All the working involving biosafety class 2 and 3 organisms on all our systems must be performed with accordance to Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and biosafety regulations of the IDM-µ Imaging Platform, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), and the University of Cape Town.

The IDM-µ solely relies on each principal investigator and respective lab biosafety officer(s) to ensure their researchers adhere to all biosafety rules within the microscopy labs.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact the IDM H&S, Biosafety and Facilities Manager - Selisha Naidoo before starting your work. 

This SOP should serve as a short support guide than working with BSL2 & BSL3 pathogens at the IDM-µ Imaging Platform.

General Note:

Please, use the feedback form (on the desktop) to report a spill and contact Selisha Naidoo if you have any questions.

For performing BSL2 level imaging experiments, these requirements must be fulfilled:

• The operator is trained and authorised in handling BSL2 pathogens
• The biosafety level of the pathogen is not more than 2
• (devise more requirements/system to track compliance)

Decontamination / Handling Procedure:

Transport

• Use adequate transport for BSL2 material (double containment, enough sucking material).
• Wear gloves ONLY to manipulate the sample, but NOT for using the microscope and computer.
• Bring appropriate decontamination chemicals to the microscope

Spill and Decontamination

• In case of a large spill evacuate the room if necessary (e.g. pregnant user in the room)
• Clean the spill from the microscope and surrounding work area properly.
• Dispose waste exclusively in the bin which will be autoclaved.

Reporting

Report spill to the IDM-µ staff via the feedback form (desktop), which must include:

• What was spilt
• How much was spilt (maximum amount)
• Which parts of the system got contaminated (e.g. floor, keyboard, microscope)
• How was it decontaminated