Team:NU Kazakhstan/Safety

NU Kazakhstan

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Safety

Safety of the project

Our lab used only non-pathogenic strains of the E.coli and S.elongatus. DH5α, HB101 and BL21 strains of E.coli and PCC 7942 strain S.elongatus were used to be exact. The safety of these strains had been verified by multiple scientists over the world, as they are widely used in many labs. Hydrogen gas, sulfur and latex are the only chemicals that are used in our lab outside of the standard set-up. Hydrogen can be dangerous, however our lab had produced only trace amounts of it, and the contact of it with oxygen were minimal. Sulfur was used only in assays and was disposed appropriately. Latex had been handled as all of the other chemicals and disposed into organic waste.

Safety training

iGEM NU_Kazakhstan had used BSL1 lab within the Nazarbayev University. To access it team members must have completed the safety sessions about the lab. This safety sessions included the lecture from the lab Teacher Assistant about the general rules of the lab, disposal of the wastes, the mandatory of the work uniform (coat and gloves), handling of the chemicals and reagents and etc. At the end of the lecture, the team members had also been informed about the general safety measures, such as the placement of the first aid kit, the fire extinguisher and the general the protocol on how to react in an emergency situation. Additionally, the team members that had extensive lab experience had conducted a series of group works to show the general locations of the reagents, flow of the work in the lab as well as supervised the team for the first two weeks. At the end of the training the team members had conducted a test confirming their awareness of the lab rules

Mandatory Rules of Safety include:

- Gloves, coat, closed shoes and tied up hair

- Glasses in the case of working with irritant substances

- Washing hands with detergents before and after lab work

- Sterilization of workplace with 70% ethanol

- Disposal of organisms into organic wastes after 10% bleach treatment

- Work in the fume hoods in case of contact with volatile and harmful reagents

- Safety cabinet BSL1 for sterile work with bacterial and cyanobacterial cultures

- No water or food in the lab