Biological Safety Resources

PI / Laboratory Startup, Move, and Shutdown Checklists

Biosafety Lab Startup Checklist
Biosafety Lab Move Checklist
Biosafety Lab Shutdown Checklist

Standard Operating Procedure Templates for Specific Equipment

PIs are responsible for ensuring that their laboratories are equipped with appropriate SOPs and that personnel review SOPs and understand how to properly use equipment and perform tasks in the laboratory. Below, the UWM Biosafety Program supplies templates to assist PIs in developing SOPs for use of specific laboratory equipment. These are not meant to be stand-alone or final documents and should be customized as needed for each laboratory.

Biological Safety Cabinet SOP

Autoclave Poster (adapted from UW-Madison)

Biosecurity

Biological Control Rules for the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences

Minimum Requirements for Biological Agents at UWM

Periodically, the UWM Biosafety Program develops guidelines specific to certain biological agents in use in UWM research laboratories. The following guidelines have been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee, Biosafety Officer, and Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Health Manager. These are the minimum guidelines all researchers are expected to follow when working with these agents/materials at UWM. Additional guidelines will be added as they are reviewed.

Guidelines for working with Raw Sewage or Untreated Wastewater

Risk Assessment Resources

PIs or their Group Safety Representative should complete a risk assessment form when submitting any protocols involving new biohazardous agents. If no risk assessment is on file for the lab for a protocol, a new one must be created prior to biosafety protocol approval and discussed with the Biosafety Officer.

Biological Risk Assessment Template

Web Resources

The following links are intended to help PIs, lab managers, and other lab personnel to determine the needs for their research facility. It is the responsibility of each research group to utilize these resources to complete the Biosafety Protocol for research or teaching.

Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 6th Edition

NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules(April 2019)

Select Agents and Toxins, CDC and USDA APHIS

Risk Group Database by ABSA 

Pathogen Safety Data Sheets: Public Health Agency of Canada

WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual, 4th Edition. World Health Organization

ASM Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories.

American Biological Safety Association International Position Paper on the Use of UV Lights in Biological Safety Cabinets

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Association, U.S. DOT

U.S. CDC Import Permit Program  

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

American Biological Safety Association (ABSA)

American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

Midwest Area Biosafety Network (MABioN)

Autoclave Safety Video (courtesy of Arizona State University)