Precautions and Safety Concerns

A. Do not eat, drink, mouth-pipette, or smoke in the BSL-3 facility!

B. Sharps and Glass

The major causes of infection of laboratory personnel by human retroviruses are scratches, cuts, and needle-stick injuries. Because of this, the following are not allowed in the BSL-3 facility without proper safety training and precautions and prior authorization from the Laboratory Manager: hypodermic needles; razors or scalpel blades; glass pipettes; pasteur pipettes; and laboratory glassware. All medium and solutions used inside the facility are to be contained ONLY in plastic bottles. Plastic and/or disposable alternatives must be used for all glassware items which have such suitable alternatives. Any other items which might pose some danger (e.g., damaged apparatus) must be disposed of immediately.

HIV patient samples arrive in glass tubes. Specific handling procedures for these glass tubes are covered in sections 11.C.3 and 12 of this Code of Practice, but a good rule of thumb when handling them is "the less amount of handling, the less chance of accident".

C. Personal Protective Equipment

Before entering the BSL-3 facility, users must "gown up" in the entryway. BSL-3 users must wear the provided gloves and back-fastening lab coats at all times while in the facility. Users must also wear conventional shoes, socks, and long trousers or the provided disposable shoe cover and pant alternatives. Disposable yellow sleeves must be used working at the hoods or if working with radioactive materials. Face masks and eye shields are provided both within the entryway and inside the BSL-3 facility. Other disposable personal protective equipment, such as hairnets, is also provided for users inside the entryway.

The lab coats provided are reusable. There are double-sided lockers within the entry and exit ways of the facility for lab coat storage between uses. The lab coats should be thrown away after 5 uses or if they have become contaminated.

Double gloves are mandatory when working in the BSL-3 facility. The first pair of gloves, ones that should be long enough to tuck gown sleeves under the latex, is provided in the entryway. The second pair of gloves is provided inside the facility and should be changed frequently, particularly when the user changes stations (e.g., when the user is moving from a biosafety cabinet to the microscope or the computer; or when the user is answering the phone). While inside the facility, users should not touch their faces, eyes, hair, or exposed skin.

Minor skin abrasions should be protected by applying bandages under the first pair of gloves. Users should not work in the BSL-3 laboratory if they have skin abrasions, cuts, or conditions that seriously impair the integrity of the skin. BSL-3 users should also not use petroleum jelly or other agents that weaken glove latex.

D. Serological Surveillance

A study concerning the serological monitoring of HIV workers reported by the Division of Safety, National Institutes of Health USA, and published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, Vol. 37 No. S-4, pp. 19-22, recommends:

"serum samples should be obtained at least once a year and analyzed for sero-conversion. Results should be reported to individual workers in a timely manner. Counseling services should be available for workers who have positive serologic results. Procedures that maintain strict confidentiality should be adopted."

These recommended guidelines have been adopted for Wistar Institute's BSL-3 facility, except in the timing of the sample drawing and the serum testing. All personnel working in the BSL-3 facility are required to sign a consent form to have a serum sample drawn prior to working in the BSL-3 facility and then re-drawn every 6 months thereafter. Confidential testing for HIV status and for seroconversion of the drawn samples is at the discretion of the user, that is, the samples may be immediately tested or they may be stored, untested, after being drawn for testing at a later time, if necessary.

E. Re-evaluation and Safety Meetings

Meetings for the re-evaluation of the Wistar Institute's Biological Safety Level-3 Code of Practice will be called on occasion. All authorized BSL-3 facility users must attend these meetings in order to maintain their authorization. In addition, it will also be required of all authorized BSL-3 users to attend regular safety meetings and to review laboratory procedures. Notification of such meetings will be at least ten (10) working days.
The Wistar Institute
Biosaftey Level 3 Laboratory Code of Practice