Biohazard is defined as an infectious agent, or part thereof, presenting a real or potential risk to the well-being of man, animals and/or plants, directly through infection or indirectly through disruption of the environment. Biosafety Levels 1 through 4 were established by the Centers for Disease Control & the National Institutes of Health & are combinations of laboratory practices & techniques, safety equipment & facilities. All of these levels are appropriate for the biohazard posed by the agents used and for the laboratory activity. Each biohazard containment facility must be individually designed & constructed, so that it not only contains the hazardous material, but also is easily maintained with minimum potential exposure to maintenance & housekeeping personnel, and has flexibility for future projects. In general one should have safety equipment and facilities appropriate for work done with indigenous or exotic agents with a potential for respiratory transmission which may cause serious and potentially lethal infection. Emphasis is placed on primary & secondary barriers to protect personnel in the contagious area, the community & the environment from exposure to potentially infectious aerosols. A Class I or Class II biological safety cabinet is required for work involving these agents.

The following procedures are to be adopted inside the biosafety cabinets, wait at least five minutes to allow the BSC to contain aerosols, wear a lab coat, safety glasses and gloves during cleanup, allow the cabinet to run during cleanup, apply disinfectant & allow a minimum of 20 minutes contact time, wipe up spillage with disposable disinfectant-soaked paper towels, wipe the walls, work surface & any equipment in the cabinet with a disinfectant soaked paper towel, discard contaminated disposable materials using appropriate biohazardous waste disposal procedures (autoclave or BFI), place contaminated reusable items in biohazard bags, autoclavable pans with lids orwrap in newspaper before autoclaving & cleanup, expose non-autoclavable materials to disinfectant (20 minute contact time) before removal from the BSC, remove protective clothing used during cleanup & place in a biohazard bag for autoclaving, run the cabinet 10 minutes after cleanup before resuming work or turning the cabinet off. Inside the lab & outside the BSC, clear the area of all personnel & wait at least 15 minutes for aerosol to settle before entering the spill area. Remove any contaminated clothing and place in a biohazard bag to be autoclaved & put a disposable gown, safety glasses & gloves. Initiate the cleanup with a disinfectant.

For chemical spills on a person the following procedure is to be adopted, wash the affected area (skin, eye) with water for 15 min. using the safety shower, eyewash or tap, depending on the location of the contaminated area, remove contaminated clothing, there are disposable overalls available, which can be used as spare clothing, call for help, if required. First Aid personnel can be contacted using the names & phone numbers posted beside the phones & in corridors. Emergency contact numbers are beside the telephones. Complete an accident/incident report form & return it to the Head of School. For a surface spill, clean up a spill wearing chemically resistant gloves, coat, goggles, chemical respirator and, if necessary, call the safety advisor or a member of the technical staff. Spillage absorption granules are available in each laboratory & will soak up spills quickly by simply pouring the granules onto the spill, they will also help absorb some of the smell. The residue from the cleanup should be stored in a container with a lid, which can be sealed, a plastic container may be used if the chemicals do not react with the container. The container should be labeled with a waste label and given to the technician in charge of waste.

Before choosing a disinfectant, companies should consider the work being performed in the facility, the effectiveness of the disinfectant, how it will be applied, how it might impact the air handling system, and what contamination, if any, it might create in the room. Companies may end up using multiple disinfectants, rotating them and treating them more often for the greatest effectiveness. In most BL3 or BL4 biosafety facilities, paraformaldehyde is used to decontaminate a lab or a room. While it is strong enough to kill highly infectious and potentially toxic organisms economically, it is also more dangerous to personnel than other disinfectants. Air handling systems must be designed to contain the formaldehyde per federal regulations, and personnel must wear protective clothing when using it. Other disinfectants are chlorinated or chlorine derivatives, which also pose high risks to humans. And instead of killing an agent, they may help create a more complex or potent material than the one they were meant to kill. Vaporized hydrogen peroxide is an option that can be effective in small, confined spaces. Peroxide is attractive because it is relatively benign, but it may not be as effective for the more serious agents. Another decontamination consideration is autoclaving requirements for solid or infectious materials.

