There are many reasons to maintain a clean workspace, especially when contamination is a risk. When your personnel handle specimens and potential contaminants, you need to prioritize health and safety for the people in your facility and for any samples and products that leave your facility. To this end, understanding cleanroom management is vital to your success.

Maintain a Sterile Environment

Research and production labs often handle pathogens and other kinds of biological agents while conducting research or running tests. After performing a risk assessment, team leaders and project managers may invest in specific equipment, such as bio-safety cabinets. These BSCs are available in three classes defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Personnel must meet specific requirements to handle equipment with strict protocols. These efforts are taken to ensure that work areas are kept sterile.

Train Personnel in Cleanup Duties

Sometimes, the professionals responsible for laboratories, classrooms, and BSCs create and enforce consistent laboratory or facility maintenance routines. These procedures help facilities run more efficiently, reducing the need for repairs and decreasing the risk of harm to personnel and products. However, it’s difficult for lab techs, scientists, and other personnel to invest their time in learning to fully clean and maintain facilities when their focus is really on the testing, researching, or product development.

Hire Qualified Cleanroom Professionals

A better option is to choose specific professionals with cleanroom certification ca qualifications. These professionals may tackle some of the day-to-day upkeep, but they are also qualified to make sure that airflow and filter systems are kept sterile. These professionals should have the credentials to maintain and repair BSC systems as needed. Additionally, these team members must stay up to date with CDC requirements and the steps facilities must take to remain compliant. There’s more information about this at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health website.

Working in laboratories and similar facilities may have expected risks, but personnel should always know the right practices and procedures for staying safe. Cleanroom management is one of the most effective ways to maintain safety and a sterile environment.