University of North Texas 
Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs)
Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs) help protect laboratory personnel, products, and the environment when work involves certain biological materials. BSCs must be used, cleaned, maintained, and certified properly to provide effective containment.
All Biological Safety Cabinets on the UNT Main Campus and at UNT Discovery Park are certified annually at no cost to departments. Certification is coordinated and funded by Risk Management Services.
Safe BSC Work Area Setup
Set up work in a Biological Safety Cabinet from clean to dirty. Keep clean supplies on one side of the cabinet, conduct active work in the center, and place contaminated materials on the opposite side. This workflow helps reduce cross-contamination and supports safe, consistent BSC use.
BSCs must also be recertified after repair, relocation, maintenance, or any other activity that may affect cabinet performance. Certifications are performed by a qualified third-party vendor coordinated through Environmental Health and Safety.
Use the resources on this page to support proper BSC use, cleaning, disinfection, documentation, and temporary removal from service.
Post the BSC Cleaning Sign when a Biological Safety Cabinet has been cleaned or decontaminated. The sign helps communicate the cabinet’s cleaning status and identifies when cleaning was completed.
Maintain a Biological Safety Cabinet Disinfection Log for each cabinet to document routine cleaning and decontamination. The log should be updated after routine use, spills, contamination events, or maintenance activities.
Use the BSC Mothballing SOP when a Biological Safety Cabinet must be temporarily removed from service or placed
in storage. The procedure provides guidance for decontamination, labeling, documentation,
storage, and periodic inspection.
Use the CDC Checklist for Safe Use of Biological Safety Cabinets as a daily reminder, training resource, or audit tool for personnel working with biological materials.