In biosafety training programs, it is critical that students develop a familiarity with biological safety equipment. In courses and workshops, this can take the form of industry-insider trainings, interactive exercises as well as hands-on experience with the equipment. Industry can play an important role in biosafety training. This goes beyond demonstrating equipment at trade shows and conferences.
Germfree’s Class III BSC Training Unit at ABSA Course: “Fundamentals of the Class III Biosafety Cabinet”
Class III Biological Safety Cabinets: Importance of Hands-on Training
Practical training is particularly useful for students that plan to work in high containment situations. While many students have access to Class II Biosafety Cabinets, too few are able to get hands-on experience with a Class III Biological Safety Cabinet. Class III BSC’s require a familiarization with a wide range of equipment features and configurations such as: Gloves & Gloveports, Pass-throughs / Airlocks, Rapid Transfer Ports, Autoclaves, Decontamination Systems, etc.
Germfree maintains a Class III BSC training unit at their headquarters. Germfree also participates in student training programs with other facilities, providing institutions with Class III BSC’s and other bio-containment equipment to give their students hands-on experience and training in proper technique. For example, Germfree’s Biological Safety Cabinets have been used for training in university settings such as The Emory University Science and Safety Training Program as well as workshops in conference settings such as ABSA’s Annual Biological Safety Conference.
TRAINING FROM THE ROAD: This coming week, Cliff Colby from Germfree will take to the road for a variety of presentations and visits in the greater Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas.
He will be visiting various U.S. military and governmental agencies as well as the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University. While in Baltimore, Cliff will also be teaching a course at The BioTechnical Institute of Maryland (BTI). The workshop he is presenting at BTI is The Theory, Practice And Proper Use Of A Class II BSC. This course will cover the practical aspects of properly using a Class II Biological Safety Cabinet.
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Cliff Colby is VP of Sales at Germfree. He has more than 12 years experience as a Biosafety Instructor. He has also worked extensively on multi-media biosafety training materials. And if you want to discuss applications that require chemical containment, his background as a Chemist will also come in handy.
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The BioTechnical Institute of Maryland provides training for students that want to enter the biotech field. According to the BTI website, the institute “fills a need for specialty scientific training of entry-level biotechnicians for employment in Maryland’s rapidly expanding biotechnology industry. The BTI Laboratory Associates Program provides tuition-free training in basic laboratory skills to bright, ambitious, unemployed and under-employed Maryland residents. “
