Which Level of Biosafe Lab Do You Need?

Understanding the principles of biosafety is key to minimizing the chance of laboratory-associated infections and contamination of the environment.

This means working at the appropriate safety level for a given organism or toxin, and also encompasses the use of well-executed risk assessments, the adherence to defined microbiological practices, and effective containment for the level concerned.

This paper outlines the nature of the risk assessments you might be expected to conduct ahead of any given project, either in setting up, upgrading or running a biosafe lab. It goes on to examine best laboratory practices at the different biosafety levels, and ends with a brief look at the safety aspects of a selection of disease organisms.