GENERAL RULES ON WORKING IN THE MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY

A Microbiology laboratory is a suitable place that is fitted out to handle and examine microorganisms. This type of work must be carried out with a good aseptic technique, and therefore a clean and tidy environment is required and work must always be carried out in sterile conditions (with the flame of a Bunsen burner, alcohol or gas close at hand).
Although the microorganisms that are handled are not considered to be pathogenic, all the cultures of all the microorganisms must be handled with care given their potential pathogenicity.

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE WORK:

1. Microorganisms under analysis must be kept in their containers and culture mediums to avoid the risk of getting contaminated or contaminating a colleague.
2. Make sure that microorganisms are not in the atmosphere (skin, hair, air, clothes, etc.), which contaminate our samples.

To maintain these conditions, it is necessary to respect a series of

RULES AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

I. On clothing, hygiene and personal belongings (video):
· You must go to the laboratory wearing a white coat.
· When working close to the flame of the Bunsen burner you must
o Avoid wearing loose wide sleeves.
o Keep your hair tied back.
· When beginning and ending the practicals, students must wash their hands with soap and water.
· Books, folders, coats and any other material that is not used when carrying out the practical must be stored properly away from the work place.
· Eating, drinking, putting on make-up and obviously smoking in the laboratory is not allowed.
· Mobile phones should not be used when carrying out the practicals.

II. On the lab bench:
· The workplace must be clean and tidy. Before starting each practical the work surface should be disinfected. The most normal disinfectants are bleach and alcohol (ethanol 96°).
· Microbiology work is mainly done in an atmosphere that surrounds a flame of a Bunsen burner (video and figure 1). It is important to concentrate when working and be careful not to cause a flash fire or get burnt. The Bunsen burner must always be turned off before leaving the lab bench.
· At the end of the day’s work, collect the material and clean the table replacing the filter paper if necessary. The students are responsible for looking after the lab bench throughout the practicals.

III. About waste:
There are different kinds of waste that can be produced in the laboratory. Each type must be disposed of in the corresponding container. There are three basic types of waste:
· NON-risk waste, which is disposed of in the conventional rubbish bags.
· Biohazardous rubbish, which goes in special containers marked with the biohazard symbol (see figure 2). Nothing contaminated should ever be thrown down the sink or in the normal rubbish.
· Glass waste (microscope slides and slide covers, Pasteur pipettes…) go in hard bench top containers (figure 2).
· Under no circumstances whatsoever should any sample or material that contains microorganisms (plates, slides, test tubes, etc.) be taken out of the laboratory.
· Pipettes must never be put in the mouth. Always use manual pipette controller or automatic pipettes.
· If there is an accident (broken material, spilled microorganisms, burns, etc.) the teacher must be informed immediately. There are showers and safety eye wash units (figure 3), as well as special absorbent products for accidental spillages (figure 4).
· There must always be a properly equipped first aid kit in the laboratory (figure 5).