Biosafety

The Office of Biosafety oversees use of biohazardous materials that may harm humans, animals, plants or the environment, and manages the compliance activities of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). It also administers the Select Agent and Toxin Program (SAP) for UGA’s main campus facilities.

Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) reviews and approves all research and teaching projects involving hazardous biological materials to ensure that work is conducted in a manner that does not pose significant risk to the health and safety of laboratory workers, the public, or the environment, and to ensure compliance with applicable external regulations and UGA policies.

Biosafety Policies and Procedures

The Institutional Biosafety Manual and Exposure Control Plan outline appropriate practices, University policies and regulatory requirements for working safely in the research laboratory with biohazardous materials at UGA facilities.

Revised Procedure

See updated Guidance on Safe Handling of Sharps in the Biological Research Laboratory.

Incidents or Accidents in a Biological Laboratory

A biohazardous laboratory incident or accident involves:

  • Any potential or known exposure to Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) agents or higher
  • Any potential or known system failure that could result in the release of a BSL-2 or higher organism from primary containment
  • Any potential breach in biosecurity in containment facilities
  • Any potential exposure or incident involving recombinant material as defined by NIH Guidelines

For more detailed information please consult the Institutional Biosafety Manual or contact the Office of Biosafety.

Response and Reporting: Incidents or Accidents

All employees are responsible for reporting potential biohazardous incidents to their immediate supervisor. See the Biohazardous Laboratory Incident/Accident Response and Reporting Protocol.

Documents

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