Containers must: be appropriate for the contents, not leak, be properly labeled & maintain their integrity if chemical or thermal treatment is used. Containers of biohazardous material should be kept closed, Metal Sharps -- Use a rigid, puncture-resistant container (heavy-walled plastic is recommended) suitable for encapsulation & disposal. Container and encapsulated contents must withstand an applied pressure of 40 psi without rupture. Pasteur Pipets & Broken Glassware - Use a rigid, puncture-resistant container (plastic, heavy card board or metal) that can be sealed. Solid Biohazardous Waste -- Use heavy-duty plastic Biohazard Bags (autoclave bags) or containers for solid biohazardous waste. Non-Hazardous Solid Biological Waste - Use heavy-duty plastic bags or other appropriate containers without a Biohazard Symbol. Red or orange biohazard bags or containers should not be used for non-hazardousmaterial. Liquids - Use leak-proof containers that are able to withstand thermal or chemical treatment. Biological waste may be held temporarily under refrigeration, prior to disposal, in a safe manner that does not create aesthetic (visual or odor) problems. Biohazardous waste should be treated and disposed of promptly & not allowed to accumulate. Containers holding biohazardous material must be clearly labeled, including the Biohazard Symbol. Temporary holding areas for biohazardous waste must be clean and orderly with no access to unauthorized persons (warning signs should be posted).

Eye protection is an essential part of workplace safety in laser environments. Laser safety glasses with plastics filters are 20 times more shock-proof than any other mineral glass of identical thickness. Therefore, they provide increased breakage safety and are a lot lighter. The filter material is thoroughly blended with pigments and absorbers. The performance of these laser goggles is not affected by scratches or potential inclusions in the material. Laser protection goggles for medicine, biotechnology, telecommunication, material handling and laboratory applications are available. Numerous filters for most purposes ensure that you will find the right protective eyewear.

Fume scrubbers are optimally designed to save space, as well as provide effective air pollution control and operator safety protection for fume hoods. This is especially important for perchloric acid fume hoods, so as to prevent a build-up of potentially explosive perchlorate salts on the exhaust fan, as well as on the exhaust ducting system. Contaminated exhaust fumes from the fume hood enters the unit, passes through the packed bed (bottom filter), then through the liquid spray section, a mist eliminator (top filter), then into the exhaust system for release to the building exterior. The scrubbing liquor is collected in the reservoir in the bottom section and is recirculated by the pump back to be used in the liquid spray section. The exhaust fumes and the scrubbing liquor pass in a counter current fashion, resulting in efficient gas/liquid contact.

Gloveboxes and isolators are used to contain hazardous substances or materials that must not come in contact with the outside environment. Gloveboxes and isolators are used for both protecting personnel & protecting the isolator product by maintaining secure containment fields. These fields are necessary for handling hazardous material including radioactive or toxic compounds. Gloveboxes and isolators are typically airtight containers that can also provide sterile environments that are oxygen-controlled & moisture-controlled. They have specially-sealed ports that are fitted with gloves allowing operators to manipulate the objects and substances inside the isolator. The glove ports can come in round or oval shapes and are fitted with cuff rings to seal the port from the outside environment. Gloveboxes and isolators can also come with iris ports, which are self-sealing silicone ports that seal tightly around the operator's bare hands & arms. These ports enable operators to work with small or delicate materials that are difficult to handle with gloves.

Only personnel trained and approved by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) are allowed to ship out infectious materials. Shipping boxes are limited to eighty (80) pounds maximum capacity. All boxes must be double lined with bags provided by the approved vendor. Sharps placed into these shipping containers must be contained in sharps containers. These bags must be tied off before closure and the outer bag must be labeled with the generators name, address & telephone number. Unlabeled, bulging, crushed, or leaking boxes will be refused by the vendor. Manifests must be filled out for all shipments.

