Laboratory

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(General) Health & Safety

All lab residents must follow a H&S training, which contains the following parts:

Lab introduction - 1.5h in-person training provided by the lab manager and you must complete it to access the laboratories. It includes basic information specific to HTD site, such as:

site layout and fire safety
basic rules at Biolabs laboratories
cold storage rules
safe handling and storage of chemical products
rules for work at BSL-1 and BSL-2
protection equipment (collective and PPE)
lab waste management
shared lab equipment and rules
emergency procedures

Online lab training (Kaptitude)

The theoretical training modules, which must be completed within 4 weeks.

Lab Rules/PPE

🥼 Lab Coats

Lab coats MUST be worn in all laboratory areas at all times. We have 2 kinds:

white cloth lab coats - use them for general purposes (e.g. washing dishes, when handling cryo storage, in the L1 labs). They are available in the stock room 2.21/2.19.

Take a clean lab coat from a hanger and label it with you name using green tape. You can use it and store it on a hanger in the lab coat room. Dirty gowns must be deposited in a designated bag at the end of the week. Dirty lab coats are collected by a service provider every Monday morning.

White lab coats can be worn when moving between different laboratories while transporting the samples. They must be removed before entering common areas such as cafeteria, toilets, offices and lounge.

blue/white dispoable lab coats - disposable, wear them only in L2 laboratories. They are available at the entrance of every L2 lab and need to be disposed in DASRI bin upon usage. It is acceptable to reuse them for a period of 1 week, provided that they are not contaminated. They must be labeled (name + date) and stored in the lab on the hooks next to the entrance.

A lab coat must be worn before any manipulation in the L2 laboratories and in the culture rooms.

chemistry lab coats - lab coats made from thick cotton. Use them for work with acids, bases or chemicals that are flammable. You can find them in the room 2.21/2.19.

🧤 Gloves

Gloves MUST be worn when working with hazardous materials, to protect against skin contact. They MUST NOT be worn outside the laboratory, in areas such as washrooms or offices. Exception: It may be necessary to wear protective gloves outside the laboratory when carrying hazardous chemicals or hazardous waste.

Gloves must be removed before opening doors or handling equipment, to avoid contamination.

Safety glasses Safety glasses MUST be worn at all times inside laboratory rooms. Safety glasses or safety over-glasses with side protection against chemical splashes are given to every resident during onboarding process.

Long pants/skirts that cover the legs and close-toed shows are MANDATORY. Open shoes and shorts or skirts above the knees are not safe clothing. Wherever possible, minimize the amount of synthetic fabrics worn.

Kaptitude

These are theoretical training modules, which must be completed within 4 weeks:

Chemical risk prevention (chemical products and their labeling, collective protection equipment, personal protection equipment, reacting to common emergencies and accidents). In specific case, also: physical chemistry and hazards.
Biological risk prevention - microbiology and cell culture (biological agents, hazardous techniques and basic precautions, disinfection methods, confinement levels, ID card of a biological agent, ID card of a cell culture, working safely in the L1 or L2 laboratory). In specific cases: only microbiology module.
Biological risk prevention - working with the GMO
Biological risk prevention - human products and DASRI. In specific cases: non-mandatory.

The basic training via Kaptitude is defined by Biolabs according to project risk evaluation. It is included in the membership. Residents who wish to purchase additional training modules depending on their individual needs will be billed directly via Marketplace.

Fire Training

Building evacuation exercises are organized by AP-HP 1-2 times/year
A fire training session is organized by the AP-HP once per year. It includes theoretical information about causes and classes of fire, it’s propagation, prevention measures, alarm, exits, evacuation, the role of the evacuation team, possible interventions and their safety, the types of extinguishers. The training also includes a practical exercise of using extinguishers.

Other

Additional training sessions can be scheduled via the Lab Ops team on demand:

Cryogenic storage and liquid nitrogen handling
Autoclave
Other equipment training

Equipment Reservation, Requests, Training, & Protocols

Equipment reservations are performed on Clustermarket. Equipment pieces will be added to the Clustermarket in phases.

Only reservations on Clustermarket are honored, and bookings should be edited or cancelled if the reservation is no longer needed.

For some individual equipment, there is no formal reservation system in place. However, if you need to use an instrument for a long period of time, please send a mail to paris-labs@biolabs.io detailing your situation.

Our aim is to provide our residents with state-of-the-art shared equipment. All Biolabs sites have a standard set of equipment pieces, which have a record of serving many project for multiple years. We are however open to acquire additional machines if we have space, budget and if they can be used by multiple residents. If you would like us to get a particular instrument, please request it via this form:

https://lf5da1tbxim.typeform.com/to/JBxCqJE1

Waste Disposal

These are theoretical training modules, which must be completed within 4 weeks:

Chemical risk prevention (chemical products and their labeling, collective protection equipment, personal protection equipment, reacting to common emergencies and accidents). In specific case, also: physical chemistry and hazards.
Biological risk prevention - microbiology and cell culture (biological agents, hazardous techniques and basic precautions, disinfection methods, confinement levels, ID card of a biological agent, ID card of a cell culture, working safely in the L1 or L2 laboratory). In specific cases: only microbiology module.
Biological risk prevention - working with the GMO
Biological risk prevention - human products and DASRI. In specific cases: non-mandatory.

Facilities/Operations

Starter Pack for Labs

With each rented bench or a private lab, Biolabs provides the residents with a starter pack of small lab equipment.

You also get assess to the cold storage at different temperatures. The available space is proportional to the lab space that you rent.

For details, please see here: Starter pack

Autoclave, Glassware, Milliq

The autoclave is located in Washing Room 2.12, and an industrial dishwasher and MiliQ Water station are available in both Washing Rooms 2.12 and 2.38

The Biolabs team maintains the autoclave once per week, and prepares sterile glassware as needed in Washing Room 2.13

Only residents trained to use the autoclave are given access to Washing Room 2.12. To request a training, please email BiolabsHTD@biolabs.io

Cold Storage

The Biolabs staff attributes cold storage space to each resident company, corresponding to the size of the rented lab space.
The storage space is shared; therefore, each user must keep it organized and error-free (e.g., close the doors!).
Biolabs staff will do their utmost to maintain the cold storage units at the correct temperature. Still, we do not take responsibility for losing the samples if it happens anyway (e.g., “force majeure,” negligence of other users, etc.).
We recommend keeping at least two copies of the same samples in different cold storage units (e.g., cell lines in LN2 and -80°C).
We recommend backup storage outside the Broussais site for your most critical samples.

Shipping Biological Samples

Biolabs does not provide shipping services. Each startup needs to handle it on their own, because of risks and complicated regulations associated with sending biological samples.

Check here for shipping guidelines: