Team:UCSC/Safety

Safety

At UCSC, we're devoted to having a safe working environment. In accordance with the UC Office of the President's Lab Safety Training Policy, all students completed approved comprehensive lab safety training. This lab safety training is currently offered as a course, "Laboratory Safety Fundamentals." This course can be accessed through the UC Learning Center.

Students using autoclaves and centrifuges were given additional training.

All students know the importance of wearing PPE, meaning long pants, lab coat, gloves and safety glasses when in the lab, even when experiments are not being performed. Additionally, all of the organisms we used were BSL 1 (B. subtilis, E. coli, L. plantarum, and L. florum).

Several bodies in addition to the UC system serve as resources for appropriate safety protocols:

• Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• National Institute of Health (NIH)
• American Biological Safety Association (ABSA)

All of our team members are aware of the importance of safety and we are grateful to work in a lab that puts such importance on it.