In 2014, the NIH and other Department of Health and Human Services agencies announced National Biosafety Stewardship month as a new initiative to promote stewardship of the life sciences and biosafety awareness. National Biosafety Stewardship Month is a period during which institutions are encouraged to reinforce their attention to biosafety policies, practices and procedures.
For 2015, the NIH is encouraging participating institutions to focus their efforts on sustaining and enhancing a culture of safety/responsibility in life science research laboratories. Thematic elements of enhancing a culture of safety/responsibility include:
Training
- Enhancing biosafety training for all staff involved in both the conduct and oversight of life sciences research
- Promoting the development of comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and ensuring all personnel are familiar with those SOPs
Engagement
- Engaging senior institutional research administrators to support and communicate the importance of biosafety
- Encouraging principal investigators to take an active role with respect to biosafety in their laboratories
- Encouraging institutions to foster the development of non-punitive incident reporting systems that provide lessons learned regarding optimal responses to incidents and identification of strategies to minimize risks
Transparency
- Highlighting successes the institution has had in conducting vital research responsibly through a safe and ethical framework
- Promoting public transparency regarding institutional oversight of biosafety
Check out at the Georgia Tech Biosafety Office webpage to learn more about our Biosafety Program and register for training.