UNIVERSITY OF KISUBI

LABORATORY LAYOUT AND

ORGANISATION
.
 GOOD LABORATORY PRACTICE.
Laboratory;
Is a work place(facility) where scientific research, experiments,
measurements and tests are performed to aid diagnosis of medically
important disease causing pathogens.
A laboratory personnel is trained to perform the following tasks;
• Prepare specimen samples and reagents.
• Carry out tests and give precise results
• Maintain the standard operating procedures of the lab equipment.
• Ensure that the lab is stocked with necessary equipment and
reagents.
• Record and interpret test results.
• Demonstrate practical procedures if in school lab.
 CONSTRUCTING A LABORATORY.
The following should be considered;
 Controlled air flow, to protect lab personnel and environment from
infection.
 Away from noisy areas ,if on a storied building, it should be at the ground
floor and at the extreme end.
 Away from direct sunrays.
 Space for future expansion
 Nature of work or research to be done in the lab.
 Types of equipment to be used.
 Accessibility of the facility by the community members.
 Separation of hazardous work, waste from working space and
environment.
 number of employees and level of mechanical services to be done.
 Should be standard. i.e. benches 1.5mx3m. A square lab is better than a
rectangular lab.
 ESSENTIAL PRINCPLES OF CONSRUCTING A
LABORATORY.
Consider;
Primary containment barriers; this is the first barrier and
provides protection of the lab personnel from the agent(pathogen).
These include;
• Gloves, masks, closed shoes, lab coats
• Protective shields
• Respiratory protection and biosafety cabinets.
These are also known as personal protective equipment(PPEs).
Secondary containment barriers; these provide a barrier
between the environment and the agent. i.e
• Showers, sterilizers, air handling and filtration.
• Air tight rooms, e-locks,
• Waste and sewage treatment,
 PRINCPLES CONT……
Tertiary containment barriers; these are additional
organizational barriers with physical operations. Such as;
• Fences
• Walls
• Security, CCTVs, cards
• Quarantine
• Animal exclusion zones.
 CONT….
Benches;
• should be of rigid construction i.e. permant.
• Should be covered with Formica/Granite that is easy to clean
and not easily affected by the corrosive reagents.
• Provision of storage shelves under the benches with shelve doors
and well labeled according the containers and reagents stored in
them.
• Should be of standard width and length. i.e. 1.3m wide, 3m long.
Doors;
• Should swing out to allow easy movement
• Should have a glass panel for visual check(entrance door)
• Should be double doors in series at the entrance, i.e. main door
and the air tight one inside.
• Emergency door at easily accessible points in case of an
accident. Is smaller than the main entrance door and easy to
open.
• Are of width 90cm,main door and 40cm emergency door.
Sinks;
• Do not install unnecessary
• Mainly at the walls form the working space
• Made of stainless steel with well fitted drainage system.
• Constantly Supplied with water(cold or hot)
• Clean sinks for washing hands, located at the doors with eye
washes.
• Dirty sinks for washing lab ware that may or not contain
pathogens.
 Ceiling, windows, floor, walls
• Should be of strong material like concrete.
• Windows should large enough for natural light illumination,
ventilation and easy to open.
• Walls painted with water-based paint that is easy to clean. White
color is preferred since it reflects light providing a good
illumination.
• Floor made of terrazzo, non-slippery, easy to clean.
 Waste disposal;
• Waste must be separated according to the level of
infectiousness.
• waste bins must be available.

