Biosafety Training
Biosafety training is required for all individuals who work with or around biological materials. EH&S provides UCLA-specific biosafety training covering several topics, and training needs vary based on the biological agents employed and the tasks performed. Laboratory personnel are responsible for completing all required training and maintaining current training certifications. To determine which training(s) are needed, consult the Lab Safety Training Matrix or contact EH&S Biosafety (biosafety@ehs.ucla.edu).
Step 1: Login to Worksafe
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Step 2: View the Research Safety Training Guide
Last Updated May 2022:
View the Lab Safety Training Matrix
Step 3: Find the Course Page links for direct access
Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) for UCLA Researchers
Course ID: BIO-ATD-OL
Frequency: Annual Training
ATD training is required prior to working with aerosol transmissible pathogens or specimens that may contain aerosol transmissible pathogens as defined by the Cal/OSHA ATD Standard. This course covers requirements and best practices for working with and around potentially infectious materials. This online training must be renewed at least annually.
B-Virus Exposure
Course ID: BIO-BVIRUS-OL
Frequency: Annual Training
B-virus training is required for personnel who have contact with nonhuman primates (macaques) or unfixed macaque materials. This course outlines the risks of Macacine Herpesvirus 1 (B-virus) and exposure response. This online training must be renewed at least annually.
Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC)
Course ID: BIO-BSC-OL
Frequency: Every Three Years
This course is required for personnel using or purchasing a BSC, working with infectious materials at Biosafety Level 2 or higher or working with animals requiring biocontainment housing. BSC training covers the types of BSCs and their design features that provide personnel, product and environmental protection. This online training must be taken at least every 3 years.
Biosafety Fundamentals: BSL2 and BSL2+
Course ID: BIO-BSL2-OL
Frequency: Every Three Years
This course is required prior to working with recombinant or synthetic DNA, infectious materials, animals and other research-related projects that require BSL2 or BSL2+ containment. Biosafety Fundamentals training includes a discussion of how to conduct a risk assessment and provides an overview of the facility, equipment and practice requirements at BSL2 and BSL2+. This online training must be taken at least every 3 years.
Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3)
Initial Training Course ID: BIO-BSL3-ITU
Refresher Training (Instructor-led) Course ID: BIO-BSL3-RTU
Frequency: Annual Training
The BSL-3 training program is an extended mentorship and competency testing plan, which is conducted over several weeks in one of the UCLA BSL-3 facilities. Currently, the biggest prerequisite is to have an approved project which will take place in a UCLA BSL-3 lab at some point in the coming months. You can have whoever is coordinating your lab's BSL-3 experiment get in touch with the UCLA High Containment Director about scheduling your training. Please visit the High Containment website for more information.
Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP)
Initial Training Course ID: BIO-BBP-OL
Refresher Training Course ID: BIO-BBPOR-OL
Frequency: Annual Training
BBP training is required prior to working with human or nonhuman primate materials including primary samples (fluids, tissues and/or cells) and established cell lines. This course covers requirements and best practices for working with potentially infectious materials. This online training must be renewed at least annually.
Medical Waste Management (MWM)
Course ID: BIO-MWM-OL
Frequency: Every Three Years
MWM training is required for personnel handling, generating, storing, packaging, transporting and/or treating regulated medical waste (biohazard, trace chemo, pathology and/or pharmaceutical waste). This course defines the different medical waste streams and covers how personnel can comply with local, state and federal regulations governing medical waste. This online training must be taken within 90 days of starting employment and at least every 3 years thereafter.
NIH Guidelines for UCLA Researchers
Course ID: BIO-IBC-OL
Frequency: Does not expire - This training is a prerequisite for any of the EH&S Biosafety Trainings.
This course is required for all individuals who work in laboratories or in association with research projects at UCLA as a requirement for UCLA’s NIH funding eligibility.
The online module must be completed once and is intended to ensure that:
1. Work involving biological materials, including recombinant and synthetic nucleic acids, is submitted for Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) review
2. Investigators understand their responsibilities under the NIH Guidelines
3. Incidents involving covered materials are immediately reported to EH&S Biosafety
>> View slides
Shipping Biological Materials
Course ID: BIO-SHIP-OL
Frequency: Every Two Years
To comply with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and International Air Transportation Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations, UCLA is required to certify employees who ship hazardous materials or dangerous goods. Shipping training is required every two years to maintain certification, and must be completed prior to packaging and/or shipping the following materials:
- Infectious organisms and materials
- Biological substances including human and animal tissues, cells, fluids
- Genetically modified organisms and micro-organisms
- Dry ice
Note to UCLA Health transcript holders: Please note that the Hazardous Materials Shipping (Biohazardous) course for Health Systems, identified by HR Course Code: GENe00285, does not fulfill the bio-shipping training standards and requirements necessary for research purposes.
Course title: Packaging and Shipping Dangerous Goods: What the Laboratory Staff Must Know
- Prerequisites: None (The prerequisite of Bloodborne Pathogens Online Training has been removed.)
- Website: Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC Train
- Description: This CDC course covers the requirements to ship Dry Ice, BSL2 materials, and BSL1 materials. The shipper is responsible for classifying, packaging, and labeling the materials as UN 3373 Category B infectious substances, Exempt Specimens (patient specimens), GMO/GMMO, and UN1845 Dry Ice. This course does NOT certify you to ship BSL3 materials, or any specimen/culture classified as Category A infectious substances. Contact biosafety@ehs.ucla.edu if you believe your materials are Category A infectious substances.