About EBSA20 - Course C - Critical engineering in BSL3 facilities

Instructors: Mark Wheatley and Philippe Stroot

Short description of the course:

BSL3 facilities are technically complex facilities, and generally a major and quite unique investment for most institutions. It is therefore important that they operate effectively and efficiently according to the needs of the organisation. This workshop aims at exploring a number of specific engineering aspects that are likely, if not taken into consideration and treated appropriately, to pose problems during the commissioning phase or later during the operation of BSL3 facilities.

This workshop is an advanced level course designed for biosafety professionals who have already completed training on facility design and construction and on BSL3 activities, or have equivalent experience, in line with CWA 16335 on biosafety professional competence.

The trainers plan to use a blend of presentations, discussions and group working, in order to make the participants more able to:

• consider and discuss usual requirements and practices, rationale and main available options
• identify principles and main possible issues
• understand design and engineering approaches
• discuss and evaluate common errors and specifics to consider.

Main topics:

• HVAC design (including air distribution, pressure management and filtration)
• Airtightness, sealability and airborne room decontamination
• Waste decontamination systems (autoclaves and effluent decontamination systems)
• Controls, monitoring, display and alarms
• Common problems, troubleshooting, remediation (using case studies)
   

CWA 16335:2011 Biosafety professional competence reference

The topic refers to some sections of competence 7.2.9 and training specifications C.2.1.2.7 Facility design, construction, commissioning, decommissioning, validation, operation and maintenance