• ,,,
 Emergency equipment;
• These should be at easily accessible areas within and outside
the laboratory.
• Fire extinguishers
• Fire blankets, sand buckets,
• Call box, eye washes
• Alarms, emergency lighting in windowless labs.
 Provision of services;
Maintenance and repair of lab systems.
• Water
• Electricity, communication lines, gas cylinders.
Ventilation;
This is aimed at removing the contaminant from the point of
generation. Controls hazardous aerosols.
A good ventilation system should provide a uni-directional flow
of air and not allowing re-circulation of the air within the lab
since it may contain pathogens in aerosols.
also consider the floor space, working activities.
• Natural ventilation; provided by the natural winds and
affected by the speed of wind, shape of building and is not
easily controlled.
• Artificial ventilation; this includes
• Air conditioners
• Fume hoods
• Air locks.
 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
This is categorized according to the purpose it serves;
• Normal power system; this is power supplied to the sockets
and switches of the lab. It is used to run most of the lab
activities that require power.
• Emergency power system; this provides a back up power
supply incase the normal power supply has gone off.it is either
solar or generator supplied.
• Indicator light system; this is important when an accident
has occurred and is used to notify the lab personnel and other
hospital workers about the incident. Usually these lights of
different colors, red, green, orange.
• Security power system; this deals with the external lighting
to provide a dark free environment around the lab, also
automated security locks at the doors use power.
• Equipment monitoring system; deals with the proper
functioning of the equipment, in case of over heating,
overloaded circuit.
• Communication, data, information system; this
provides an easy means of communication with other
departments of the hospital. especially when dissemination of
test results, storage of patients data, records of the hospital.
etc.
• Automation control system; when the power supplied is
higher than the normal, circuit breakers act to put off the
power, step up and step down transformers act to bring
about the required power in case of any deviations.
• Lighting system;
The light bulbs should provide bright white light. At least six light
bulbs of the power consumption rate should be used to provide
lighting in the laboratory.
Inadequate lighting causes;
• Strain
• Permanent eye damage
• Discomfort
• Headache
• Liable making mistakes.
Caution;
Electrical installation should cater for protection of the lab
personnel, patients, other hospital workers and the
environment. i.e,
• No loosely hanging live wires.
• Proper insulation of electric wires
• Controlled and uninterrupted electric power supply
• Sockets at different points should be of the same voltage.
• For special voltage supply, connections must be proper, fitted
with appropriate transformers.
 Security and other related systems.
Security zone 1
• fire alarm
• CCTVs
Security zone 2
• Use of cards
Security zone 3
• Cards with bar codes.
Security zone 4
• Use of cards and PIN numbers
• All entrances have CCTV cameras.
Security zone 5
• Keypad entry PIN numbers.
Others
• Vapor, smoke alarmed sensors
• Security guards.
LABORATORY ANIMAL FACILITIES.
 These should be separated from other activities such as
production
 No animal should enter into the facility with any disease.
 Animals should be introduced in a path that is free from
disease agents.
 Microbial containment of infected animals should be remotely
handled.
 TYPES OF LABORATORIES
Biosafety level 1(BSL1)
Is a basic laboratory that handles organisms with very low risk of
causing diseases. microbes are known to cause disease.
Basic protection is for the personnel and the environment.
Example of microorganisms;
• fungal moulds.
Requirements;
• Door
• PPEs
• Easily cleaned surfaces
• Impervious bench tops
• Study furniture
Examples;
• Secondary school lab
• Tertiary school lab.
Biosafety level II(BSLII);
This handles materials and agents that present a moderate risk to the
personnel and community.
• Personnel must be trained
• Containment of the aerosols.
• Agents are associated with human and animal disease.
Requirements;
• biohazard signs
• Procedures carried out in biosafety cabinets
• PPEs
• autoclave., sinks, eye washes.
• Lockable doors, self closing.
• negative air flow(one direction)
• Access hands free sinks
Example of microbes;
• Influenza virus
• Escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus.
Examples;
• Hospital laboratories,(health centers.)
Biosafety level III(BSLIII);
This is a high containment laboratory that handles
microorganisms with a high risk of disease causing to the
personnel and community.
• There is a high rate of aerosol transmission of the agents
through inhalation.(air borne)
• It utilizes the HVAC system(heating, ventilation, Air and
conditioning.)
Example of microbes
• Yellow fever
• West Nile virus
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• HIV
• Requirements;
 Standard PPEs, biohazard signs.
 All work done in class ii safety cabinets.
 Autoclave present, hands free sinks,
 Eye washes at the exit.
 Key card lock systems, self closing doors, swing inwards
 means of communication to the outside departments
 Easily cleaned surfaces
 Sustained Unidirectional air flow.
 Air flow monitors and gauges.
 Light flush to the ceiling.
 Two doors(ante-room, air lock).
Typical labs i.e.
• Referral labs
• Research labs(fisheries, food processing, water and sanitation labs)
Biosafety level IV(BSL IV);
This is a maximum containment laboratory that handles
microorganisms with a high risk and life threatening disease to both
individuals and the community.
• The materials handled are highly contagious.
• It is isolated from the general population.
• All work is done in class iii safety cabinets.
• Transmission is mainly airborne(aerosols).
Examples of microbes
• Ebola
• Marburg viruses
• Requirements;
 Class iii safety cabinets
 Personnel are required to change clothing before entering, shower
upon leaving.
 Decontamination of all materials before exiting
 Personnel must wear appropriate protective equipment.
Examples;
• Uganda virus research institute research laboratory.
THANK YOU FOR THE AUDIENCE