Certification Considerations for BSL Labs

Lab Facility Certification Considerations – BSL labs

Biosafety laboratories are a key component of any infectious disease laboratory, and the pandemic has only reiterated it. It’s very important to ensure that all the compliance standards are being met prior to the designing of the laboratory. It reduces the possibility of approval or rejection and provides a streamlined structure to the process.

In this infographic, we’ve laid down certain things you need to account for in the BSL laboratory certification standards. A list of our services can be found here.

Aspects to Consider	Key pointers
Pre-Design considerations	Site Selection & Risk determination must be done prior It should be in a secluded location with 3-tier security system Site plan should include everything from design to equipment placement, to emergency service placement Code of practice: Biohazard sign, Person-in-charge, Availability of PPE, etc.
Laboratory Design	Must be in an isolated place, or at least separated from the main building Doors must be locked in such a way that only one can open at a time Surfaces must be water resistant & break resistant Rooms must be sealable for decontamination Hand washing & air filtration systems must be placed
Laboratory Equipment	Equipment that handles or produces infectious aerosols must have their exhaust air filtered by HEPA filters All equipment must be regularly decontaminated Equipment that requires additional accessories must be stored in separate containment boxes They will also need to be placed where additional exhaust options can be fit in
Emergency Services	Health & Medical surveillance – Medical history of personnel is mandatory along with regular clinical evaluation SOPs must be prepared for any mishaps. E.g. infectious material leak, injury to personnel, etc. Fire & Natural disaster – Fire detection & dampening systems must be installed along with leak-proof boxes so that hazardous material can be stored away
Statutory Approvals	Testing – Must be done by a contractor in the presence of Biosafety officer & lab-in-charge Commissioning – Should account for all safety channels, such as air filtration, decontamination procedure, sterilization procedure, lighting, storage, and electrical connections Validation – Tests such as clean room validation, air balancing test, room negative pressure test, particle count test, temperature & relative humidity test, light test, spore strip test

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