How to Choose a Suit for a BSL-4 Laboratory—The Approach Taken at SPIEZ LABORATORY

Abstract

Choosing the appropriate suit for a BSL-4 laboratory is of vital importance to create a safe work environment within such a facility. The suit has to provide protection for the wearer and be compatible with the infrastructure at the facility, while still providing some level of comfort. A number of manufacturers are currently in the market, but with the increased number of new BSL-4 facilities worldwide, new manufacturers are entering this market. Unfortunately, apart from the information provided by the manufacturers, not a lot of data exists in the literature on what to look for in a BSL-4 suit. Thus, the authors decided to develop a test program to compare different suit models and to guarantee that the chosen suit can be used in the specific conditions encountered at their new facility. Tests ranged from studies on material compatibility and determination of protection factors to questionnaires on wearer comfort. Results as well as some conclusions that could be drawn from the tests are presented in this article.

References

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