GLI GLI Quality Tool
GLI Quality Tool — Version 2.0

TB Lab Disaster Planning for Samples and Equipment During Flood or Fire

A tuberculosis laboratory needs a disaster plan that protects people first, then preserves specimens, instruments, records and the evidence needed to resume testing safely. Floodwater can contaminate work areas and destroy paper files, while fire can make rooms inaccessible, interrupt power and damage equipment even when flames do not reach the laboratory.

A useful plan turns these risks into clear decisions. Staff should know who declares an emergency, which samples must be moved, what equipment can be isolated, where records are stored and when testing must stop. The plan should work during a weekday shift, an overnight incident and a regional emergency affecting transport, utilities or communications.

Australian laboratories also need to account for local conditions. A facility in Brisbane may face flash flooding, a northern Queensland site may prepare for cyclone-related outages, and a regional New South Wales laboratory may be affected by bushfire or road closures. The plan should reflect the building, climate, staffing model, suppliers and public health role of the individual TB service.

Set The Scope And Activation Triggers

Begin with a short statement describing what the plan protects: staff, patients, clinical specimens, cultures, molecular test materials, critical equipment, records, information systems and the laboratory’s ability to report urgent results. Include flood, fire, smoke, prolonged power failure, water ingress, evacuation, loss of access and failure of refrigerated storage as possible events.

Define practical activation triggers rather than relying on vague wording such as “when conditions become unsafe.” Examples include water entering the specimen reception area, a fire alarm, an evacuation order, loss of temperature control, smoke contamination, a confirmed utility shutdown or an instruction from the facility incident controller. In Australia, the laboratory should align its arrangements with the site emergency plan and local emergency services, including Fire and Rescue NSW, Fire Rescue Victoria or the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services system where relevant.

State who can stop testing and who can authorise relocation or disposal. The laboratory manager, biosafety officer, senior scientist or delegated shift lead may have different responsibilities, but those responsibilities must be named by role and supported by an up-to-date contact list.

Map Hazards Through The Laboratory

Walk through the building and mark areas vulnerable to rising water, roof leaks, smoke, heat, sprinklers, electrical damage and blocked access. Consider specimen reception, biosafety cabinets, incubators, freezers, autoclaves, gas supplies, electrical switchboards, document storage and backup power. A flood plan should distinguish between clean elevated storage and low-lying rooms where contaminated water may enter first.

Record where specimens and reagents are held at every stage. Include samples awaiting registration, material in testing, retained isolates, proficiency testing items, extraction reagents, control materials and waste awaiting treatment. A simple floor plan can show which items can be moved, which must remain in a validated environment and which should never be handled during an active fire or flood response.

Risk assessment should include dependencies outside the laboratory. A failed lift may prevent access to a freezer; a closed bridge near Townsville may stop courier collection; and a telecommunications outage may prevent electronic requests or result reporting. Identify alternate rooms, transport routes, nearby laboratories and approved suppliers before an incident occurs.

Protect Samples And Chain Of Custody

Specimen protection starts with prioritisation. Separate irreplaceable or time-critical material from routine samples, and document the order in which items should be relocated. TB cultures, positive specimens, isolates and specimens linked to urgent contact investigations may require special handling. Staff must never enter a flooded or smoke-affected area to retrieve material unless authorised and trained to do so.

Use leak-resistant secondary containment and maintain required temperature conditions during movement. Record the sample identifier, original location, time removed, destination, temperature and staff member responsible. If a container is wet, damaged, unlabeled or exposed to floodwater, quarantine it and manage it under the laboratory’s incident and biosafety procedures rather than attempting to guess its identity.

The plan should explain how to maintain chain of custody when the laboratory information system is unavailable. A controlled paper form or offline register can capture accession number, patient identifiers permitted by policy, specimen type, collection date, test status and final disposition. Once systems return, two authorised staff should reconcile the manual record against electronic entries.

Isolate And Preserve Critical Equipment

List equipment by operational importance and vulnerability. Freezers, refrigerators, biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, incubators, analysers, autoclaves, uninterrupted power supplies and network hardware need different actions. Some equipment should be unplugged before water reaches electrical connections; other instruments may require controlled shutdown, decontamination or specialist inspection. Only authorised personnel should isolate utilities.

