BioRisk Association of the Philippines 2015, Inc. (BRAP2015)

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are pleased to announce the publication of the Canadian Biosafety Handbook (CBH), 2^nd Edition (2016), which is now available on the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines website in electronic format (HTML). The PDF version will follow in the near future.

The CBH provides guidance to assist stakeholders and interested parties in meeting the requirements specified in the Canadian Biosafety Standard (CBS), 2^nd Edition (2015), which was published electronically (HTML and PDF) on the same website in December 2015. Download a free copy here.

In line with the strategy: Planning for a Sustainable Future: A Federal Sustainable Development Strategy for Canada, the PHAC and the CFIA would like to promote the use of electronic resources to minimize paper consumption. As such, the CBH will be included in the CBS Biosafety App, free of charge, for all stakeholders and interested parties to access on their mobile devices and smart cellular phone; only the electronic version is being made available.

PREFACE of the CBS 2Ed

The Government of Canada’s Canadian Biosafety Standard (CBS), 2^nd Edition, 2015, is a harmonized national standard for the handling or storing of human and terrestrial animal pathogens and toxins in Canada. Activities in Canada involving human and animal pathogens and toxins are regulated by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in accordance with the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA), the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR), the Health of Animals Act, and the Health of Animals Regulations.

The second edition of the CBS updates the biosafety standard originally published as Part I of the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines (CBSG), 1^st Edition, 2013. The CBSG was developed to update and harmonize three existing Canadian biosafety standards and guidelines for the design, construction, and operation of facilities in which pathogens or toxins are handled or stored:

1. Human pathogens and toxins: Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines, 3^rd Edition, 2004 (PHAC)
2. Terrestrial animal pathogens: Containment Standards for Veterinary Facilities, 1^st Edition, 1996 (CFIA)
3. Prions: Containment Standards for Laboratories, Animal Facilities and Post Mortem Rooms Handling Prion Disease Agents, 1^st Edition, 2005 (CFIA)

The CBS sets out the physical containment, operational practice, and performance and verification testing requirements for the safe handling or storing of human and terrestrial animal pathogens and toxins. The CBS updates many requirements to be more risk-, evidence-, and performance-based, as well as incorporating new information in the field of biocontainment engineering. In addition, the CBS includes several new requirements and information to support the full implementation of the HPTA and the HPTR. On December 1^st, 2015, the HPTR comes into force and the CBS will come into effect and supersede the CBSG. The CBS will be used by the PHAC and the CFIA to verify the ongoing compliance of regulated facilities with the applicable legislation. This will support licence applications, renewals, animal pathogen import permit applications, and, where applicable, the facility certification (and recertification) of containment zones.

The Guidelines originally published as Part II of the CBSG have also been updated and are published in the Canadian Biosafety Handbook (CBH), 2^nd Edition, 2015. The CBH is a companion document to the CBS that provides core information and guidance as to how the biosafety and biosecurity requirements outlined in the CBS can be achieved. The CBH systematically addresses the concepts required for the development and maintenance of a comprehensive risk-based biosafety management program. In some instances, however, best practices or risk mitigation strategies other than those described in the CBH may also be acceptable to achieve the requirements of the CBS.

Original email of permission to distribute the CBS 2ed. c/o BRAP President.

Pre-Conference Workshop 8: Performing Biological Risk Assessment: Principle and Methodology

Ms. Chook Mee Lan
Dr. Su Yun Se Thoe
June 1, 2016, 9­ am–12 pm

Ms. Chook Mee Lan

The first workshop was a success, so all participants were already looking forward to the second workshop, which was Performing Biological Risk Assessment: Principle and Methodology. Although some participants have had attended past basic biological risk assessment, this would serve as a refresher course. The first to speak was Chook Mee Lan from Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore. She opened the workshop by having a quick look at the principles of performing risk assessment in a biological environment. She went on to explain about hazard identification, how to evaluate, do risk control and perform assessment. Ms. Mee Lan would later on give the stage to Dr. Se Thoe from Singapore Ministry of Health to present the introduction to activities-based risk assessment. She also talked through risk assessment by evaluating the severity and likelihood of a risk (risk equation: risk = severity x likelihood) and by applying the 5×5 risk evaluation matrix. After risk assessment is the risk mitigation. This includes engineering controls, administrative controls, practices and procedures, and personal protective equipment. The last stage would be the performance, which is to maintain sustainability and reduce risk. Before the workshop ended, the participants were given a technical scenario about risk assessment in which they have to fill out the form guided by all the concepts explained. All groups participated and reported their assessment. By the end of the workshop, everyone was smiling, an initial good indication of a successful workshop.

Participants from the workshop

Pre-Conference Workshop 4: Bioethics & Biosecurity Education Tools
Abhi Veerakumarasivam, PhD
Dr. Tatyana Novossiolova
May 31, 2016, 2­–5 pm

Dr. Abhi Veerakumarasivam

Prior to the conference, all participants were made to choose from the eight workshops they would like to attend for the pre-conference workshop that took place on the first two days of the conference. The first workshop was “Bioethics & Biosecurity Education Tools“. Led by the expertise of Mr. Veerakumarasivam from University Putra Malaysia, this first part of the workshop focused on ethics of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) program by promoting responsible science through active learning. With this, it was known that the most effective way for learners to retain knowledge is by “teaching someone else”. Mr. Abhi started with the basics by explaining the RCR and gradually moved to complex concepts of research misconduct, and authorship and publication. Along with this, different types of research misconduct were enumerated: falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism, while for the authorship and publication, the definition, the responsibilities, and the responsible and irresponsible publication practices were discussed. Before Mr. Abhi started off his lecture, he told the participants that it was his first time to speak before an international audience. It seemed like this was not true because, with his colorful outbursts of enthusiasm, the participants got to learn more than they could have expected.

Moving on in the workshop, the second part was spearheaded by Dr. Tatyana from

Dr. Moreno, Dr. Tatyana, and Ariel 

Bradford University. She tackled the diverse topic of Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC), which should be highly considered before doing a research because, with this, one would know the benefits of a research. She also discussed on how to develop active learning resources or tools for dual-use misuse by citing case scenarios for responsible conduct of research. She also shared some online resources of the tools that can be used regarding the matter.