Laboratory Focus on Improving the Culture of Biosafety: Statewide Risk Assessment of Clinical Laboratories That Process Specimens for Microbiologic Analysis

Abstract

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene challenged Wisconsin laboratories to examine their biosafety practices and improve their culture of biosafety. One hundred three clinical and public health laboratories completed a questionnaire-based, microbiology-focused biosafety risk assessment. Greater than 96% of the respondents performed activities related to specimen processing, direct microscopic examination, and rapid nonmolecular testing, while approximately 60% performed culture interpretation. Although they are important to the assessment of risk, data specific to patient occupation, symptoms, and travel history were often unavailable to the laboratory and, therefore, less contributory to a microbiology-focused biosafety risk assessment than information on the specimen source and test requisition. Over 88% of the respondents complied with more than three-quarters of the mitigation control measures listed in the survey. Facility assessment revealed that subsets of laboratories that claim biosafety level 1, 2, or 3 status did not possess all of the biosafety elements considered minimally standard for their respective classifications. Many laboratories reported being able to quickly correct the minor deficiencies identified. Task assessment identified deficiencies that trended higher within the general (not microbiology-specific) laboratory for core activities, such as packaging and shipping, direct microscopic examination, and culture modalities solely involving screens for organism growth. For traditional microbiology departments, opportunities for improvement in the cultivation and management of highly infectious agents, such as acid-fast bacilli and systemic fungi, were revealed. These results derived from a survey of a large cohort of small- and large-scale laboratories suggest the necessity for continued microbiology-based understanding of biosafety practices, vigilance toward biosafety, and enforcement of biosafety practices throughout the laboratory setting.

Biosafety of Personnel of Microbiological Laboratories in the Context of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation № 492-Fz of December 30, 2020 «on the Biological Safety of the Russian Federation»

“…Надлежащая микробиологическая лабораторная практика (НМЛП) предназначена для защиты сотрудников лабораториии окружающей среды [2,4,6,7]. Лабораторная биобезопасность достигается за счёт базового уровня лабораторных практик и конструктивных особенностей функциональной, хорошо спроектированной лаборатории, наличии защитного оборудования, средств и методов дезинфекции и стерилизации [43][44][45].…”

Strengthening Public Health in Wisconsin Through the Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network

“…Regional meetings include lectures and discussions on topics of interest, surveillance updates from WSLH, and progress reports on additional projects, such as a recent statewide assessment of biosafety practices. 6 WSLH coordinates annual webinars, and speakers include WSLH staff members, LabTAG members, and invited speakers. During meetings and webinars, WCLN members suggest topics for future meetings and webinars to ensure the input of laboratory members outside of LabTAG.…”

“…As part of this focus on biosafety, in 2015, WSLH coordinated a statewide assessment of biosafety practices in more than 100 clinical laboratories in Wisconsin. 6 The WCLN infrastructure was essential in facilitating laboratory participation in this project, and a follow-up assessment is underway to determine if progress has been made to fill gaps in biosafety.…”

Risk assessment in biomedical laboratories – occupational safety and health aspects

“…Few researchers have focused on LP although laboratories have been identified in the literature as highrisk areas for hazard exposure. Most often, researchers evaluate specific hazards, work activities, or routes of exposure (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). To the best of our knowledge, studies of occupational risk assessment for this profession are not conducted in BiH.…”