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  3. Animal Research
  4. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
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  6. Animal Training and OHS Requirements
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Animal Training and OHS Requirements

Purpose

The Animal Welfare Act, Animal Welfare Regulations, and PHS Policy require institutions to provide training for all personnel engaged in animal research to include, but not limited to: Principal Investigators (including those that do not work directly with animals), research associates, post-doctorate fellows, students, animal facility personnel, and IACUC members.

PHS Policy requires institutions to have an occupational health surveillance (OHS) program and that all animal users participate in the program.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is charged with ensuring that all personnel who use animals are adequately trained and enrolled in the OHS program.

Action

1. All new personnel who require animal use training must contact register for a class to attend at a 3-hour core lecture series on vertebrate animal use.  Registering for a class is done on the web at IACUC initial training.  New personnel may not register for training unless they have a UCH network account.

2. Continuing training will be accomplished by PowerPoint slides through SharePoint.  New training slides will be published in SharePoint each year.  Details on how to access training is maintained on the IACUC website at IACUC online renewal training.

3. Additional training in specific procedures may be required and will be scheduled through the Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM). All individuals using animals are required to maintain documentation of procedural training on the Animal training record form.

4.OHS enrollment is required of all individuals who use laboratory animals.  Enrollment is done on-line through the SharePoint system.  Personnel must have a UCH network account in order to enroll in, or renew, OHS enrollment.  The Mandatory Annual Certificate of Enrollment form is found on the web.

5. The IACUC office will be responsible for notifying all personnel who require continuing training and informing personnel on what on-line course(s) must be completed and the date by which the training must be completed.  The IACUC office will be responsible for notifying all personnel who require OHS enrollment and re-enrollment and the date by which the OHS enrollment must be completed.

6. The IACUC office will be responsible for documenting all initial and on-line training activities of animal users at UConn Health.  The IACUC office will be responsible for notifying all personnel who require OHS enrollment and re-enrollment.

7. No person shall attempt to work with animals until they have completed the required training and OHS enrollment. Failure to obtain approved training and failure to maintain OHS enrollment constitutes non-compliance with this policy.

8. Protocol associates who do not complete the required training and/or OHS enrollment by the due date will be administratively removed from the protocol(s) and have their access privileges to CCM facilities withdrawn.  A reinstatement of protocol associates will require a modification to be submitted to the IACUC.  An affected protocol associate must re-request facility access from CCM in order to have facility access reinstated.

9. Principal Investigators who do not complete the required training and/or OHS enrollment by the due date will have their protocols withdrawn.  Protocols may be reactivated by the IACUC when requirements have been completed.

This policy has been approved by a majority vote of the IACUC members

Effective Dates:   December 7, 2023 through December 31, 2026