About Pre conference course I. Moving on without leaving a trace - decommissioning in practice (1 day)

Instructor

Patrick Rüdelsheim and Kirsten Tjørnehøj

Course description

When containment facilities or equipment are taken out of service, repurposed or deconstructed, a formal decommissioning process must ensure that all potential biological risk have been removed. This requires a dedicated risk assessment supporting careful planning of sequence of decontamination activities, removal and redirection/ disposition of all materials.

This one-day course, in line with ISO35001:2019, is intended for biosafety professionals and managers involved in the decommissioning process. A practical approach will be introduced and will be illustrated with cases ranging from low-risk facilities to high-containment facilities (BSL3 and higher). At the outcome, participants will be familiarized with issues related to planning and managing decommissioning processes for biocontainment facilities.

Main topics

• What is decommissioning?
• References
• Roles/collaborators
• Risk evaluation - know your bug(s), people, procedures and facilities
• Fate of biological material
• Decontamination methods and strategies for equipment
• Decontamination methods and strategies for facilities
• Waste handling
• Integration in a decommissioning plan
• Decommissioning as part of planning new facilities
• Surprises and pitfalls – examples

CWA 16335:2011, annex C reference

• C 2.1.2.6 Selection, validation, certification and maintenance of equipment
• C 2.1.2.7 Facility design, construction, commissioning, validation, operation and maintenance
• C 2.1.2.12 Biological waste management