Division of Comparative Medicine
“…contributing
to a greater reverence for life.”
Occupational
Health & Safety
Comparative
Medicine and University
Health Administration provide University personnel
working with animals with the following occupational health
and safety information and services relating to their animal
contact.
Health
and Safety in the Care and Use of Animals
Occupational health and
safety principles require that personnel
caring for and/or using animals know
the hazards associated with their work,
understand how these hazards are controlled,
have safe practices, and use protective
supplies and equipment. The report of
the Committee on Occupational Safety
and Health in Research Animal Facilities,
linked below, emphasizes that a risk
assessment be performed prior to selecting
healthcare services for each employee.
Health
and Risk Assessment: Before
beginning research involving animals, all
personnel must be familiar with the health
risks associated with the species involved
in their work by using the risk assessment
tool linked below.
All
new research and animal care personnel must then
complete the "Health and Risk Assessment" form
linked below.
All personnel whose duties require entry into animal
facilities (e.g., physical plant, building services,
IACUC personnel, etc.) must submit the completed health
and risk assessment form linked below.
Individuals determined to be at risk (e.g. pre-existing
health condition, research involving unvaccinated or
uncharacterized carnivores, pregnant sheep, goats or
cattle, or nonhuman primates) as a result of this assessment,
must also complete the "Comprehensive Health" form
linked below. At risk individuals are provided services
for documentation/verification of immunization against
rabies, rubella, rubeola, varicella, hepatitis B, and
diphtheria/tetanus. Documentation of a PPD skin test
for tuberculosis, and, if the PPD skin test is positive,
documentation of a negative chest radiograph are provided
by Health Administration.
Annually,
all personnel involved in animal care and/or use, or personnel
who enter animal facilities as part of their duties, are offered
the opportunity to declare any change in duties or change in
health conditions that may require additional occupational health
care services.
This declaration opportunity occurs during the annual recertification
(research and animal care personnel), or during the annual reassessment
of occupational health and risk (personnel with duties that require
entry to animal facilities), using the appropriate form
linked below.
The
following information should also be reviewed to ensure that all
personnel caring for or using animals have safe practices, and understand
the common hazards associated with work involving animals.
• Staying
Healthy
Laboratory Animal Allergy and Asthma
Occupational
Health and Safety Notes
Potential
Zoonotic Diseases
Herpes
B Virus in Nonhuman Primates
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