General Working Recommendations - Telstar BiOptima Manual De Usuario

4.3.

GENERAL WORKING RECOMMENDATIONS

a) We recommend starting up the cabinet around 10 minutes before you begin to work. This
will ensure particles are swept from the work zone and from material introduced.
b) Wash your arms, hands and nails well, using an anti-bacterial soap, before and after work.
Staff should avoid touching their mouths and eyes.
c) We recommend wearing lab coats with adjusted cuffs and, in special works, protection
gloves (or sleeve cuffs). Both the coat and cuffs should be made from a fabric that
minimises the emission of fibres and particles.
d) The work area inside the cabinet should not be used to store lab equipment. This can
produce an accumulation of dust that is unnecessary and hazardous for working under
sterile conditions. Only the fewest pieces of equipment should be placed in order to work
correctly and with the minimum number of interruptions for the user (inserting and
removing arms from the work zone).
e) Although the work zone is under a clean and sterile laminar down flow, the area around
the cabinet might be contaminated. The sources of contamination should be known in
order to avoid them when inserting arms, material, etc.
f) All the material needed for the work should be free of particles and carefully cleaned
before it is placed on the work area.
g) Materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, pencils, rubbers, etc. should not be placed in
the work area as they shed a lot of particles.
h) In the event of using pipettes, only mechanical aspiration type should be used. Blowing
the pipette with the mouth should never be done because it is easy to inhale aerosols
caused by suction.
i) When platinum loops are used, it is advisable to use electric incinerators, and preferably
single-use (disposable ones) loops.
j) If the work requires the use of a gas flame from a Bunsen burner or similar, we
recommend using a type where the flame is maintained by holding down a button. Please
note that the use of a constant flame burner creates significant turbulence. Bear in mind
that a flame too large could burn the absolute filters.
k) Shadows and turbulence provoked by objects, equipment and materials placed in the work
area should be studied before beginning to work in order to evaluate their possible effects.
Bear in mind that the laminarity of the airflow is not recovered until a distance of 2.5
times the diameter of the object that causes the obstruction.
l) When using bottles and tubes, they should preferably have a screw top instead of cotton
stoppers which easily shed a lot of particles.
m) When the work is finished, all disposable products (handles, Petri dishes, etc.) as well as
means of cultivation, samples, tubes, bottles, etc. should be removed from the cabinet in
impermeable bags suitable for sterilisation if necessary.
n) When working in the cabinet and during cleaning operations, it is important to protect the
HEPA filters from any damage by avoiding knocking them, projecting liquids or splashing,
etc.
o) Any equipment connected to the internal sockets inside the cabinet should meet all the
electrical specifications.
p) People traffic generates air movements that may cause unexpected loss of the
containment barrier and, in the case of Class II cabinets, a reduced level of product
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