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Incident Response

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NIH and CDC requires and EHS strongly recommends the preparation of emergency plans for laboratories and facilities involved in biohazard activities. It is the laboratory Principal Investigator or supervisor's responsibility to:

  • Develop and communicate specific emergency plans for their lab personnel
  • Post and update emergency notification signage
  • Maintain a biosafety spill kit/station at a secure location near the main exit of the laboratory

The following basic principles are useful in developing specific procedures for dealing with accidental spills or releases of biohazardous material:

  • Render assistance to persons involved
  • Warn personnel of the potential hazards to their safety and evacuate the area if necessary
  • Control area to allow only authorized persons to enter. Do not allow re-entry to the area without proper controls/training or until hazards are eliminated. The incident commander, principal investigator, Biological Safety Professional and other expert personnel will determine re-entry procedures

Principal Investigators or supervisors are responsible for training laboratory personnel in laboratory emergency procedures.

In any emergency you must contact the Biosafety Professional at (573) 882-7018 to report the incident.

Incident Planning

Incident Response Procedures

The following procedures serve as a general outline for responding to the particular type of incident. More specific and detailed procedures may need to be developed by a Principal Investigator depending on the type of material being worked with.

A Simple Spill is small, confined, and presents minimal hazards. It can normally be handled solely by laboratory personnel.

A Complicated Spill normally involves a larger or public spatial area, multiple or unknown biohazards, etc. It requires specific expertise outside the knowledge of laboratory personnel to respond to the spill.

Post Incident

 
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