaned; no carpets or rugs
• Bench tops impervious to water and
resistant to moderate heat and solvents,
acid, alkalis, and chemicals used for
decontamination

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Basic Research Laboratories at BSL-
2 (CDC/NIH)
• Furniture covered with non-fabric
materials, can support load, and have
spaces accessible for cleaning
• BSCs located away from doors, windows
that can be opened, heavily travelled
areas, other potentially disruptive
equipments
• Eyewash station

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Basic Research Laboratories at BSL-
2 (CDC/NIH)
• Adequate illumination
• Windows fitted with fly screen
• Mechanical ventilation systems promote
inward flow of air

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• Restricted access to buildings
• Entry through two self-closing doors
• Lockable doors

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• Clothes change room near entrance
• Hands-free or automatic operated sink for
hand washing near exit door and areas
where gloves are removed

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• Surface of walls, floors, and ceilings can be
easily cleaned and decontaminated -
sealed seams and spaces between door
and frames, walls that are smooth and
impermeable to liquid , resistant to
chemicals and disinfectants

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 Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• Bench tops as BSL-2
• Furniture as BSL-2
• All windows closed and sealed
• Wastes can be decontaminated in the lab

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• BSCs located away from doors and heavily
travelled areas
• Ducted exhaust ventilation system creates
airflow from clean areas to contaminated
areas; not recirculated to other areas of
the building; outside exhaust air located
away from occupied areas and air intakes,
or have HEPA filters

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Containment research laboratory at
BSL-3 (CDC/NIH)
• HVACs prevent positive pressurization of
lab
• Eyewash station
• Adequate illumination
• Lab is tested and verified before operation
and annually

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Clinical laboratories

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 Clinical laboratories
• Generally BSL-2 but can be BSL-3 for labs
with aerosol-transmissible agents such as
TB
• Counters have space for microscopes and
other equipments

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 Clinical laboratories
• Sinks with water for hand washing and
disposal of nontoxic materials
• Refrigerated blood storage facilities
equipped with temperature monitoring
and alarms

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 Clinical laboratories
• Storage facilities for reagents, standards,
supplies, specimens
• Specimen collection areas may be outside
the laboratory
• Emergency shower and eye flushing
devices
• Sterilisation equipment

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Equipment-associated
hazards

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Equipment-associated
hazards

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 Equipment-associated
hazards
• Animal housing - aerosolisation of dried urine
and feces can lead to infection among those
present in the animal housing rooms

• Centrifuge - generate aerosols when centrifuge

bottles or tubes are filled, or when
centrifugation

• Blenders, mixers, homogenisers - produce

aerosols during operation or when lid is opened

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Personal-protective
equipment

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 Personal-protective
equipment
• Lab coats, scrubs, gowns, aprons,
coveralls
– Open front lab coats for BSL-1 and -2 but
wrap-around or solid-front for BSL-3
– Prevent blood, serum, chemicals from
reaching skin
– Knit cuffs minimise hanging sleeve
versus no cuff sleeves
– Can be contaminated; thus should not
be brought home
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 Personal-protective
equipment
• Gloves
– Vinyl, latex, nitrile for disposable one-
time use
– Holes can form during routine patient
care
– Latex less susceptible to holes than
vinyl; vinyl leaked test phage more often
than latex
– Kevlat and stainless steel mesh protect
from cuts but not needlestick injuries
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 Personal-protective
equipment
• Head coverings
– For product protection or when splashes to the
head are anticipated
– Nonhuman primates
• Shoe coverings
– Generally not necessary
– Cleaning biological or chemical spills
– Product protection
– Rubber-based material for areas with large amount of
water such as during cleaning

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 Personal-protective
equipment
• Eye and face protection
– Protection against splashes

• Positive-pressure suits
– High-containment areas
– Encapsulate worker in a one-piece positive pressure
ventilated suit

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Personal-protective
equipment

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Primary barriers

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Primary barriers

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 Fume hood
• local ventilation
•air exhausted outside
•has airfoil that provides
airflow into fume hood
•recessed work area
contains spill
•connected to an exhaust
fan on the roof of
building

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 Class I BSC
• airfoil does not allow air to
flow into BSC
•seperation of contaminaed
air at the plane of the sash,
i.e. near work opening
•BSC can only operate at
specific sash height
•has HEPA filter to filter out
contaminants from released to
environment
•no variation in intake air flow
velocity as fixed sash height is
required

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 Class II BSC
• also protect product (unlike
fume hood and BSC-1)
•two HEPA filters, for supply and
exhaust
•clean air descends from supply
HEPA filter on contamined
product and splits to two, front
and back
•intake air enters downward in
the front but prevented from
contaminating product by air
from supply HEPA filter
•intake air prevents contaminants
from product to escape BSC
•air exausted through HEPA filter
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