A Biosafety Checklist: Developing A Culture of Biosafety is intended for any laboratory performing testing on infectious agents or clinical specimens that could contain infectious agents in the United States. It is designed to provide laboratories with the broad recommendations for components that should be considered for inclusion in any laboratory’s biosafety policy. The checklist consists of six sections:
1. Risk Assessment
2. Selection of Safety Practices
• Biosafety Level
• Engineering Controls
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Laboratory Practices
3. Biosafety Competencies
4. Safety Orientation and Training
5. Audits, Monitoring and Safety Committee
6. Administrative Controls
This checklist is for your laboratory’s internal use only. The questions in this checklist are included to guide biosafety discussion within your laboratory and do not address biosecurity practices. Some questions may not be applicable to every laboratory and some laboratories may want to add additional questions to perform their risk assessments. This tool can be modified to meet your laboratory’s needs as necessary and information gained from this tool can be used to help laboratories identify areas for improvement in their biosafety practices.
