SOP for Cleaning, Operation and Monitoring of Laminar Air Flow Unit

Objective

To describe the procedure to be followed for cleaning, operation & monitoring of laminar airflow.

Scope

Applicable to the Laminar Airflow unit in the Microbiology Laboratory of the Quality Control Department.

Responsibility

Lab Attendant: Cleaning the outer surface of LAF daily.

Microbiologist: To perform the analysis and clean the bench of LAF before and after completion of work.

Accountability

Head - Quality Control.

Procedure

Cleaning:

Daily: 

• Clean the outer surface of the laminar airflow unit (LAF) with a cotton cloth soaked in 70% v/v IPA (0.45 m filtered) followed by wiping with a dry cotton cloth.
• Before starting & after completion of any work, clean the bench of LAF with a cotton cloth soaked in 70% IPA (0.45 m filtered).

ALSO READ: SOP for Validation of Laminar Air Flow

Operation:

• Ensure the cleanliness of the laminar airflow bench.
• Check the manometer scale before starting LAF, the scale must show the level as “0”.
• Switch ON the main power supply. Switch ON the laminar airflow unit by operating the ON/OFF switch located at an upper panel of the laminar airflow.
• Start the laminar airflow approx. 15 minutes before use.
• Ensure that the manometer scale of all LAF is more than 10 mm. If the manometer reading falls below 10mm, then inform the engineering department.
• Note down the reading as per the SOP Titled “Monitoring of differential Pressure in Laminar Air Flow”.
• After completion of work clean the LAF.
• Switch OFF the laminar airflow & main power supply.

Monitoring:

• Ensure the cleanliness of laminar airflow.
• Switch ON the laminar airflow by operating the ON/OFF switch located at an upper panel of the laminar airflow.

Settle plate Exposure:

Frequency: Twice a week.

• Expose 2 SCD agar plates in LAF for 1 hour and then close the lid of the plate as per SOP Titled” Environmental monitoring of microbiology laboratory”.
• Collect all exposed plates and incubate the plates in an inverted position at 30-35°C for 2 days followed by 20°C – 25°C for 3 days to check for microbial contamination.
• After incubation observe the plates and count the number of colonies. Record the results as per SOP Titled “Environmental monitoring of microbiology laboratory”.
• Validation for DOP test, Velocity, and Particle count is to be performed by an Approved outside party (Frequency: Every six months).
• After the validation put the label.

Annexure

Nil

Revision History

Nil

ALSO READ: SOP for Operation and Cleaning of Laminar Bench