Laboratory Containment
What laboratory containment means
A biocontainment laboratory is a facility designed and certified to work with biological agents that pose a significant risk to human health, animal health, or the environment. Containment is what physically prevents those agents from leaving the laboratory – through engineering controls, facility design, operational procedures, and ongoing performance management.
Containment is distinct from biosafety, though the two disciplines work closely together. Biosafety addresses how people within the laboratory manage biological risk. Containment addresses how the facility prevents biological risk from reaching the world outside.
Getting containment right requires specialist knowledge across engineering, regulation, and laboratory operations. The consequences of getting it wrong are severe – and in some cases, irreversible.
Laboratory setup and commissioning
Commissioning a new containment facility – or upgrading an existing one – is a multi-year process with significant financial, operational and reputational consequences if done incorrectly.
Commissioning covers the verification and documentation of every system the facility depends on: air handling, pressure differentials, HEPA filtration, interlocks, drainage, and the operational procedures that govern how staff work within it. Certification requires demonstrating to a regulator that all of those systems perform as required – under the conditions they will face in operation.
We support organisations through the full commissioning process – from initial design input through to regulatory certification. This includes working with architects, engineers, and regulators to make sure the facility being built is the facility that will pass certification.
Containment performance management
A certified containment facility requires ongoing management. Equipment ages, procedures evolve, staff turn over. Without regular performance review, a facility that was certified to standard can drift out of compliance – often without anyone noticing until an audit.
We provide independent performance reviews for containment facilities. This covers physical systems, documentation, training records, and operational procedures assessed against the relevant standards. Where gaps are identified, we provide practical recommendations for correction.
Risk mitigation in containment environments
The risks in a containment environment are specific and serious. A breach – whether through equipment failure, procedural error, or facility degradation – can result in harm to staff, the public, or the environment, and consequences that are difficult or impossible to reverse.
We conduct independent risk assessments for high-containment facilities. These cover the biological hazards present, the physical systems that contain them, the procedures in place, and the human factors that affect how well both work under operational pressure. The output is practical: specific findings and specific recommendations.
Experience you can verify
Richard Spence served as senior user representative for the design, construction, commissioning, and certification of New Zealand’s National Biocontainment Laboratory.
In that role, he was accountable for end-user requirements throughout the project – the people who would work in the facility, the biological risks they would manage, and the standards the facility had to meet. The New Zealand government trusted him to get it right. Following certification Richard was facility manager of the NBL for several years maintaining compliance and driving system improvements.
We have the depth of experience and knowledge to adapt to laboratory containment requirements in jurisdictions outside New Zealand.
Learn more about Richard’s background and credentials.
Get started
If you are commissioning a new containment facility, managing the performance of an existing one, or facing a containment compliance question, we can help.
Containment and biosafety are closely connected disciplines. If you need support across both, our biosafety services are a natural complement.
