public health preparedness and response
APHL Delivers Biological
Safety Cabinet Training in
East Africa
by Michael J. Perry, MS, MS Ed, laboratory supervisor,
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health;
and Alan Antenucci, Research Scientist II, Health Research Inc.
A
PHL convened biological safety cabinet (BSC) operations training for
public health professionals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
over the summer of 2016. Presented in partnership with the Ministries
of Health and national laboratories in each country, the training reinforced the
role of laboratory biosafety, and the proper operation and maintenance of BSCs.
Sixty-six attendees of varying experience and education received extensive
didactic and hands-on experience in the features, types and classes of BSCs,
as well as proper setup, work flow, spill response, decontamination and
maintenance procedures. Participants learned:
• BSC principles and how the BSC can protect the laboratory environment,
samples and workers from risks associated with infectious biological
materials
Alan Antenucci instructing participants on the startup protocol for a BSC at the Central Public Health Laboratory in
Kampala, Uganda. Photo by Michael Perry
• How to work safely within a BSC and how to plan future activities in their
work setting
Instructors found significant gaps in biosafety practices, which participants
attributed to a lack of training on proper procedures. Visits to local hospital
laboratories to observe the workflow and utilization of BSCs in a clinical
setting confirmed this problem. One laboratory was utilizing a clean
bench for tuberculosis processing. A clean bench should be used only with
non-hazardous material, since it directs airflow back toward the laboratorian
processing the sample.
Training participants reported similar work practices. Though many
laboratorians had BSCs in their laboratories, they had not been trained to work
with them and preferred to conduct all their work on benchtops. Given this
limited understanding of BSC function, instructors opted to emphasize BSC
operations and the BSC’s role as a primary engineering control.
The BSC trainings were well received by health ministries, which requested
that the course be offered annually as a requirement for newly hired
laboratory personnel. The trainings are a joint effort between APHL’s Public
Health and Preparedness and Response (PHPR) and Global Health programs
and are funded by CDC as an acceleration initiative under the Global Health
Security Agenda (GHSA). APHL members Alan Antenucci and Michael Perry,
MS, MS Ed, worked with PHPR Director Chris Mangal, MPH, to tailor each
course to the needs of the host country. The team also collaborated with Philip
Lee, MSc FIBMS, lead biological defense coordinator, Florida Department of
Health, Bureau of Public Health Laboratories–Jacksonville Branch and Lucy
Atieno, PhD, APHL laboratory and quality management system consultant, to
deliver the trainings in-country.
Participants review a video on donning and removing protective gear. Photo by Michael Perry
What is a Biological Safety Cabinet?
A biological safety cabinet (biosafety cabinet or BSC) is an
enclosed, ventilated laboratory workspace designed to provide
three basic types of protection:
• Personnel protection from harmful agents inside the cabinet
• Product protection to avoid contamination of the work,
experiment or process
• Environmental protection from contaminants contained
within the cabinet
Participants of the BSC Operations Training Course at CDC Ethiopia. Photo by Philip A. Lee
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Fall 2016 LAB MATTERS
19