Team:Leiden/Safety
Lab safety
General safety
For every research scientist, safety has a very high priority. Therefore, all team members attended a GMO seminar before the start of lab work. This seminar was led by Marc Fluttert, the biosafety officer of Leiden University. We learned about risk analyses and classification, risk control and procedures, and how to work safely in a lab. We also talked about incidents/calamities and disinfection and discussed about how to (not) work safely in a lab.
Lab safety
Because we work with E. coli Dh5α and safe plasmids and constructs, we are able to work in a lab classified as biosafety level 1. Out of four, this is the lowest classified safety level which means the experiments done involve little or no risk. All lab work was performed in accordance to the Dutch regulations for lab safety 1
Besides attending the safety instruction, our team members always worked safely in the lab according to the safety regulations of Leiden University. This includes, but is not limited, to the following examples:
- Wearing personal protection such as lab coats, rubber gloves and safety goggles if needed
- Eating, drinking and food storage is prohibited
- Autoclaving all biological waste
- Disinfect your working space before and after use
- Washing hands when leaving the lab
Minimizing risks:
Because of the nature of our project, working with perchlorate and chlorite was insurmountable. To ensure safe working conditions, only a few members with laboratory experience were allowed to work with perchlorate and chlorite. During their work, which was always done in the designated fume hoods, they wore an additional facemask and gloves.
Ethidium bromide was used to stain our gels. We had a special area in the lab equipped for this work and always wore gloves when working there.
We used a different area for meetings, relaxing and other non-lab work which provided a clear cut between lab and office work. This ensured prevention of unnecessary contamination which might occur in a hectic lab.
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