Safer Behaviors in Laboratories and Clinical Containment Settings

Biological safety is a critical requirement when working with or around infectious disease agents. To prevent exposures and keep staff and patients safe, laboratories and health care facilities rely on personal protective equipment, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and engineering controls. In an instant, however, a single inappropriate human behavior can negate any of these safeguards.

This reference provides an important call to action for anyone who relies on safety plans to consider carefully the humans who must follow those plans. Written by an expert in behavioral biosafety training, Prepare and Protect offers a common-sense program for addressing and reducing the risk factors of human behavior. Learn how to

• Examine the safety culture of your organization and its approach to risk


• Motivate the compliance, adherence to rules, and community thinking that keep everyone safe


• Evaluate, validate, and verify SOPs and staff competence


• Create safety plans and safety training programs that connect outcomes to behaviors


• Provide leadership that translates the containment philosophy from words to actions

The critical message of this book is illustrated and enriched by personal accounts from infectious disease pioneers, from lab safety directors and trainers to the researchers and health care workers directly affected by infectious hazards.

If your work involves pathogenic microbes—whether treating patients in a hospital emergency department or conducting research in a biosafety level 2 or higher laboratory—or overseeing those who do these jobs, this resource will teach you how to develop a culture of biosafety through behavior.