The Biosafety Course organized by Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí México represents a vital step in strengthening the institution’s capacity to manage biological risks within academic, clinical, and research settings. By fostering a strong culture of biosafety, the course equips faculty, students, and laboratory personnel with the knowledge and practical tools necessary to safely handle infectious agents, comply with international standards, and protect both public health and the environment. This initiative supports the university’s ongoing commitment to excellence in biomedical education and responsible scientific practice.

The first session focuses on introducing who we are and why we qualify to provide the course, recommended reference texts are presented. This session covers the current relevance of biosafety and biosecurity and provides a brief introduction to biosafety levels, risk groups, general lab discipline and universal precautions. An overview of primary and secondary barriers is given as well as a brief description of personal protective equipment and High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters.
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This session defines primary containment, explains the IATA triple packaging system for the transportation of biohazardous material, describes biological safety cabinet features and function as well as the proper way to work with them, describes personal protective equipment use and donning, glove use and compatibility and types of respiratory protection.
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Third session describes laboratory biosafety levels BSL-1, BSL-2, BSL-3 & BSL-4 with great detail. Descriptions include general information, standard microbiological practices, special practices, recommended primary barriers and personal protective equipment and lab design guidelines.
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This session describes the different cleaning, disinfection, decontamination and sterilization procedures for laboratory materials, surfaces, areas and equipment. A brief description of laboratory acquired infections is given along with a description of microorganism resistance levels, examples of low, intermediate, high and critical level dinsfectants is also provided. A detailed description of disinfectant compatibility and applications is given along with examples of formulations, recipes, contraindications and advantages for each. Autoclaving programs and applications are also explained.
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Sesion five focuses on explaining the proper procedure for biohazardous spill management, spill report and medical follow-up as well as recommended contents of spill clean up kit.
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This session provides hands-on experience with assessing biological risk presented by samples typically handled in a particular laboratory. It provides a flow-diagram method directed towards easing the assesment of individual, community and ecological. A brief description of agent specific summaries as provided by the CDC's Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories is also given.
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This session describes the natural, industrial and social incidentes which place current labs at risk of losing control or containment over the biohazardous material that they harbour. The concept of biocustody, biosecurity and weaponizable biohazardous materials are explained.A brief outline of bioterrorism, events and biological weapons programs is also provided, as well as a description of Dual-Use Research projects of Concern (DURC) as well as of the Biologic and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). An easy to follow user guide to assessing biocustody needs is also provided along with a flow-diagram depicting the procedure.
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The final exam is a necessary component of the biosafety certification process, as it ensures that participants have acquired the essential knowledge and competencies covered during the course. Given the critical importance of biosafety in preventing laboratory-acquired infections and ensuring safe handling of biological agents, the exam serves as an objective measure to verify understanding of key concepts, risk assessment practices, and containment procedures. Successful completion of the exam demonstrates readiness to apply biosafety principles in real-world laboratory settings. UASLP three-year certifications will be awarded to participants who achieve a score of 80% or higher on their final evaluation.

An Explanatory Guide to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
IUCN Environmental Law Centre 2003 (English).

Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 6th Edition 2020 (English).

Bioseguridad en Laboratorios de Microbiologia y Biomedicina.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 4th Edition 2002 (Spanish).

Laboratory Biosafety Manual.
World Health Organization, 4th Edition 2020 (English).

Manual de Bioseguridad en el Laboratorio.
World Health Organization, 4th Edition 2020 (Spanish).

Biosafety Manual.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2010 (English).

Biological Safety Manual.
Yale university Enviornmental Health & Safety Office, 2020 (English).

Primary Containment for Biohazards: Selection, Installation and Use of Biological Safety Cabinets.
Department of Health & Human Services, 2nd Edition 2000.

Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Medical Diagnostic Laboratories.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2012.

Guidelines for Biosafety Laboratory Competency.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2011.

A Practical Guide to Implementing a BSL-2+ Biosafety Program in a Research Laboratory.
E. Gilman Duane, Applied Biosafety 2013.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures 1: personal protective equipment (PPE).
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 2: pipettes.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 3: sharps.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 4: surface decontamination.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 5: autoclaves.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 6: workflow.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Good Microbiological Practices and Procedures (GMPP) 7: transport.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Biological safety cabinet (BSC) 1: Introduction.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Biological safety cabinet (BSC) 2: Preparatory steps.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Biological safety cabinet (BSC) 3: Best practices for safe usage.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.

Biological safety cabinet (BSC) 4: Incident management.
World Health Organization Biosafety video series 2005.