Occupational Health & Safety Program for UNL Employees who Work with Animals
The goal of the Occupational Health & Safety Program (OHSP) is to ensure the protection of UNL employees, their families, the animals, and the University as a whole, against diseases and illnesses resulting from the exposure to animals. (The Code of Federal Regulations and both "Guides" make statements about the necessity of establishing an occupational health and safety program as a requirement for individuals who work with animals. Degree of participation should be based on assessment of risk by health and safety specialists). With this goal in mind, departments utilizing animals in research, teaching, or extension programs at UNL must ensure the health of their employees who work with animals is monitored as part of their jobs, as required in the University's federal assurance. The University has entered into an agreement with Company Care, the Occupational Health Division of St Elizabeth's Hospital to provide an Occupational Health Physician and program to conduct this health monitoring. The contract physician will work with the IACUC to provide an appropriate medical monitoring program for all employees who have contact with animals. The following areas are defined to describe this program:Personnel Included in the Occupational Health Program for Animal Users
All UNL employees (faculty, staff, and student) who may work with animals or may work in the rooms where animals are held or manipulated are included in the OHSP. The Occupational Health Enrollment form can be found on the IACUC website, under Quality Assurance, Forms. Please fill out the form as directed and return to the appropriate office as listed in the form. All medical information will be reviewed by the OHS physician and NOT by the IACUC or the IACP office.
Please note: This enrollment and review is funded by your Department and requires the department cost code on the submitted form. If the cost code is not included, the form will be returned to the employee for completion.
An additional form, the Occupational Health and Safety Respiratory User Questionnaire (RUQ) is only required if you know that your work with animals will require you to wear a respirator.
Program Monitoring
This program will be monitored at three levels. The departments/schools/colleges with animal facilities and personnel working with animals will be responsible to ensure that all employees with animal contact are enrolled in the program. The contract provider, Company Care, will review the submitted forms and will notify employees of their medical clearance to work with animals or whether required subsequent testing is necessary. Company Care also will notify the UNL IACUC about all personnel participating in the program, so that the UNL IACUC can maintain a computerized list of all employees participating in the program.
Record Keeping
Each month the contract provider, Company Care, will report to the IACUC the names of each individual enrolling in the program during the previous month. The Medical records generated will be maintained as private medical records at Company Care. These records will not be transferred to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Each month, department chair/heads/directors shall submit to the IACUC a list of employees recently hired who will be working with animals and are required to be enrolled in the OHSP-AU program. IACUC will contact these individuals and ensure that they have obtained the forms required for enrollment into the OHSP. The copies of enrollment received at the IACUC office from Company Care or personal physicians will serve as records that individuals are enrolled in the OHSP-AU program. If an individual has their personal physician certify that they are cleared medically to work with animals, then the employee must request that their personal physician send a Form 5 to the IACUC to confirm enrollment in the OHSP-AU program.
Oversight of the OHSP
The UNL IACUC will oversee this program and persons not enrolled will not be able to work with animals in their employment. The IACUC will inform the department chair/head/director of employees who have not complied with the mandatory program enrollment.
Funding of the Occupational Health Program:
Individual departments are responsible for the costs associated with the review by Company Care for OHSP participation. Employees are responsible for the costs if they choose to utilize their personal physicians.
Injury Reporting
Personnel working with, handling, or providing care for animals should be trained in proper methods of handling each species of animals used. To promote safety and well-being of both the animals and employees, proactive measures should be used to decrease the incidents of animal bites, scratches, and kicks/crush injuries that can be inflicted on employees while ensuring safe handling and manipulation of animals. Facility managers shall send the IACUC a monthly listing of all employee job-related injuries. Training of personnel on proper handling techniques is available through the IACUC Office from the professional personnel in the IACP office.
Occupational Safety
Research using animals may involve the use of infectious agents, hazardous chemicals, and/or ionizing radiation. UNL policies state, “No employee shall work with or be in close proximity to any hazardous materials without first being trained in the proper procedures for handling, using and disposing of hazardous materials.” All UNL departments are required to have in place a Hazardous Material Safety Plan (OSHA 29 CFR 1910) covering employees and outside contractors who work in each department/school. This plan shall have the approval of the department/school director/manager, the campus safety manager, and the hazardous materials director, or institutional biosafety committee. Hazardous material use in animals will only take place in the Animal Research Facility part of the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department on the East Campus of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
Waste Handling and Disposal
Hazardous materials shall be handled, stored and used according to Environmental Health and Safety published policies and procedures. Before any potentially infectious, hazardous or radioactive waste can be generated by an investigator, (i.e., contaminated animal waste or carcasses) all employees at risk of coming into contact with such material shall be trained in the proper safe handling procedures. Before approval from the director of hazardous material, the safety manager and/or the manager of radiation safety should be informed so that safe storage of waste and handling of carcasses can be assured, and that availability of proper storage and disposal procedures are in place.
Protective Clothing/Equipment
All personnel involved in the care and use of animals shall be instructed on the proper protective clothing and gear to be worn. This protective clothing and gear is primarily for the protection of the employees, their families and thirdly for the animals. Employees working with animals in a laboratory room must wear protective outer clothing. These outer garments must not be worn outside the laboratory except to transport the animal back to the animal holding facility. Employees should never wear protective laboratory clothing home, or to public gatherings as they may expose other people to hazards associated with animal work. Examples of protective clothing and gear include laboratory coats, safety boots, masks, face shields, goggles, gloves, scrub suits, coveralls, pant and shirt uniforms, hearing protectors, and respirators. All potentially hazardous areas or equipment within an animal holding and use facility should be labeled as potentially hazardous to prevent accidental exposure. Employees should never be exposed to animals without proper protective clothing and gear. Remember to always wear protective gear when working with known disease infected animals to help avoid disease transmission.
Working in Outside Areas
Precautions should always be taken to avoid contact with biting or stinging insects and other critters that may be found outside. Some people are extremely sensitive to insect bites and stings and can have life threatening reactions. New employees should be asked to report any such hypersensitivity in writing to their immediate supervisor.
Inhalation Anesthesia Hazard
Inhalation anesthesia should only be accomplished in fume hoods that are exhausted to the outside of the building. Anesthetic systems may be equipped with excess anesthesia scavenger systems that remove anesthetic vapor from the exhaust air. When these are used they must be removed when the anesthesia procedure is finished and placed in an exhausted chemical fume hood as the anesthetic gas if off gassed over the next 24 hours. When these canisters reach a weight of double the original weight they must be replaced as they are full and no longer effective at absorption of anesthetic gas vapor
Exposure to Biological Hazards
It is the responsibility of the departments/schools to ensure their employees are adequately trained in the use of infectious agents they may be working with. The training received should be verified on the Application to Use Animals form when submitted to the IACUC for approval. Infectious agents greater than class 1 must be approved by the institutional biosafety committee.
