Team:Exeter/Safety
Safety
This year we took into consideration the importance of safety and risk assessments within both biological and engineering laboratories, but also considered the safety of our project within it's real world application. To read any risk assessments and COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) forms please select the blue button located within each section.
Lab Safety
Biological Safety
A larger portion of our team have no biological lab work experience, so lab safety was integrated into our project from the very beginning of Boot Camp week. This also meant that any practical lab work had to be supervised at all time and undergraduate researchers cannot work outside of 9-5 hours.
To ensure biological safety our team completed:
- Online laboratory safety module and PowerPoint presentation
- Lab induction
- Allocation of appropriate PPE for lab work
- Emergency Protocols
- COSHH forms
- Waste disposal including chemical waste
- Aseptic techniques and the appropriate use of flow hoods
For our experiments, we worked in a category two laboratory so had to follow the safety protocols that would be required when using category two organisms. In our experiments we have only used E.coli, a category one organism, including:
- E.coli DH5
- E.coli BL21
- E.coli BL21(DE3)
- E.coli BL21(DE3)pLysS
- E.coli Rosetta Gami
- E.coli Artic Express
To ensure we were using the laboratory facilities correctly, our supervisors and lab manager provided us with training and an induction in these areas:
- Lab access and rules
- Responsible individuals as contact points
- Difference between biosafety levels
- Biosafety equipment
- Good microbial technique
- Disinfection and sterilization
- Emergency Procedures
- Transport rules
- Physical bio-security
- Personnel bio-security
- Dual use and experiments of concern
- Chemicals, fire and electrical safety
Our supervisors and lab manager were also willing to assist with further training should we require it.
Engineering Safety
To ensure safety within the engineering labs our team completed:
- Lab induction, and safe practices risk assessment
- Emergency Protocols
- COSHH forms: for detergent and use of PET in the imagining suite
- Risk assessments
- Allocation of appropriate PPE
Applicational Safety
As our team have pursued the entrepenuership and business aspect of our project, we also needed to consider the applications of our filtration systems into washing machines or larger scale industry. This required identifying risks that would be associated with the practical applications of our research.
Washing Machine Considerations:
- Designing the filter to be completely watertight so as to not cause leaks, which could cause slips during testing and liquid damage when integrated in a washing machine, which could then lead to further consequences.
- Careful consideration of the electronics side of the filtration systems that controls the valves that release the enzyme solution onto the microplastics trapped by the filter - this is due to the close proximity of electricals and washing machine fluid. For a final product, the electronics should be waterproofed and kept in a watertight compartment to prevent any chance of harm to the user.
- Filter sections should be adequately finished and inspected prior to use, to avoid sharp edges and shattering of the filter. Any prototypes of the filter not up to standard should be processed further until safe, or disregarded and remade.
- The filter must be designed to be safe to install and uninstall during testing, as well as for final installation in a washing machine - it should keep its shape when attached to tubing and when unattached, as deformation could lead to breakages, sharp edges and system failure.
- For testing, the filter will be made using 3D-printed plastics, and so appropriate precautions should be taken to avoid burns, crushing or other injuries which could be caused by the printer. For final mass-production of the filter, safety procedures must be reevaluated based on the exact equipment to be used and any changes to the design which may affect the safety of production for technicians.
Larger Industry Considerations:
- For larger industry filters, we would ideally house the E.coli in the filtration system, removing the need for constant production of enzyme solutions separately to the filter. Therefore, there are wider concerns about the escape of E.coli into the environment.
- The ideal situation in which to monitor and manage E.coli within industry would be the presence of a scientists who can monitor the progression of the E.coli. With safety mechanisms in palace to halt production, increasing the temperature of the systems or flooding with a high concentration alcohol to kill the bacteria.
