About EBSA16 - Course B. Emergency preparedness and response & incident and accident investigation

Instructors:

Walter Kempenaers, Perseus BVBA, Zwijnaarde/B
Patrick Rüdelsheim, Perseus BVBA Zwijnaarde/B

From minor lab mishaps to large accidents, biosafety professionals have a pivotal role in minimizing unwanted effects of biological agents when normal biosafety or biosecurity operational controls fail.

The course introduces participants to emergency management and its key components (preparedness, response, contingency, crisis management, recovery and investigation). Assessment of credible emergency scenarios and integration of bio-risks in emergency plans should enable an organization to prepare (actors, infrastructure & equipment, procedures, business continuity and communication) for a reasonable response proportionate to the scale and nature of the emergency. Effective testing, communication and training approaches, including emergency exercises and simulations, will be discussed.

In the second part of the training, an introduction on how to set up an incident investigation process will be provided. Root cause analysis techniques and how they lead to corrective and preventive actions will be demonstrated.

Definitions, references and background information, will be complemented with examples on how a biosafety professional can prepare for such events, respond, keep records and identify effective corrective actions. Participants will be able to practice the introduced tools on case studies covering minor as well as major emergency situations involving biological material. On this basis the participants shall be able to develop an emergency management plan, advise on its implementation and conduct an incident investigation.