Princípios de biossegurança aplicados aos laboratórios didáticos do curso de Licenciatura em Biologia da UFRB

Abstract

Biosafety covers a set of preventive measures to reduce and mitigate risks in the handling of biological material. The promotion of debates in the academic environment contributes to solidify the preventive actions and to divulge the importance of safe laboratory practices. Thus, in the present work the objective was to identify the compliance of the primary and secondary containment items present in the didactic laboratories that attend the undergraduate course in Biology of the Federal University of the Recôncavo (UFRB). The primary and secondary containment criteria were evaluated by a Checklist applied in the didactic laboratories and subdivided into four items: 1) Access; 2) Physical structure; 3) Utility and equipment; 4) Biosafety Standards. The results obtained demonstrated compliance in relation to access in all buildings, with a 62% compliance percentage of the evaluated items. The laboratories of the three buildings presented compliance percentages above 50%, regarding the physical criteria of the laboratory facilities and the presence of equipment and utensils necessary for the practical classes. Regarding Biosafety Standards, all laboratories have presented irregularities or the unavailability of basic biosafety items, which represent a potential risk to students, technicians and teachers. The standardizations of techniques and spaces provide safer teaching activities for students, teachers and institutions. Considering that the laboratories of higher education institutions in Brazil must comply with Biological Safety Levels 1 and 2 (NB-1 and NB-2), in order to guarantee safer practices in the development of practical classes, extension activities and research.