Appendix 8: Meaning and Use of Biohazard Symbol

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Forms of the warning symbol

European biosafety warning symbol:

International biosafety warning symbol:

Purpose

The biohazard warning symbol draws attention to the risks due to Group 2 pathogenic or genetically modified organisms and serves to reduce the dispersal and uncontrolled multiplication of organisms and to protect people from unintentional infection¹. The warning symbol is aimed at three different groups of people, with a different purpose in each case: - It reminds employees that infectious organisms are present in a certain working area and that contamination is to be expected. - It warns the group personnel without the necessary knowledge not to enter the designated area or touch instruments and containers marked in this way. - It serves to draw the attention of the emergency services to the protective measures to be taken².

Rules of use

With regard to the the biohazard warning symbol placement, the ETH Zurich is guided by the following principles: - It is used sparingly to retain its signaling effect. - It is positioned at the entrance to the BSL 2 areas. - It is attached to equipment, e.g., an incubator, or positioned in working areas inside an already marked room if there is a possibility of a higher biohazard risk compared with the immediate surrounding working area. - It is attached to the second or third layer of packaging of a sample contained in a pack which is impermeable to liquids if this sample is stored, processed, or transported outside a marked room. - It is attached temporarily to equipment, e.g., a centrifuge, outside a marked laboratory if work involving Group 2 organisms is being done there as an exception. - It is attached to doors of freezers located outside a marked room, if Group 2 organisms are kept there³.

Handling of wasted bags labeled with the biohazard sign

Commercially available, autoclavable waste bags for biological waste carry a warning symbol. After this waste has been autoclaved and inactivated, the biohazard warning symbol on the bags is no longer applicable. To make it clear, autoclaved or inactivated waste bags must be marked as autoclaved. To this end, they are equipped with heat-sensitive indicators. Inactivated waste can be disposed of with the industrial waste when the biohazard warning symbol is invisible by another layer of a normal waste bag in order not to unsettle the third parties in the disposal chain.

Footnotes

1. The Containment Ordinance (Einschliessungsverordnung, ESV) provides for the use of the biohazard warning symbol for laboratories of Safely Level 2 and higher.

2. The labeling of the laboratory corresponds to the similarly identified rooms in the risk plans for the premises of the ETH Zurich.

3. If the inside of the freezer is subdivided into compartments with different doors, the warning symbol is attached to the the internal door.