The University has over 950 active biosafety cabinets (BSCs), and about 150 have become obsolete due to safer design standards and the challenge of obtaining replacement parts. EH&S recommends replacing obsolete cabinets before they fail to minimize disruptions to research projects.
The following resources are available to assist with the purchase and replacement of BSCs:
There are multiple models of biological safety cabinets (BSCs) at the UW that Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) has identified as obsolete.
Viral vectors are popular research tools in biological sciences and other fields. They are customizable, allowing for research with different genes of interest in a variety of in vitro and in vivo applications. Viral vectors are used to deliver genes to cells. They can either add a gene (knock-in) to study the function of a particular gene or to delete a gene (knock-down) to study the effects of gene deletion or reduction.
October is National Biosafety Month, a time to focus on your lab’s biosafety practices and policies. For 2019, EH&S is focusing on biosafety beyond the lab. We are encouraging you to reflect and seek opportunities to strengthen your practices related to biohazards outside of the lab.
1. Transport biohazards safely
Keep these two posters in an easily accessible location in your workspace.
EH&S has a new Spill Response Poster that instructs you what to do in the event of a radiological, chemical or biohazardous spill. For all spills, you should S.W.I.M.:
Use the Spill Response Poster as a guide to clean up radiological, chemical and biohazardous spills.
Post in your lab alongside the Exposure Response Poster.