Include manufacturer instructions, asset numbers, service contacts and insurance or facilities contacts. Do not restart equipment exposed to water, excessive heat, soot or fire suppression chemicals until it has been assessed. For a freezer failure, document the temperature excursion and transfer material to a validated alternative unit with a calibrated data logger. Local laboratory suppliers may provide emergency dry ice, temperature monitors or replacement parts, but those arrangements should be confirmed in advance rather than assumed.

Protect equipment records as carefully as the instruments themselves. Keep calibration certificates, maintenance logs, validation reports, software licences and configuration details in secure digital storage with an offline or geographically separate backup. Guidance on quality management can help connect equipment control, document control and assessment activities within the wider laboratory system.

Assign People, Communications And Supplies

Create an incident structure that remains usable with a small team. Assign responsibility for staff safety, specimen control, equipment and facilities, communications, documentation, procurement and recovery. Include deputies for each role, since a flood or fire may occur outside normal hours or prevent key personnel from reaching the site.

Prepare contact pathways for the laboratory director, hospital incident controller, infection prevention team, facilities staff, information technology, couriers, waste contractors, equipment engineers and the receiving reference laboratory. Set an escalation process for notifying clinicians and public health authorities when testing is delayed, specimens are compromised or results need confirmation elsewhere.

Keep an emergency kit in a location unlikely to be affected by the same hazard. It may contain waterproof labels, sealable bags, approved transport packaging, markers, torches, spare batteries, paper logs, temperature indicators, disinfectant, protective clothing and phone chargers. Supplies should be checked during routine stocktake, with expiry dates and replacement responsibilities recorded.

Plan Recovery, Verification And Reporting

Recovery begins only after the area is declared safe. Establish criteria for re-entry, cleaning, decontamination, electrical inspection, environmental checks and restoration of temperature-controlled storage. Floodwater may introduce sewage, chemicals or mould, so the laboratory should not treat visible drying as evidence that a room is ready for clinical work.

Define how compromised samples and equipment will be assessed. Sample decisions may include testing at another facility, recollection, referral to a reference laboratory or documented disposal. Equipment may require cleaning, electrical testing, calibration, preventive maintenance, performance verification and review of affected results before release.

Record the incident as a quality event. Capture the timeline, decisions, people involved, samples and assets affected, communications issued, tests delayed and corrective actions. The review should look for system weaknesses such as inadequate freezer alarms, poor drainage, missing contact details or insufficient backup capacity. Findings should feed into risk assessment, training, purchasing and the next plan revision.

Test The Plan And Keep It Current

A disaster plan that sits in a folder may fail under pressure. Run short tabletop exercises using realistic Australian scenarios, such as a flash flood affecting specimen reception in Brisbane or a bushfire evacuation closing roads outside Canberra. Test whether staff can identify priority samples, complete the manual register, contact the alternate laboratory and locate emergency supplies.

Review the plan after exercises, incidents, building changes, new instruments, changes to courier arrangements and updates to public health procedures. Include contractors and new staff in relevant briefings. Staff should know where the controlled version is stored, how to access it during an outage and which printed copy is current.

The GLI Quality Tool provides a useful framework for this work because its four-phase roadmap and twelve Quality Systems Essentials connect safety, personnel, equipment, documents, assessment and continual improvement. The user instructions explain how to use the resource, while the downloadable GLI materials can support a structured review of preparedness activities.

Practical Actions For A Stronger Plan

Use the following actions to turn the written plan into an operational control:

A plan should state what happens to testing when the laboratory cannot operate normally. Include referral criteria, result communication, specimen recollection processes and the authority to resume testing. This prevents staff from making inconsistent decisions while managing a stressful event.

Use the GLI framework to review the plan phase by phase, then link each gap to an owner, deadline and verification method. A completed checklist is valuable, but evidence of drills, maintenance, temperature monitoring and corrective action shows whether the system works in practice.

Make the plan part of routine laboratory governance rather than an emergency document reviewed once a year. Approve it through the appropriate management process, brief every relevant worker and keep evidence of exercises, revisions and improvements. A clear, tested disaster plan gives a TB laboratory the best chance of protecting samples, preserving essential equipment and restoring safe testing after flood or fire.