This level is appropriate for the handling of biological agents of moderate risk that can cause human illnesses of varying severity, with little probability of spreading in the community and for which there is generally effective prophylaxis and treatment (group 2).
This level of containment is applicable to research, clinical or diagnostic laboratories.
It is necessary to apply the measures of NCB 1, plus the following:
Index:
Laboratory internships
- The biological hazard sign will be posted at the laboratory entrance door and will identify the biosafety level of the laboratory, the infectious agent(s) in use, the name(s) and telephone number(s) of the person(s) responsible, and the special requirements needed to enter the laboratory (e.g., the need for immunization or immunization).
- Work surfaces should be decontaminated on a regular basis at the end of work with infectious material and whenever spills, splashes or other contamination with infectious material occurs. Laboratory equipment must also be decontaminated after finishing work with infectious material, in case of projections and splashes, before undergoing maintenance or repair operations and before being removed from the laboratory. These operations must be carried out according to written procedures, by suitably trained personnel and with the appropriate personal protection equipment for the infectious agents potentially present.
- Any spill or accident resulting in overexposure of personnel to infectious material shall be reported to the health and safety officer or to the biosafety officer and to the medical service for registration, evaluation, control and medical treatment, if necessary.
- No infectious material (samples, cultures or potentially infectious materials or contaminated waste) shall leave the laboratory without decontamination. In case of transport outside the laboratory, it will be done in specific containers.
- All techniques, especially those that may produce aerosols (e.g. centrifugation, mixing, opening containers of infectious materials at different pressures, insertion of hot seed loops into cultures, violent injection of fluids, etc.), must be carried out in a biological safety cabinet.
- Laboratory personnel and assistants or support staff must receive adequate training in good laboratory practice through their superiors or laboratory managers, and biosafety training on the possible risks associated with the work in question and the preventive measures necessary to avoid or reduce exposure. This training will be updated according to changes in working conditions as they are introduced.
- Health surveillance of laboratory personnel will be carried out, paying attention to the immune status or to the analyses indicated according to the agents handled or potentially present.
Safety equipment
- To have a Class I or preferably Class II Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC) or other protection systems.
- Have work clothes and personal protective equipment, such as waterproof gloves for daily work, and goggles and respiratory protection mask when, due to the design/experimental activity, there may be some kind of exposure to infectious biological material.
Facilities
- It is advisable that the laboratory where biological agents are handled is far away or separated from public areas.
- Ventilation shall be adequate to establish a directional flow of air from the outside of the laboratory (less contaminated area) to the inside of the laboratory (more contaminated area), without recirculation.
- Each laboratory will have washbasins, emergency showers and eye showers, preferably activated by means of a pedal, elbow or automatically, located near the exit door of the laboratory.
- It is advisable to have an effective decontamination method (autoclave, incinerator, chemical methods) for the decontamination of waste or infectious material.
The University of Barcelona does not have containment level facilities above biosafety level 2. Therefore, type 3 and 4 activities cannot be carried out at the UB due to the lack of adequate facilities.