AUTHOR=Meulenbelt Stephanie E. , van Passel Mark W. J. , de Bruin Arnout , van den Berg Linda M. , Schaap Mirjam M. , Rutjes Saskia A. , Jacobi André J. , Agterberg Marja C. , de Hoog Carin , van Willigen Gijsbert , Kampert Evelien , Heres Jan H. J. , van den Berg Ruud , van den Berg Harold H. J. L. , Bleijs Diederik A. TITLE=The Vulnerability Scan, a Web Tool to Increase Institutional Biosecurity Resilience JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=7 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00047 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2019.00047 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=

The importance of vigilance within organizations working with high-risk biological material receives increasing attention. However, an in-depth and comprehensive tool, dedicated to increase awareness of potential risks and to assess an organization's current biosecurity vulnerabilities, has not been available yet. We developed the “Biosecurity Vulnerability Scan,” a web tool that identifies biosecurity gaps in an organization based on eight biosecurity pillars of good practice. Although the tool aims primarily to assist biosafety and biosecurity officers, it can also be useful to researchers working with dangerous pathogens, their principal investigators, management, or those responsible for security issues in the life sciences. Results are only stored locally and are provided in an “overview report,” which includes information on relevant risks and control measures. This can support well-substantiated decision-making on strengthening biosecurity measures within a specific organization. With this article, we aim to support institutes to increase their overall security resilience and to improve institutional biosecurity in particular by providing practical recommendations. The Biosecurity Vulnerability Scan is available at www.biosecurityvulnerabilityscan.nl