The Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI) is pleased to announce the launch of the TB laboratory safety handbook. This tool was launched on the margins of the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad earlier this week. This Handbook draws on decades of experience working in culture and DST laboratories. It focuses on how to work safely in order to reduce the risk of infection or injury and protect the laboratory workforce and the wider community against unintentional exposures or releases of pathogenic biological agents.
Factors that have led to potential and confirmed exposures to biological agents include absence or improper use of personal protective equipment, inadequate or ignored risk assessments, lack of standard operating procedures, and/or insufficiently trained personnel.
The intended audience of this Handbook is laboratory staff who conduct procedures to test samples potentially containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The handbook may be downloaded here.
