SM Risk Management & Mitigation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which document serves as the foundational risk assessment tool required before initiating work with a select agent in a BSL-3 laboratory?
- Site-specific biosafety manual
- Institutional biosafety committee (IBC) registration
- Agent-specific risk assessment (Correct answer)
- Standard operating procedure (SOP) binder
Correct answer: Agent-specific risk assessment
An agent-specific risk assessment identifies hazards, exposure routes, and controls before any work begins with a particular pathogen or toxin.
Question 2: A microbiologist accidentally splashes a BSL-2 bacterial culture onto an open skin abrasion. After immediate wound irrigation, what is the NEXT required action?
- Complete a post-exposure prophylaxis form only if symptomatic
- Report to occupational health or biosafety officer immediately (Correct answer)
- Apply topical antibiotic and continue work
- Autoclave all materials in the BSL-2 cabinet and document the event next week
Correct answer: Report to occupational health or biosafety officer immediately
Immediate reporting to occupational health or the biosafety officer is mandatory so that exposure can be evaluated, documented, and prophylaxis initiated if indicated.
Question 3: The hierarchy of controls in laboratory biosafety lists which option as the MOST effective risk reduction strategy?
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Administrative controls
- Engineering controls
- Elimination or substitution of the hazard (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Elimination or substitution of the hazard
Elimination or substitution sits at the top of the hierarchy of controls because it removes the hazard entirely rather than managing exposure to it.
Question 4: A biosafety officer discovers that a BSL-3 researcher is routinely leaving the inner door of the double-door airlock open during sample processing. Which risk category does this practice primarily compromise?
- Chemical hazard containment
- Physical containment integrity (Correct answer)
- Radiation shielding
- Ergonomic safety
Correct answer: Physical containment integrity
Leaving the airlock inner door open breaks the physical containment barrier designed to prevent aerosol escape from the BSL-3 zone.
Question 5: Which CDC/NIH biosafety level is required for work with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical specimens?
- BSL-1
- BSL-2
- BSL-3 (Correct answer)
- BSL-4
Correct answer: BSL-3
M. tuberculosis requires BSL-3 conditions because of its airborne transmission route and serious disease potential in immunocompetent individuals.
Question 6: During a risk assessment, the term 'infectious dose' refers to:
- The lethal concentration of a toxin in micrograms per kilogram
- The minimum number of organisms required to establish infection in a susceptible host (Correct answer)
- The colony-forming units per milliliter in a culture broth
- The viral load detectable by PCR in a patient sample
Correct answer: The minimum number of organisms required to establish infection in a susceptible host
Infectious dose (ID₅₀ or similar) is the quantity of organisms needed to cause infection in 50% of exposed susceptible hosts and is critical for exposure risk assessment.
Question 7: Which action is MOST appropriate when an institutional biosafety committee (IBC) receives a protocol proposing recombinant DNA work that could enhance pathogen transmissibility?
- Approve the protocol immediately if the PI holds a doctoral degree
- Refer the protocol to the CDC for routine filing
- Conduct an enhanced risk review, potentially including NIH review, before approval (Correct answer)
- Classify the work as BSL-1 and proceed
Correct answer: Conduct an enhanced risk review, potentially including NIH review, before approval
Gain-of-function or enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research requires heightened IBC scrutiny and may trigger federal-level (NIH) review before approval.
SM Risk Management & Mitigation 2
Which document serves as the foundational risk assessment tool required before initiating work with a select agent in a BSL-3 laboratory?