Safety reminders before the holiday break!

Happy holidays!

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http://i.123g.us/

I can feel your excitement for the upcoming holidays! But guess what we have a lot of work to do. Who can relate with this? 

But do not worry my fellow laboratory scientists, we can continue our work after the holidays, right?

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http://38.media.tumblr.com/

However, remember that we are dealing with biohazards so we should not leave our laboratories as it is. We must ensure that our labs are safe to return to when we get back after the holiday break. 

So here are a few safety reminders:

1. Observe surface decontamination. Ensure that your biosafety cabinet is appropriately decontaminated before you leave. All items within BSCs, including equipment, should be surface-decontaminated and removed from the cabinet. Before you leave, guarantee that all work surfaces, the sides, back and interior of the glass shall be wiped with an appropriate disinfectant. 

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http://www.roth-heat.com/

2.  Do not rely solely on UV. In decontaminating your cabinet, you can use the UV light. But make sure you also use disinfectants. Remember, UV light is  not a substitute for routine surface decontamination.

3. Do not use the cabinet as a storage area. Gentle reminder guys, do not overload the cabinet with unnecessary items. Moreover, before you leave, make sure your biosafety cabinet should be free from materials. It should be empty when not in use, since residual culture media may provide an opportunity for microbial growth!

4. Only trained personnel should use the cabinet. Since it requires sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge for you to work safely with biosafety cabinets, make sure only trained personnel should use the cabinet while you are gone. Or better yet, limit the access to the lab. Good news! Some biosafety cabinets have access control provisions ~ key switch and/or password protection feature ~ to make sure only authorized personnel can use the cabinet. Check if your BSC has this feature!

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http://www.rhizolab.com/

 Ooops, for the BSCs that are not yet re-certified, make sure when you come back after the holidays, seek for your BSC's annual re-certification to start the year safe in working with biohazards.