Protective clothing is to protect the body of the worker while dealing with chemical or biological compound. Different type of aprons (rubber, plastic or PVC) give different levels of protection to the body. When dealing with combustable material, fire-retardant type of apron or other mean of protective clothing need to be used. Street clothing that covers the arms, legs & trunk of the body and/or laboratory coats must be worn when working with chemicals. Laboratory clothing that has been contaminated must be removed immediately and, in certain circumstances, disposed of properly. A protective glove is used to avoid the contact of chemical (corrosive or toxic) or specimen with the workers fingers/hands/skin/arms since some of these compound can cause irritation, dermatitis or even burn.

Face shield is a device to protect the eye and faces of the wearer while dealing with laboratory work such as burning test of chemical compounds, such as magnesium. Safety goggles with side shields or a face shield are required where there is a risk of eye damage from flying projectiles involved in a task like grinding, construction or agricultural activities. Working in an environment with multiple risks requires wearing safety goggles and a face shield. Contact lenses are discouraged for laboratory work. Impact resistant face shields must be worn when handling explosive chemicals. Working with liquid nitrogen and operating vacuum equipment or steam sterilizing equipment pose risks of explosive breakage. Wearing an impact resistant face shield is recommended. When working with explosive chemicals or certain radioactive materials, free-standing safety shields are required. High-quality face shields should be optically clear, distortion-free and 7mil film thick. Polyester lens is treated with antifog and antistatic coating. The headpiece is held in place by a stretch strap and includes a latex-free, hypoallergenic foam band for comfortable extended wear.

Mats provide added protection in areas requiring a greater degree of contamination control. Adhesive mats have a ten adhesive-coated, closed-cell disposable polyfoam sheets, pick up more contaminants & last longer than conventional mats. Moderate tacks, sheet pull-tabbed for easy peel-off removal. Adhesive mats with plastic frames are double contoured & facilitate easy & trip-free movement of personnel & wheeled equipment on and off surface. Refill mats are easy to install-simply remove the protective paper from the adhesive strips on the bottom & press onto the cleaned floor. Hard surface adhesive mats are useful for sanitary conditions in cleanrooms. When the top sheet becomes soiled, just peel it off to expose the fresh clean surface. Reorder notification is provided on the 18th sheet. Adhesive entryway mats trap contaminating dirt, dust & bacteria before they invade cleanrooms. They are 2mil thick polyethylene sheets coated with environmentally friendly waterborne acrylic adhesive. A pull-tab system makes it easy to peel off the top sheet when it becomes soiled, the remaining sheets stay intact and clean. It will not curl, tear or wrinkle and the adhesive will not transfer to footwear. It is treated with an antimicrobial agent.

Ionising radiation can be observed and quantified by specific instruments, but not by sense organs of humans. The most commonly used methods for radiation monitoring and detection are outlined in brief in the following, -dosimeters are used for monitoring the total radiation dose of a person in a certain working period. The radiation measurement is based on specially prepared films that accumulate the radiation. -Radiation meters are used for on-line radiation measurements. The measurement technique is usually based on Geiger-Muller gas tubes. These tubes have certain minimum radiation window thickness that prevents low energy radiation detection. -Beta counters used in biological laboratories are based on light emitting liquid scintillators. The scintillation liquid is mixed with the radioactive labelled sample liquid. The generated light is collected and detected by photo multiplier tubes. -Gamma counters are usually based on scintillation crystals. The measured sample is put close to the crystal, which emits light when radiated by the gamma rays & the light is collected.

