Bacteria Research Safety

[oBWhat]

Bacteria Research Safety

As I am working with bacteria, are there are tips for working with bacteria in terms of safety?

thanks

[kalaig]

Well as long as it is non-pathogenic you are safe. Even so, you should be careful to wear gloves, mask etc., so that some opportunistic organisms do not gain entry. Its always a good idea to be vaccinated against tetanus once in a year! You may never know what are harbored in those dark areas of laminar flow and the cupboards! Clean the spills and surfaces with 70% alcohol. There are many others that any std book can give you!

[ESHWAR]

Hi there...
Here are some basic safety measures:

1. Everyone must wear a lab coat or lab apron (FLAME RESISTANT OR RETARDANT) while in the laboratory.

2. Place books and other personal items on the shelves above the bench or coat rack. Do not place these items on your work bench.
3. Do not work with an uncovered open cut. Bandages and plastic gloves are available if needed.
4. Upon entering the lab, and after finishing, wash down your bench space with the disinfectant provided.
5. Keep all sources of possible contamination out of your mouth--hands, pencils, laboratory ware, other items. Do not smoke or eat in the laboratory. Smoking is not permitted in Life Science II.
6. Discard contaminated equipment such as pipettes into the disinfectant
tray provided on the bench. Petri dishes, test tubes, and similar items should be
placed in the large plastic containers provided. Pipettes are disposed of tip side down.
7. Spills of materials containing viable organisms should be immediately contained with dry paper towels. The dry towel will soak up the spill and can then be sterilized. Following this, the area of the spill should be disinfected with bench disinfectant.
8. Report accidents, such as a spilled culture or a cut, to the laboratory instructor. Our interest is safety.
9. Long hair must be tied back or put under the lab coat so that it cannot fall
over a burner and catch fire. (Believe it or not, this can happen!)
10. Shoes must be worn at all times in the laboratory.
11. Observe aseptic technique at all times when dealing with microbial cultures.

12. Wash hands with soap and water or disinfectant before leaving the laboratory.

13.. Students will NOT be permitted to work in the laboratory unless a lab instructor is present.
14. Laboratory ethanol is denatured--do not drink!
15. If you don't understand something, ASK!!!

[kanzure]

From [Only registered users see links. ], there are some pages on [Only registered users see links. ] though the pages re: safety are missing.

There are [Only registered users see links. ], and [Only registered users see links. ] is definitely worth checking out. Also, the University of Texas has put up a page on [Only registered users see links. ]. [Only registered users see links. ] re: safety with immunology microbiology labs and so on. And finally, [Only registered users see links. ] (general).

- Bryan

And I am terribly sorry for the spam that I had to add to the forum in order to jack up my post count high enough to post these links. I think it may be worth it, though the system seems to fail- 15 poor posts per one post with good links? Doesn't sound effective.

[KatherineLee]

The general lab techniques in biotech link has several dead/broken links.

Overall those web sites all say the same things... and in my opinion, they are all frankly completely overkill.


oBWhat, where are you working with these bacteria? Are you a laboratory assistant/technican or are in taking a course that involves microorganisms?

If you are taking a course, I guess there are reasons that the institution would insist on such overkill safety procedures like the majority of those links were describing, but if you are a laboratory assistant, I'll assure that people that conduct research on a daily basis with microorganisms don't do about half of those things. I would have to say I'm probably the most anal about "safety procedures" and that's only because I'm still taking microbiology courses through a University that insists on preventing ANY accident from happening. Generally though, in the laboratory I work in where I assist post-docs with their research, I put on gloves with anything that can spill, and I wash my hands when I enter the lab and when I leave the lab.

Oh, and I suppose we don't have food or drinks in the lab... they are on a little table just outside the door so I don't technically need to step out of the lab to take a sip of soda pop.



For the most part, if it's a course, you don't work with anything dangerous. If it was actually dangerous, they would be sure to inform you so. How closely I would follow those "safety procedures" largely depends on if I'm in a University laboratory for a course with a Teaching Assistant watching for violations, or if I'm working in my laboratory.

[kiki06]

Great tips in here thanks everyone!