3 Basic Risk Management Principles

When working with biohazardous substances, having your workplace trained in risk management is essential to your company’s well-being. Identifying these risks and understanding how to handle them should an accident occur can make all the difference in the health and safety of your staff.

1. If you don’t already know, you should first figure out what risks are presented to you, your organization, and your staff while in the workplace. Health and safety risks are extremely important to identify as well as property damage risks due to contamination or simple negligence of maintenance.

2. Once these risks are identified, it’s important to analyze each risk and determine “what’s the worst that could happen?” That may be a loss in finances or something more serious, such as a loss of life. It’s also important to determine the potential frequency of these events and why they might occur in the first place.

3. Proper risk control practices allow hazardous situations to be reduced, prevented, and even avoided based on the action that needs to take place for each potential event. In our Control of Biohazards course, we’ll train you and your staff on all of the risk management principles that are essential to your facility.

An Overview of Bioterrorism

Bioterrorism is the act of releasing toxic biological agents in order to harm a group of people. In our biohazard training courses, we’ll provide course takers with the information they’ll need to handle and treat the effects of a bioterrorism attack. Biological agents such as viruses and bacteria are typically found in nature, but it’s possible for them to be altered by man for malicious intent against a country or group. These agents are separated into three categories, A, B, and C based on how easily they can be spread and the severity of their symptoms.

The most recent bioterrorism attack on the United States occurred shortly after 9/11 by a series of letters sent out containing anthrax powder. These letters arrived in two waves. The first were sent from Trenton, New Jersey to newspapers and media in New York and Boca Raton on September 18, 2001. Only two of these letters were found, but the outbreak of anthrax infections led to the conclusion that there had been others. Two more letters were sent on October 9, again from Trenton, addressed to two Democratic senators at the Capitol in Washington DC. The contaminants in these two letters were stronger than the substance in the first set and the letters contained approximately on gram of almost pure anthrax spores.

Through our biohazard training courses, we can educate individuals on how to prepare for a bioterrorist attack and prevent harmful biological agents from escaping and infecting millions.

GTS Legionella Testing Laboratory agrees with CDC's statement on testing;

“Environmental testing for Legionella is useful to validate the effectiveness of control measures. The program team should determine if environmental testing for Legionella should be performed and, if so, how test results will be used to validate the program. If the program team decides to test for Legionella, then the testing protocol should be specified and documented in advance.”

Source: Page 21. CDC - Developing a Water Management Program to Reduce Legionella Growth & Spread in Buildings  http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/maintenance/wmp-toolkit.html

The Importance of our Biosafety Training Course

Whether you’re a microbiology researcher or on a biosafety team at an institution, enrolling in our biosafety training course, Control of Biohazards, can be immensely beneficial. The course is directed towards those who are biosafety officers, industrial hygienists, occupational health personnel, scientists and technicians, facility engineers, and those in-between. First started in 1979, the Control of Biohazards training course provides an individual with the necessary information to apply to ABSA International to become a certified biological safety professional.

Understanding how to handle dangerous biohazards can make all the difference in preventing laboratory acquired infections or helping others to safe science. Some of the topics covered in our course include biosafety practices, biological packaging and shipping, proper use of biosafety cabinets, bloodborne pathogens standard, risk management principles, and more.

One of the main focuses of biosafety is ensuring the health of laboratory workers and by providing legionella testing, we at GTS Legionella Water Testing Lab help organizations determine whether their legionella control programs are effective in preventing potentially fatal Legionnaires ’ disease outbreaks.

Even if you’re not in a highly specialized position, our course is designed for participants with and without biosafety experience as well as those looking to obtain continuing education credits. For more information on our biosafety training course, email us today at gilpin@legionella.com or visit our website at www.legionella.com.

Control of Biohazards Biosafety Courses

At Richard Gilpin PhD Ltd, we not only provide quantitative legionella water testing services, but we also offer onsite biosafety courses for microbiology researchers, admins, and safety staff. Our Control of Biohazards class began in 1979 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and has since become a recognized course worldwide.

