global health
EPHI bioengineers review airflow measurements from a BSC
Instructor Bob Jones teaches Ethiopian Public Health Institute bioengineers how to take BSC airflow measurements
GHSA and Biosafety Cabinet Certification
around the Globe
by Samantha Dittrich, MPH, manager, Global Health Security Agenda; Sherrie Staley, MPH, senior specialist,
Global Health; Kim Lewis, MSc, consultant, APHL; and Kaiser Shen, MSc, MPH, senior specialist, Global Health
The term “biosafety cabinet” (BSC) has been widely used to describe a variety of containment devices
designed to provide personnel, the laboratory environment, and work materials added protection from
biohazardous materials including primary cultures, stocks and diagnostic specimens. Effectiveness
depends on continuous maintenance, servicing and proper use. Certification of BSCs must be
done periodically in order to ensure that they are functioning properly and providing a safe work
environment. However, many laboratories around the world do not have access to expertise and
equipment to certify BSCs.
T
Vietnam and Indonesia in the coming months. Said Bob Jones, an Eagleson
Institute trainer, “Education, training and mentoring are the three steps in
developing BSC certifiers. This results in laboratory workers improving their
practices, procedures, processes and, ultimately, personal safety.”
Between February and October 2016, Phase One BSC Certification training has
been completed in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Vietnam. So far, approximately
20-30 BSCs have been serviced and certified in Uganda and Tanzania.
Additional cabinets will be certified in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ethiopia,
APHL has been proactive in providing support for biosafety following the 2014
Ebola outbreak which highlighted the need for safe handling of infectious
materials, specifically across African countries. APHL recognizes the need
to institutionalize in-country sustainable programs for servicing of BSCs
at medical laboratories around the world. Training of competent personnel
and certification of BSCs continues to be a challenge to attain and sustain
in developing countries, largely due to the limited number of available and
appropriately tailored trainings and certification programs. Under GHSA, APHL
hopes to further expand BSC certification training, and link mentorship and
competency evaluation as part of a comprehensive plan for servicing BSCs.
o address this critical component of laboratory safety, APHL has
implemented a BSC certification program in a select number of
countries in Africa and Asia to address issues pertaining to BSCs
through the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Implemented in
partnership with the Eagleson Institute, the three-phase program offers
training, mentoring and evaluation of in-country engineers on the many
facets of certifying BSCs, with remote instructor support between each
phase. Students learn how to triage BSCs for problems and how to perform
the primary tests included in certification. Emphasis is on the importance of
students assessing as many cabinets as possible.
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LAB MATTERS Fall 2016
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