General Lab Safety

Laboratory All the relevant laboratory work for our project is done in a working space of Biosafety level II.

Regulations and Guidelines We strictly and meticulously followed all the national laws and regulations and institutional guidelines that govern biosafety or biosecurity in research laboratories, particularly for those involved in synthetic biology. These include The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014 [link: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l29.htm], The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 [link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2677/contents/made], and the University of Oxford Safety Office Biorisk Management regulations [link: https://safety.admin.ox.ac.uk/biorisk-management].

Extensive Training Prior to entering the lab and beginning any lab work, every team member went through two safety induction sessions. The first induction session was with the Department of Biology, covering topics including Safety Organisation and Responsibilities, Required Health & Safety Forms/Documents, Incidents & Accidents & Prevention & Reporting, Hazards and Risks, Risk Assessment, Laboratory Compliance Policy, General Laboratory Rules, etc. The second induction session was with the specific lab group, covering the details of safety practices inside the lab and its surroundings (e.g. Responsible individuals, Disinfection and sterilization, Emergency procedures, Personnel & Physical & Chemical & Fire & Electrical safety, etc). Additionally, all of the members have taken the courses and obtained certificates for the Biological Safety and Genetic Modification Part I and II, which is a fundamental module in the Health and Safety training programme provided by the University Safety Office.

Safety and Security Measures Many actions were practised in order to manage the risks throughout different stages of the project. On the most basic level, everyone in the wet lab always dressed appropriately, wore standard Personal Protective Equipment correctly, and followed good occupational hygiene. Proper and sufficient decontamination and containment measures are always taken. Benchtop and other working areas were always kept tidy. Moreover, controls on inventory and data access were applied with Benching and maintained daily. Protocols were optimised and readily available in both paper and electronic formats. Out-of-hours working was prohibited unless a risk assessment form was submitted and special permission was granted by the PIs and the Department. Constant surveillance of bacterial cultures also allowed early detection if the containment strategies were ineffective.

Monitoring and Report Before we formally began the experiment, we held conversations with our PIs and researchers in the field (e.g. Baker Lab) to get better insight into the safe handling of our chosen protein, bacteria, and experimental procedures. To ensure maximum safety inside the lab in the later stages, we worked closely with our PIs and several appointed PhD students and postdocs, and a lab manager, with whom we consulted before moving to the next stage of our project. All of them were also responsible for helping to take immediate measures when they are aware of any issue that may be a hazard to the health or safety of any team members or others around. We would then together notify the Departmental Safety Officers, and the PIs would take the responsibility of reporting these issues to the University and to any members in charge of safety supervision.