Elements and Performance Criteria
- Prepare culture media
- Prepare mixture of media and solvent to ensure solution and even settling of heat soluble materials
- Label media to allow tracking in subsequent processes
- Use a vessel large enough to endure adequate mixing and heating of the media
- Dispense media into vessels for sterilisation, leaving room for expansion during heating and cooling
- Sterilise media
- Load the steriliser in keeping with maximum permitted loads and appropriate positioning of materials
- Ensure a sterilisation indicator is correctly placed with the load to monitor sterilisation process
- Operate sterilisation cycle in accordance with manufacturer's requirements to achieve sterilisation at the required settings
- Cool media to the temperature specified in the media formulation procedures
- Pour, label and store media
- Add labile constituents where necessary, under conditions that will not lead to their denaturation or contamination of media
- Ensure even mixing of additives and media before dispensing
- Aseptically dispense media to minimise occurrence of procedural contamination
- Label media to allow for selection, avoiding areas of the culture vessel required for examination of colony growth
- Store media to maximise shelf life and minimise contamination
- Date batch media to ensure correct batch rotation
- Incubate control plates as a sterility check
- Perform quality control checks
- Maintain work area and equipment to prevent cross-infection and contamination
- Use personal protective equipment and safe work practices to ensure safety of self and others
- Place disposable and reusable items into relevant receptacles
- Clean and disinfect work area and equipment after use
- Transport disposable and reusable contaminated materials to relevant areas for disinfection, sterilisation and cleaning or disposal