Safety Policy & Procedure Manual
Section 200: Workplace Safety
Revised: 6/9/2017

 

 

I. Definitions

  1. Animal: Any live or dead vertebrate animal, including animal fluids, excretions, secretions, and unfixed tissues (excluding established animal cell lines).
  2. Animal Facility: Any and all buildings, rooms, areas, enclosures, tanks, or vehicles, used for animal confinement, transport, husbandry, breeding, or procedures, including satellite animal facilities.
  3. Animal Exposure Training and Education: A program of training and education about the hazards of working with animals, methods of minimizing risks from those hazards and species–specific handling and safety information.
  4. Risk Assessment: The process by which risks associated with working with animals are identified.
  5. Risk Mitigation: The process by which identified risks are managed through such actions as education, training, personal protective equipment, zoonoses, surveillance, or immunization.
  6. Satellite Animal Facility: An IACUC-approved animal facility maintained primarily by an investigator, and outside of direct LARC oversight, in which animals are housed for greater than 12 hours.
  7. Supervisors: Department chairs, directors, faculty, principal investigators (PI), researchers, instructors, superintendents, facility managers, or any others   who are responsible for activities covered under this policy.

 

II. Policy

It is the policy of Oregon State University (OSU) to comply with all pertinent federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies, regarding the provision of health and safety programs for individuals exposed to animals during the course of work or education at OSU.

The Animal Exposure Program (AEP) is the occupational health and safety arm of OSU’s animal care and use program, and strives to maintain a safe and healthy environment for individuals with exposure to animals. The program is based on risk assessment and risk mitigation, as defined above, and risk monitoring over time, as outlined in the associated AEP Procedure document.

 

III. Roles

A. Participants:

Participation in this program is required for all individuals exposed to animals during university-sponsored animal activities, including research and teaching; or who perform work in animal facilities, either paid or unpaid, as defined by this policy and accompanying Procedure document.

  1. Participants Covered Under Policy
    1. Employees:
      All individuals employed by OSU who are exposed to animals while working. This includes faculty, staff, and student employees.
    2. Students:
      1. All students exposed to animals during coursework.
      2. Students exposed in the course of employment are covered under “Employees” (Section III.A.1.a., above)
      3. Students exposed during OSU-sponsored volunteer work are covered under “Participant, Other” (Section III.C., below)
    3. Participant, Other:
      1. Non-OSU individuals exposed to animals during work directed by OSU faculty or staff.
      2. Non-OSU individuals exposed to animals during work as contract employees, per an OSU-sponsored and executed contract or agreement.
      3. OSU Officially Appointed Volunteers exposed to animals during related work.
      4. Courtesy and Visiting Faculty exposed to animals during related work.
      5. Post-doctoral scholars, fellows, and clinical fellows exposed to animals during related work.

B. Supervisors:

Supervisors are responsible for implementing this policy with individuals under their supervision and ensuring these individuals receive animal exposure training and education.