Safety and Security
Since we are a high school team with a lab under biosafety level 1, all our experiments and materials are designed for this safety level. We have an open bench in our lab and are not using any hazardous materials apart from ethanol and bleach for decontamination. We are using attenuated strains to reduce the possibility of exposure to the environment. We are not using anything that needs extra attention. The access to the laboratory area is limited by special keys that only a particular supervisor has. If no responsible supervisor or other experts is present, students can not get into the lab. For safety concerns, we trained all team members with the correlating safety rules when using the needed equipment and materials. People working in the labs are wearing protective clothing and other equipment as needed. Students are also taught to let mentors know if they noticed signs that indicate other team members are sick. After the lab is used, the bench and waste products will always be decontaminated using 10% bleach before people leave the laboratory area and/or throw trash away. We also record what we do and what accidents happen in a lab notebook.