Control of Biohazards is an exceptional training course that many have imitated, but never replicated. The course includes a highly detailed and continuously updated 1,000 page hyperlinked digital handout package that will be available to reference long after the course has been completed. Our biosafety courses are typically four days long, but they can be altered to fit your group or site’s specific accommodations. Below is brief outline of each day’s courses:

Day 1

• Courses include: Course Introduction/Pre-test, Sources of Biosafety Information, Dissemination of Biohazards, and Facility Design BSL-1 to 4
• Total time: 7 Hours, including breaks/lunch

Day 2

• Courses include: Biosafety Cabinets (Primary Barriers), Risk Management Principles, Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, and Disposal of Infectious Waste
• Total time: 7 Hours, including breaks/lunch

Day 3

• Courses include: Biosafety Practices & Techniques, Recombinant and Synthetic Nucleic Acids, and IBC Program Development
• Total time: 7 Hours, including breaks/lunch

Day 4

• Courses include: Decontamination & Disinfection, Biological Packaging & Shipping, Local Laboratory Practices, Post Test, and Review
• Total time: 7 Hours, including breaks/lunch

This course is designed for participants with and without prior biosafety experience and provides the knowledge needed to apply to the American Society for Microbiology for Specialist Microbiologist in Biosafety Certification and to become an ABSA International Certified Biological Safety Professional. To get more information about a workplace course, call us today at 855-628-7853 or visit our website at www.legionella.com.

Basic Legionella Facts You Should Know

First recognized in 1976, Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila and other Legionella species. Legionella naturally live in in water and are most commonly found in water systems containing warm water such as hot tubs, cooling towers, and hot water tanks. This bacterium is considered a biohazard by the CDC and an estimated 10,000 - 18,000 become infected each year in the US.

Legionnaires’ disease can be hard to diagnose, as its symptoms are nearly identical to other pneumonias including a high fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, etc. The diagnosis is often missed because Legionella do not grow well on standard microbiology agar media – a urine antigen test is the primary diagnostic tool for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 – but it is not able to detect other serogroups or Legionella species associated with human disease. Below are 6 basic, yet essential facts about legionella that we feel you should know.

1. There are two different illnesses that legionella bacteria cause: Legionnaires’ disease, the lethal pneumonia and Pontiac fever, a milder influenza-like illness.

2. Legionella bacteria in water systems are be difficult to detect, especially with culture methods. These water systems can produce  Legionella-containing aerosols that are inhaled and cause  a serious pneumonia.

3. Though hospitalization is required to treat Legionnaires’ Disease, also called legionellosis, it is treatable with antibiotics if the pneumonia is promptly diagnosed.

4. There are some complications caused by legionellosis, mainly respiratory failure, septic shock and acute kidney failure. Early antibiotic treatment is the best line of defense to prevent these complications.

5. Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person (only one exception to this is in the published literature), it is contracted by breathing in contaminated aerosol or small droplet vapor.

6. The most effective way to prevent legionella from multiplying in water systems is proper maintenance, whether it’s your home’s hot water tank or corporate cooling tower. Legionella water testing is performed to determine whether your maintenance program is working.

Welcome to the Legionella.com Blog

GTS Legionella Water Testing Laboratory is one of the oldest legionella testing companies in the country and we strive to provide our referred clients with speedy and accurate results, most returning within 3 business days. We also offer week long biosafety courses on various subjects involving biohazard practices and techniques, disposal of infections waste, facility design, and much more.

The purpose of this blog is to provide important information about Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ disease, so that you can be informed of the telltale signs of infection and contamination. We will also provide expansions on all of our training course subjects so that those looking to enroll will have an overview on each topic beforehand.

Legionnaires’ disease can be a serious threat to your family or corporation’s health and knowing how to identify and properly handle contamination can make all the difference. By providing you with the proper information through this blog and our biosafety training courses, we set ourselves apart from all of the other legionella testing companies out there. We are also backed by recognized legionella expert and research microbiologist, Richard W. Gilpin, PhD, formerly on the medical school faculty at Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, and Medical College of Pennsylvania (Drexel University).

For more information about legionella and our Control of Biohazards biosafety training courses, bookmark our blog or call us at 855-628-7853.