Biosafety Work Practices

For a summary of Biosafety Work Practices, Personal Protective Equipment and Laboratory Facilities, refer to The CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) 6th edition.

Human and other primate materials (i.e. tissues, cells, blood, sera, etc.) are to be handled at biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) and higher. Additionally, work with human materials require compliance with the OSHA "Occupational Exposure to Blood-borne Pathogens" regulation.

To determine what biosafety level (BSL) is appropriate for the biohazardous materials you are working with, consult the following sources of information:

• Public Health Agency of Canada Material Safety Data Sheets
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• American Biological Safety Association Risk Group Classification for Infectious Agents
• NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant and Synthetic DNA Molecules