Emergency Response
General Information
Following safe work practices can minimize the likelihood of an exposure injury and the potential for a laboratory-acquired infection (LAI), both of which are serious considerations in biological research safety. Primary aspects of lab safety are awareness of associated hazards and having a specific plan for potential emergency situations that may arise in your lab.
At right are some important resources to help labs plan for and respond to laboratory spills and exposures, including: general exposure response procedures, incident reporting requirements, sample spill kits and spill protocols, Health Canada MSDS for Infectious Substances website link, and an example of a lab emergency contact list. These resources are not exhaustive, you can find many more by clicking our Resources tab (above) or through your own web search.
Emergency response plans should be tailored specifically for the biohazardous agents in each lab.
Equally important is making sure everyone in the lab is aware of and follows the lab’s emergency response plan
