Biohazards and Lab Safety

The Biohazards and Laboratory Safety Committee is made up of staff from the hospital community with specific expertise in a variety of fields regarding the use of potentially hazardous agents in the laboratory setting.

Laboratories are required to adhere to the hospital's Chemical Hygiene Plan (RIH, TMH) and applicable OSHA regulations.

In addition, any protocol which utilizes potentially hazardous biological or chemical agents must be reviewed and approved for safety by the Biohazards and Laboratory Safety Committee (BLSC) or the Recombinant DNA Committee (RDC) as appropriate before being implemented.

For the purposes of Biohazards and Laboratory Safety Committee review; Hazardous Agents are defined as:

1. Chemical and biological agents that have been assigned a safety rating of 3 or greater in any category on the MSDS sheet
2. Any compound listed as a carcinogen, mutagen or teratogen in the Chemical Hygiene Plan
3. Any toxin including such proteins as ricin, cholera toxin and bacterial toxins
4. Any organism included in the list of Risk Group 2 (RG2) and Risk Group 3 (RG3) organisms in appendix B of the NIH Guidelines [http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines_02/APPENDIX_B.htm] or organisms that require Biosafety Level Containment Level 2 or greater (BSL2, BSL3, BSL4) as defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) manual Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) [http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl4/bmbl4toc.htm]
   Please note if the organisms to be used in conjunction with recombinant DNA experiments, then Recombinant DNA Committee (RDC) review is required.  Please contact the committee coordinator for additional instructions.
5. Any organism that will be administered to live animals.
   (Please note, separate IACUC submission for any work using animals is also required.)

Lifespan Biohazards and Laboratory Safety Committee
Chairperson: Loren Fast, PhD
Director: Patricia E. Houser, RN, MSJ
Coordinator: Roland Lariviere, MS

For information, please call 401-444-2093.
Send all correspondence to Rhode Island Hospital, Aldrich 503.