(Art. 3)
Measures for establishments handling microorganisms
When adopting general safety measures, the person responsible for an establishment where an activity involving genetically modified or pathogenic alien organisms or alien organisms subject to compulsory containment is carried out must:
- as far as possible, replace dangerous organisms with less dangerous ones;
- install suitable and reliable measurement or control systems, which, insofar as required for safety reasons, are multiple, of different types and operate independently of each other;
- install the necessary safety equipment and take the necessary structural, technical and organisational protective measures;
- monitor equipment and the operation of safety-critical components and carry out regular maintenance and inspections and document the checks
- install adequate warning and alarm systems;
- store organisms or special wastes in an orderly manner, taking account of their properties, and keep up-to-date records of their quantities and location;
- deploy a sufficient number of suitably qualified staff, inform them about high-risk methods and processes used in the establishment, train them to prevent, limit and respond to major accidents, and ensure that the level of expertise is maintained in the event of staff changes;
- document any significant operational failures, their causes and the measures adopted, and retain the documents for a sufficient length of time;
- provide sufficient own resources for responding to major accidents, draw up an emergency plan for major accidents and discuss it with the emergency services, and carry out periodic exercises on the basis of this plan.