public health preparedness and response
Identifying the Missing Link for BSOs: Leadership
by Sean Page, associate specialist, Public Health Preparedness and Response
For biosafety officials/officers (BSOs),
leadership is viewed as a two-pronged
issue. As the designated biosafety
expert for their public health laboratory,
they are expected to address internal
biosafety risks and gain personnel
buy-in to establish and maintain positive
biosafety culture. In addition, they are
expected to perform sentinel clinical
outreach for their respective state or
territory. APHL is helping to bridge the
gap between technical knowledge and
leadership skills through a new leadership
workshop available to BSOs nationwide.
Establishing Relationships
Because BSOs serve as unsolicited
consultants for clients with varying
knowledge of biosafety, outreach to
sentinel clinical outreach can present a
unique challenge. BSOs may encounter
obstacles in establishing relationships
with laboratories. These include:
1. Securing approval from top leadership
2. Identifying the number of sentinel
clinical laboratories in the state
4. Reaching distant laboratories
in large states
5. Finding a mutually convenient
time to perform site visits.
With so many factors working against
them, many BSOs have struggled to
gain buy-in from the sentinel clinical
laboratories they serve, thus reducing the
number of laboratories they can reach.
APHL has responded to this challenge
with a leadership skill-building workshop.
The Art of Leadership
Developed by APHL’s Biosafety, Public
Policy and Workforce Development,
the four-day workshop offers skill
development sessions on leadership,
project management, public policy,
communications, training program
development and implementation
of evaluation measures. Participants
leave with an invaluable network
and broader skill set that benefits
them, their host laboratory and the
public health laboratory system.
3. Establishing reliable contacts
at the laboratories
Three workshops will be held across the
US to reach all 62 BSOs by region. The
first was held at the Hawaii Department
of Health State Laboratories Division
September 22-29. Invited participants
included biosafety officers of the Pacific
Islands as well as sentinel clinicians from
Hawaii. During the four-day workshop,
there were several group interactive and
didactic exercises, including Exemplary
Leadership/MICEE, Affinity exercise,
and Single Override Communication
Objective (SOCO). By the end of the
week, attendees expressed they were
leaving the workshop with more
confidence, new communication and
leadership tools to bring back to their
lab staff, and a fresh understanding of
effective communication, persuasion
and connecting stakeholders under
the mission of upholding biosafety
and biosecurity practices. n
top: Biosafety offic ers and sentinel clinical laboratorians
collaborating on the Affinity Exercise, a brainstorming activity
bottom: Participants learn how to develop and deliver a
tailored message through interviews.
Attendees and instructors of the Biosafety Leadership Workshop: Pacific Islands at the Hawaii Department of Health,State
Laboratories Division.
30
LAB MATTERS Summer 2017
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org