Use protective gloves. Do not contaminate objects or surfaces using radioactively contaminated gloves. If it is possible to obtain radioactive material on your gloves, use double gloves for safe removal. A protective coat must be used in the isotope laboratory. Keep it buttoned. In some radioactive procedures, a lead shield must be included. At work one should have shoes which are not used outside the laboratory. In the C class laboratory, it is not absolutely necessary to change the coat or shoes when entering or leaving the isotope laboratory

A sharp is any glass, metal, plastic instrument or item that can cut or has the potential to cut, puncture, scratch or abrade skin, whether it is contaminated or not. Using this definition a pipette tip is considered sharp and must be placed in a sharps container. If you have any doubt, use a sharps container for disposal. Sharps shall be segregated from other wastes and aggregated immediately after use in leak proof, rigid, puncture-resistant, shatterproof containers provided by the Office of Environmental Health & Safety. Sharps containers' are leakproof & puncture resistant and made of polypropylene. It has a unique and permanently locking snap-top lid, which seals the container & prevents the spilling of contents. Rounded edges prevent cutting while being handled. It is easily stackable for storage in environments with limited space It is specially designed according to ISO9001 standards for safe disposal of contaminated waste.

Storage cabinet is a cleanroom-safe polypropylene cabinet for today's most demanding manufacturing and laboratory environments. Every cabinet stands up to the most stringent cleanroom/safety requirements. Now you can have years of clean, safe storage of your hazardous acid/corrosive chemicals and materials with out the rusting due to metal construction or the delaminating of wood core products. Polypropylene is the material of choice for acid and corrosive cabinet chemical storage. All acid cabinets are welded inside & out, have overlapping doors with a 3-point latching system and a 2″ deep spill containment base area to provide a 100% liquid-tight, safe environment. Most cabinets have an integral exhaust design available in two styles, first is the Plenum/Top Exhaust cabinet design. This is an internal exhaust plenum with exhaust slots above the storage area. Air is drawn in from the inlet to flow to each of the exhaust slots. The result is uniform and complete exhausting of all fumes. Also, acid cabinets can be placed side by side using less valuable floor space. Second is the Side Exhaust cabinet design. Air is supplied from the left side air inlet connection and leaves via the top right exhaust outlet. This exhaust design may provide less uniform airflow, especially with the doors open. Options include - air intake slots in the doors, self-closing (non-latching) doors, adjustable shelves, pass through designs, FM4910 approved polypropylene materials and custom designs & sizes to meet any requirement.

Hazardous material storage containers are designed to hold, store and/or transport hazardous materials. Many types of products are available. Examples include bags, barrels, bottles, boxes, cabinets, cans, carrying cases, coolers, drums, envelopes and folders. ATA cases are manufactured to meet the requirements of the Air Transportation Association (ATA), a trade organization for major airlines. Cylinders are pressure tanks for the containment, storage and/or transportation of gases. Garages have large entry doors and are designed to store machinery or transportation equipment. Shelters are structures for housing and protecting instrumentation or personnel. Both indoor and outdoor configurations are also available. Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) have a capacity of not more than three cubic meters and are suitable for mechanical handling. ISO containers are used for the intermodal transport of freight. These hazardous material storage containers are manufactured according to specifications from the International Standards Organization (ISO) & are suitable for multiple transportation methods, such as truck & rail, or rail and ship. Hazardous material storage containers are made of many different materials.

Wipers provide a virtually lint-free cleaning performance and absorb quickly for big cleanups. They are made of 100% continuous filaments, double-knit polyester. Pure CL3 Wipers absorb liquids on contact and are solvent & abrasion resistant. They have 4 laser-sealed edges to minimize particle generation, and are clean room laundered & water filtered to 0.2 micron. Polyester wipers are compliant with AAMI Guidelines and gamma irradiated to 10-6 Sterility Assurance Level. Both types are suited for surface wiping tasks in ISO Class 3 or higher clean rooms. A new wiper with Particle Attraction Technology (PAT) has been released by one organization. These wipers are not only clean to begin with (exhibiting low fibers and particles), but they provide a differential amount of particle pickup, wipeablility and particle retention. Testing protocol has produced data that proves these wipers attract 35 times more particles than similar products. These sealed-edge, ISO Class 1-laundered, polyester clean room wipers also retain the particles they capture rather than releasing the particles back into the clean environment. PAT wipers minimize any fear or risk of contamination. PAT wipers are intended for use in the electronics & life-sciences (pharmaceutical, biotech & medical device) markets and are fit for use in Class 1 to Class 1000 (ISO Class 1 to Class 6) clean room environments.