CDC issues guidelines for lab safety culture

The guidelines include recommendations for a culture of safety, laboratory design and architectural planning, risk assessment and more. Here is a sampling of the guideline's recommendations:

•  Establish and enforce a policy for a culture of safety within the laboratory.

•  Identify as many hazards as possible and specify practices and procedures that will minimize or eliminate those hazards.

•  Design options for the microbiology laboratory should include an enclosed component of the overall laboratory, separated by closable doors from other laboratory sections.

•  Identify the hazards associated with an infectious agent or material.

•  Identify the activities that might cause exposure to the agent or material.

•  The laboratory director should create and enforce a laboratory-specific biosafety manual, which should include a range of topics including risk assessment, standard precautions for safe handling of infectious materials, engineering controls and more.