American Biological Safety Association

In 1984, American biological safety association was founded to promote biosafety as a scientific discipline and serve the growing necessity of biosafety professionals throughout the world. The Association's goals are to provide a professional organization that represents the interests and requirement of practitioners of biological safety, and to provide a forum for the continued and timely interchange of biosafety information. ABSA achieve these goals by publishing and providing a quarterly journal, Applied Biosafety and a number of different biosafety publications. ABSA also conducts an annual Biological Safety Event to keep members enlightened of current biosafety issues and regulatory initiatives. The conference is preceded by an anthology of biosafety courses geared at the novice and advanced levels. In addition, ABSA produces an annual membership listing to stimulate networking. In 2007, the American Biological Safety Association entered into an accord with the National Agricultural Library for the library to process, preserve, and provide access to the collection to the official papers regarding the history of the Association. Biosafety concerns the safe handling of biological materials, especially infectious agents that cause threat to humans working with them. ABSA offers a registration- Registered Biosafety Professional and Certified Biological Safety Professional program to appreciate biological safety professionals. Registration is by application and acceptance by an examining Board. Certification also includes a biological safety exam developed by ABSA and regulated by the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists [NRCM].