Medical laboratories face biological risks that can affect personnel, patients, the environment and the wider community. This practical course equips participants to apply biosafety, biosecurity and biorisk management principles in everyday laboratory practice. Drawing on ISO 35001, WHO guidance, MLSCN and relevant ISO 15189 requirements, it covers risk identification and assessment, mitigation, hierarchy of controls and performance monitoring, with emphasis on practical implementation and continual improvement of laboratory safety.

Aim

To equip medical laboratory personnel with the knowledge and practical skills required to identify, assess, control and monitor biological risks and contribute effectively to a sustainable culture of biosafety and biosecurity within their laboratories.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

• Explain the relationship between biosafety, biosecurity and biorisk management.
• Apply relevant WHO, ISO 35001 and MLSCN principles in routine laboratory activities.
• Identify biological hazards and common biosafety and biosecurity risks within medical laboratories.
• Assess biorisks based on their likelihood and potential consequences.
• Evaluate risks and make appropriate decisions to accept, avoid, reduce or transfer identified risks.
• Apply the hierarchy of controls when selecting appropriate biorisk mitigation measures.
• Recognise the roles of good microbiological practices, personnel competence, facility design, specimen handling, decontamination, waste management, PPE, equipment and emergency response in controlling biorisk.
• Develop practical indicators for monitoring the effectiveness of biorisk controls.
• Identify objective evidence relevant to ISO 15189 accreditation and MLSCN inspections.
• Recognise their individual responsibility for building and sustaining a positive laboratory safety culture.

Course Content

Session 1 – Building a Culture of Biosafety, Biosecurity & Biorisk Management

Session 2 – Managing Biosafety Risks in Daily Laboratory Practice

Session 3 – Biorisk Mitigation & Hierarchy of Controls

Session 4 – Biorisk Performance Evaluation & Continual Improvement

Who Should Attend?

The course is particularly suitable for:

Medical Laboratory Scientists • Laboratory Technicians • Laboratory Managers • Quality Managers/Officers • Biosafety Officers • Laboratory Supervisors • Internal Auditors • Researchers handling biological materials • Healthcare professionals with laboratory safety responsibilities.

Training Approach

The course uses a highly participatory approach combining facilitated discussions, real-life laboratory scenarios, risk-assessment exercises, case studies, group activities and practical problem-solving.

Rather than treating biosafety as a collection of rules, participants are challenged to examine their own laboratory activities and ask:

What can go wrong? How likely is it? What could be the consequence? What controls do we have? Are those controls adequate? How do we know they are working?