Biosafety at UNT

Your safety matters to us. The Biosafety Program supports the UNT community by helping faculty, staff, and students work safely with biological materials through training, guidance, procedures, and compliance support. Use the quick links below to access program resources, training materials, procedcures, logs, signs, and regulatory guidance.

We work collaboratively with the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) to review and authorize research with infectious agents and biohazardous materials. Environmental Health and Safety supports researchers by conducting laboratory surveys and providing guidance to ensure compliance with UNT Biosafety Policy and the CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) .

Environmental Health and Safety provides comprehensive biosafety training, including Bloodborne Pathogens training, and oversees the Biological Waste Management Program.

Students working in laboratories may encounter a variety of hazards during instructional and research activities, including biological materials, sharps, broken glass, hot surfaces, hot crucibles, heated equipment, chemical disinfectants, and laboratory instruments. Injuries can occur from improper handling of contaminated materials, sharp objects such as broken tubes or pipettes, thermal burns, spills, or unsafe laboratory practices. This section provides basic biosafety guidance, training information, emergency procedures, and safe laboratory practices to help students recognize hazards, work safely, and understand their responsibilities while participating in laboratory activities at UNT.

Topics	Topics
Basic Laboratory Safety	Emergency Contacts
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)	Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP) Awareness
Exposure Reporting	Hygiene Practices
Spill Reporting	Training Requirements
Sharps Awareness	Laboratory Conduct Expectations
Biological Waste Basics	Handwashing & Decontamination
What To Do In An Emergency

Researchers and laboratory personnel working with biological materials may routinely work around biological hazards, sharps, broken laboratory glassware, centrifuges, autoclaves, heated equipment, hot crucibles, compressed gases, chemical disinfectants, cryogenic materials, and other laboratory hazards. Proper laboratory practices and hazard controls are necessary to help prevent exposures, cuts, punctures, burns, spills, equipment-related injuries, and contamination events. This section provides technical biosafety guidance, operational procedures, equipment information, training resources, and compliance support for research and laboratory activities involving biological materials.

Topics	Topics
Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs)	Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)
Centrifuges	Risk Assessments
Autoclaves	Transport of Biological Materials
Incubators	Decontamination Procedures
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)	Laboratory Practices
Biological Waste Management	Biosafety Training
Spill Response	BMBL Guidance
Exposure Reporting	Signage & Labels
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)	Laboratory Housekeeping
Sharps Safety	Equipment Certification Information
Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP)

Support personnel, facilities staff, custodial staff, maintenance personnel, and responders may encounter biological hazards, blood or body fluids, sharps, broken glass, contaminated waste, hot equipment, or spill situations during routine operations, maintenance activities, cleaning tasks, or emergency response. Understanding how to recognize hazards, avoid unsafe contact, respond appropriately, and obtain assistance is critical to preventing injuries and exposures. This section provides practical guidance focused on hazard recognition, safe response actions, exposure procedures, reporting requirements, and when to contact Environmental Health and Safety for assistance.

Topics	Topics
Floor Cleaning & Decontamination	Emergency Response Procedures
Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP)	Exposure Procedures
Spill Awareness & Response	Basic Decontamination Practices
What To Do / What Not To Do	Contacting EHS
Sharps Recognition	Incident Reporting
Red Bag Waste Awareness	PPE Expectations
Biological Hazard Recognition	Housekeeping Guidance
Regulated Waste Awareness