STANDARDS ACTION WEEKLY EDITION
“Der Alchemist” / Max Fuhrmann
NSF International develops a standard for one of the centerpiece safety technologies for a large revenue driver in research universities. The landing page for its biosafety cabinetry product, installation, operation and maintenance standard is linked below:
From the project prospectus:
This Standard applies to Class II (laminar flow) biosafety cabinetry designed to minimize hazards inherent in work with agents assigned to biosafety levels 1, 2, 3, or 4. It also defines the tests that shall be passed by such cabinetry to meet this standard. NSF 49 includes basic requirements for the design, construction, and performance of biosafety cabinets that are intended to provide personnel, product, and environmental protection; reliable operation; durability and structural stability; cleanability; limitations on noise level; illumination; vibration; and motor/blower performance.
This equipment class is the centerpiece of many research laboratories and is a multidimensional risk aggregation so NSF 49 needs to move swiftly and is listed as an ANSI Continuous Maintenance product. You can track the action at the link below:
Joint Committee on Biosafety Cabinetry
NSF typically uploads its live public consultation notices on ANSI Standards Action; one of the most recent on Page 11 of link below:
Consultation closes January 4th
We maintain all NSF International titles on the agenda of our Laboratory and Risk teleconferences and, because NSF runs its standards suite continuously, most of its titles are on our Nota Bene teleconferences. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone
Issue: [13-118]
Category: Risk Management, Occupational Health and Safety
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Alan Rose, Mark Schaufele
