Biosafety Management Systems in Laboratories

May 11th - 14th, 2010
Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, National Microbiology Laboratory
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The Public Health Agency of Canada National Microbiology Laboratory together with The International Centre for Infectious Diseases and Sandia National Laboratories are partnering to present a four day, intensive, seminar focusing on how to implement a biosafety and biosecurity management system centered on the new international CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) 15793:2008.

This unique seminar combines high impact lectures, hands-on table top exercises and role-playing. We will explore and discuss the increasing need for a comprehensive management system in biosafety and biosecurity in laboratories, exploring as well as using detailed approaches and new tools for risk assessment and human resource management. In addition, implementation strategies and lessons learned will be discussed by experts within the National Microbiology Laboratory based on their experiences with the implementation of the CWA 15793:2008. International experts will discuss their auditing processes and certification. This seminar is specifically designed for today’s laboratory managers and directors, biosafety professionals and safety managers, research and science staff.

Proposed topics include:

Implementation of Management Systems for Biosafety and Biosecurity
International Laboratory Biorisk Management Standard CWA 15793:2008
Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001/18002
Audits/Certification/Accreditation
Risk Assessment Process and Methodology
People and Resource Management
Training and Competency

After successfully completing this four day seminar our participants will recognize:

Management system principles and concepts
Application and use of the CWA 15793:2008
People and resource management tools and strategies

In addition, participants will be able to:

Use the “Biosafety & Biosecurity Risk Assessment Methodology” (Biorisk RAM)
Apply self-audit principles and techniques and communicate audit results
Define adult oriented training and learning techniques and competency assessment tools
Plan a strategy for the implementation of a biorisk management system at their own facility

In preparation for our planned IACET accreditation of this course, learning objectives will be assessed through pre-and post seminar assessments. The seminar will be presented by national and international experts. All aspects of the seminar will be conducted in English.

For convenience, this seminar directly precedes the International High Containment Workshop on May 16th-21st, 2010.