Personal Safety:

Due to the nature of the iGEM and the need to work closely with bacteria, chemicals, and other potentially harmful substances such as radiation encountered within the laboratory, the safety of our team members is absolutely critical. As such, each and every member of the Lethbridge iGEM High School team is extremely careful to always use personal protective equipment when in the lab. This protective equipment includes disposable, impermeable gloves to shield team members' hands from any harmful chemicals or bacteria, as well as mitigating the risk of cross-contamination of our specimens, and a lab coat and goggles in order to protect the team member from accidental contact with any potentially harmful substances that may be in the lab.

In addition to the preventative measures listed above, there are also several facilities available for use if unsafe contact with a chemical or other substance does happen. These facilities include an eye wash station as well as an emergency shower, and every team member knows where they are and is capable of operating them if the need were to arise. Furthermore, a complete Material Safety Data Sheet binder, or MSDS, is kept in the lab and provides information on dangers of substances and how to treat unsafe contact with the substance, as well as instructions for disposal, and is located in the entrance to our lab where anyone can access it. All team members know the location of this binder.

Prior to any team member having been allowed to participate in experiments, they were required to have taken and passed a Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS) test. Currently, every experiment that is performed by the High School iGEM team is supervised and approved by an experienced university student, tutorials are given, and team members are encouraged to ask questions if at any moment they feel that they do not know what to do, or how to do it.

Environmental/Public Safety:

At the Lethbridge High School iGEM laboratory, every precaution is taken to avoid potential environmental damage or contamination. Despite the minute likelihood of an unwanted escape of any of our chemicals or bacteria, precautions have been taken and strictly adhered to. The Escherichia Coli strain used in our laboratory is a laboratory-specific, harmless variant of E. Coli known as DH5 alpha, which has been engineered not to be able to survive outside of the laboratory setting. This being said, all bacteria are nevertheless kept in sealed containers and transported with great care.

There is no biosafety group, committee, or review board at the University of Lethbridge, however we have been extremely careful in following the University's risk and safety guidelines. Finally, we have also deferred to the Public Health Agency of Canada – Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity.