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.
Autoclave Poster (adapted from UW-Madison)
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
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.
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)