Past EBSA courses

This full day course aims at providing research workers, biosafety professionals and facility managers with practical views on how to operate and manage a BSL3 facility in a safe and sustainable way.
As all BSL3 facilities do not host the same type of activities and are not necessarily designed in a similar way, the link between the type of operations, the infrastructure and the handling and managing practices will be the thread of this workshop. The importance of setting up fully adapted working practices and maintenance programmes will be emphasized.

In a biosafety setting, accidents and incidents not being properly addressed and corrective action introduced can lead to consequences to the affected individual(s) or even the general public at large.

This workshop is intended to provide a basic course on auditing management systems and monitoring safety performance in connection with activities involving biohazards. In addition to setting out the general framework for the audit process, and contrasting this with safety inspections, a number of scenarios will be presented to illustrate some of the difficulties which may be encountered, along with approaches to circumvent these. Points to consider when planning and conducting an audit will be presented together with useful hints based on the auditing experience of the tutors. Based on a case study, audit preparation and strategy as well as communication will be practiced in group work and role playing.

It is a requirement that risk assessments are undertaken before hazardous work is undertaken, however, these assessments must deliver pragmatic outputs in terms of containment and control. This workshop will involve understanding the principles and methods underlying risk assessments for activities involving various hazardous biological materials including genetically modified micro-organisms (GMM) and material where there is known, suspect or possible contamination with infectious agents. Throughout the workshop there will be a number of interactive sessions involving participants to evaluate and comment on the hazard and risk with various biological agents and to consider the effectiveness of the risk assessments.

This course will review the critical interfaces and elements of an occupational health program for people with the potential for exposure to biological hazards (laboratory or production).
The course will also discuss the use of pre-placement and periodical exams, medical surveillance, serum banking, immunizations and treatments (incl. post exposure prophylaxis).
Special hazards like laboratory animal allergy or infections as well as groups of people needing special attention will be reviewed.
The participant should take home the basic elements for an occupational health program to be implemented in her/his facility.

How to make a successful field trial with Genetically Modified Organisms? This half day workshop guides trainees through the different phases of preparing, conducting and completing a GMO field trial. Practical, regulatory and public aspects are integrated to structure a project approach ensuring compliance with the applicable legislation and delivery of the research objectives. Tools to perform risk assessment and risk management will be discussed. On the basis of a case study, the trainees will be able to work on the different phases and to identify ways to avoid pitfalls. In addition specific issues reported by the participants will be addressed. The workshop is of interest to applicants as well as authorities.

Working safely in the biosafety cabinet. The biosafety cabinet (class II) is the most important and most widely used primary barrier found in the microbiological and biomedical laboratory (BSL-2, BSL-3 and BSL-4). Biosafety cabinets protect against aerosol exposure and to a lesser degree against small droplets. The protection of the operator depends on the selection of appropriate types and size of the cabinet, proper function, correct placement of the cabinet in the laboratory, and how the work is organized and carried out. Biosafety cabinets need appropriate maintenance and annual certification. The user (or BSO) should be able to identify malfunctioning cabinets. The course starts with the technical background of the types of biosafety cabinets available on the market, and their strengths and limitations. Video demonstrations are used to illustrate airflow, sample procedures with varying quality and perfection, as well as management of small and large spills in the biosafety cabinet. Participants work in groups to analyze, discuss, and comment the procedures shown and suggest improvements and alternatives.