Barriers in the lab animal unit and HSE procedures

The Health/Safety/Environment department at UoB has informed us that there is an increasing number of researchers and other employees developing allergies in the lab animal unit. We ask all researchers, students and technicians to do their part to stop this trend.

Some HSE procedures are well incorporated, but some need to be re-established, and there are also procedures which we notice are not known to all. We discuss this in the project start-up meetings, and the information is available in our units.

Everybody who come to the lab animal unit must change clothes. If you are only going to Vivariums  4th floor/to the offices, you will only need to put blue ”plastic socks” on your shoes, and a blue coat. In all other cases, you need to dress in the "uniform" you will find in the wardrobe; blue pants and shirt, and blue plastic "socks" on your shoes. Green clothes to those who work with large animals, and blue for all others. We recommend that you buy your own shoes for use in the lab animal unit. In the dressing room at Vivariums 1st floor there are lockers where you can keep your change of clothes.  You can mark one of these lockers with your name, but do not keep valuables here, as the lockers are open.  Also remember to remove the name when your project is finished, so others can use the locker instead.

At the BBB-unit the uniform is also blue clothes. It is forbidden to enter the office area in exposed clothes. Researchers at BBB must also change clothes when they are to work with animals. They can also wear a pull-on overall which covers the whole body and hair.

HSE procedures are not only important when it comes to preventing allergies, but also when preventing infections and other unwanted organisms. A restricted and thoroughly characterized microbial flora is part of the standardization of the animal, to avoid unwanted impact on research results.

”Clean” and ”dirty” elevator at Vivarium

Vivarium have a ”clean” and a ”dirty” elevator. Clean elevator is closest to the entrance/in the middle of the building. Dirty elevator is in the end of the corridor closest to the laboratory building. Animals, dirty cages, animal carcasses, waste and other things that have been in contact with animals or allergens must be transported in the dirty elevator. Remember that the offices are in a clean zone, to go there you need to put on a clean coat, blue plastic "socks”, take off gloves and wash hands. It might be easier just to call the office. There are phones in all animal rooms and operation rooms .

It is also important that everybody changes shoes and clothes when going from the hospital and into the lab animal unit, and vice versa. The hospital is NOT a clean zone, and not part of the lab animal unit. Consequently, as a minimum do not use the same shoes in the hospital as in the lab animal unit, and you must have one set of clothes that you use at the hospital, and another set for use in the lab animal unit. The same applies for traffic to and from the new lab building to the lab animal unit.

Gloves / hand hygiene  

All rooms are equipped with gloves in various sizes. We encourage all to use gloves when they work.  Always wash your hands when finishing a work session, and if necessary a antiseptic hand rub (dispensers for this is placed stategically in the building). The corridors are glove free, that is, you move from one area/room to another with clean hands. Door nobs, handles, phones etc are common sources of infection, and also a good place for allergens.

Caps and facemasks

Caps and facemasks are available in different locations in the building, for those who want this, and it is for your own and others' part strongly recommended. We also have masks with filters (3M), ask the staff for this. Unfortunately, those masks that are so expensive that we must charge extra for them. If you work at BBB, caps, facemask and gloves are mandatory.

Those who want to take their precautions are recommend to buy a respiratory protection device. There are several types appropriate for this use, easy to maintain and to carry when you work. The UoB has an agreement with Victoria AS (www.victoria.no) when it comes to equipment for personal protection. We recommend you to check solutions and prices with them.