Skip to Content

Environmental Health and Safety

Biological Safety

USC's biological safety team develops and implements administrative policies, work practices, facility design, safety equipment and training for all work involving biological agents to minimize exposure risk and facilitate compliance with regulations and guidelines.

The primary goal of the Biosafety Program is to facilitate the implementation of appropriate administrative policies, work practices, safety equipment, facility design and training programs for work involving biological hazards. The purpose of these functions is to minimize the risk of laboratory-acquired exposures and to promote full compliance with applicable biological safety regulations and guidelines. The Biological Safety Program provides oversight for research involving biological hazards such as recombinant DNA materials or technology, infectious agents, human-derived materials and biological toxins.

Biosafety Services

  1. Communicate current biosafety regulations and guidelines to research personnel
  2. Perform laboratory biosafety inspections to identify deficiencies and make recommendations to improve compliance and safety
  3. Meet with new Principal Investigators to discuss biosafety compliance
  4. Perform safety training including general biosafety, bloodborne pathogens, shipping biological materials, select agent compliance and site-specific biosafety training (as requested)
  5. Address all issues associated with select agent laboratory compliance
  6. Serve on Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) as biosafety technical expert
  7. Review biosafety registration forms for work involving BSL-2 agents, human/primate materials and biological toxins
  8. Review animal use proposals for research involving use of biohazards in animals
  9. Provide biosafety technical expertise on topics such as disease transmission, risk assessments, disinfection and sterilization, lab operations, personal protective equipment and environmental controls
  10. Provide guidance on the proper disposal of biohazard waste
  11. Provide guidance on the selection, installation and use of biological safety cabinets and coordinate the annual certification of all biological safety cabinets
  12. Provide recommendations for the design and construction of laboratories used for research involving biological agents
  13. Provide guidance in the proper shipping of biological materials
  14. Provide guidance and/or assistance with proper clean-up of biological spills
  15. Investigate and provide follow-up for all reported work-related exposures to human blood, body fluids or other potentially infectious biological agents

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

©