The ORCBS - Biological Safety - Programs & Guidelines

Plant Biosafety Level 1 (PBSL-1)

Standard Practices

Greenhouse access
Access to the greenhouse shall be limited or restricted, at the discretion of the Greenhouse Director, when experiments are in progress. Prior to entering the greenhouse, personnel shall be required to read and follow instructions on PBSL-1 greenhouse practices and procedures. All procedures shall be performed in accordance with accepted greenhouse practices that are appropriate to the experimental organism.

Records
A record shall be kept of experiments currently in progress in the greenhouse facility.

Decontamination and inactivation
Experimental organisms shall be rendered biologically inactive by appropriate methods before disposal outside of the greenhouse facility.

Control of undesired species and motile macroorganisms
A program shall be implemented to control undesired species (e.g., weed, rodent, or arthropod pests and pathogens), by methods appropriate to the organisms and in accordance with applicable state and Federal laws. Arthropods and other motile macroorganisms shall be housed in appropriate cages. If macroorganisms (e.g., flying arthropods or nematodes) are released within the greenhouse, precautions shall be taken to minimize escape from the greenhouse facility.

Concurrent experiments conducted in the greenhouse
Experiments involving other organisms that require a containment level lower than PBSL-1 may be conducted in the greenhouse concurrently with experiments that require PBSL-1 containment, provided that all work is conducted in accordance with PBSL-1 greenhouse practices.