SMTP Lab Safety Briefing (SMTP and Cat 1 Students)

General Students can only work in the lab in the presence of a teacher or lab staff. Booking of equipment and requests for materials must be made to at least 3 days prior to experiments, with mentor kept informed. Mdm Lim: Bio lab Mdm Xia: Chem lab Mdm Chua: Physics/Photonics SRC Tel. no.:

General rules Please keep lab tidy at all times. Spills must be cleaned immediately to avoid contamination. Gloves must be worn when handling hazardous materials. Chipped or broken glassware should never be used. Please give these to lab staff for disposal.

General rules Centrifuges must be balanced before operation.

Scientific Review Committee (SRC) Approval Apply for approval (through your mentor) from the Scientific Review Committee if your project involves any of these: – Potentially hazardous biologial agents (e.g. bacteria) – Vertebrates

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval required for studies involving – Human Subjects An IRB must include – A science educator – A school administrator (Principal or VP) – A medical doctor, physician’s assistant, registered nurse, psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed social worker or licensed clinical professional counsellor

SRC Approval Approval from must be submitted to Mrs Goh Cheng Wai before the commencement of your projects ( see Mrs Goh’s EMB msg) SMP groups will submit forms to Mr Chia KP

Research Projects Students working in Research labs must wear a lab coat. These should be folded and placed on designated shelves when not in use (ref. Lab staff). In bio labs, laminar hoods --- perspex shield must be in place if UV light is turned on.

Microbiology Projects All microorganisms must be treated as potential human pathogens. Only Biosafety Level 1 organisms can be used. Microorganisms should not be isolated from potentially hazardous sources e.g.s polluted water, human mucus, pus and faeces All microbial cultures and culture media must be labelled: date, name of student & teacher.

Microbiology Projects BSL1: low risk to individual and the community BSL2: moderate risk to individual but low risk to the community. Can cause diseases in human but unlikely to be serious hazards to lab users under normal circumstances. BSL3: high risk to individual but low risk to community. Usually cause diseases in human, treatable with anti-microbial agents, not contagious. BSL4: high risk to individual and community. Usually cause serious diseases in human, untreatable and contagious.

Prohibited work Studies involving: Fresh tissue, blood or body fluids from humans or vertebrates. Human or animal blood or blood products. Human or vertebrate/mammalian cell tissue cultures

Approved work Studies involving: Plant tissue Cheek cells (but not cultures) Meat or meat by-products obtained from food stores, restaurants or packing houses. Hair Sterilised teeth

Disposal of sharps Sharps --- needles, scalpel blades, micropipette tips, glass slides, cover slips Sharps bins

Decontamination Autoclave or bleach all cultured organisms esp. microbes before disposal Disinfect work surfaces if microbes were used --- swab with 70% alcohol

Reminder Young Explorers’ Fund (YEF) Capped at $2000 a group Can apply any time – submit forms to mentors Forms on SMTP webpage

Risk Assessment SMTP Research Session

Risk assessment is needed for all Cat 1 projects To be completed by students, reviewed and approved by mentor. Before experiments begin, risk assessment to be submitted to SRC - Mdm Lim (for bio projects) - Mdm Xia (for chem projects) - Mdm Chua (for phy projects) SMTP students will complete risk assessment together with proposals. Mentor to submit to above personnel after he/she approves. Risk assessment

Risk Assessment Documents SRC Equipment Risk Assessment Risk assessment form Both forms will be available from SMTP wiki.

How to complete risk assessment? For risk assessment of equipment, refer to resources\SMTP wiki For chemicals, search for MSDS online, look for info on possible hazards and measures to reduce the risks. For micro-organisms, check out on - biosafety level of bacteria - possible infection - handling precautions

Useful sites for biology projects state.edu/sciencefair/BSL.htm state.edu/sciencefair/BSL.htm projects/project_ideas/Micro_Safety.shtml projects/project_ideas/Micro_Safety.shtml projects/project_src_biological_agents.shtml projects/project_src_biological_agents.shtml projects/project_src_vertebrate_animals.shtml projects/project_src_vertebrate_animals.shtml