Team:York/Safety
Lab Safety
Our work took place in the University of York's Project Labs in the Department of Biology, and the Optics Lab in the Department of Physics. The laboratory technicians responsible for these labs provided us with the appropriate safety training. Basic first aid kits were kept on hand in case of emergencies.
The University of York provides clear guidelines on the handling and use of various potentially hazardous materials common to lab work, which were referenced when we conducted our experiments. These guidelines can be accessed here.
- Laser
- UV
- Microorganisms
A core component of our project, the DIHM, uses a class 2 laser. A class 2 laser, according to European and international standards, poses a negligible level of risk to human safety unless one deliberately stares into the beam. No safeguards are required for this class of laser, though we designed our hardware such that the laser points downwards - away from the user’s eyes. Further, we have labelled the DIHM as a class 2 laser to ensure it is used safely.
To visualise DNA banding on agarose gels, UV was used. The main UV transilluminator was housed in a shielded container, so there was no exposure during use.
A second, more portable device was also used. UV filtering goggles were worn during its use.
All organisms used were chosen due to their low pathogenic risk. They carry little to no risk to humans, animals, or plants.
The microorganisms we used have been listed below, and classified according to the Health and Safety Executive’s Approved List of Biological Agents (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/misc208.pdf). Organisms are classified into groups 1-4, where 1 indicates it is unlikely to cause human disease, and 4 indicates organisms that can cause severe diseases with a high risk of spreading and no effective treatment.
| Organism | Classification Group |
|---|---|
| Chlamydomonas reinhardtii | |
| Escherichia coli | |
| Galdieria sulphuraria | |
| Saccharomyces cerevisiae | |
| Staphylococcus aureus | |
| Bacillus megaterium |
