About ACC Safety Protocols
(get forms here)
- If an ACC Safety Protocol has been required by the
Animal Care Committee (ACC) for hazards in your ACC protocol, it will have
to be completed before your ACC protocol is approved. You will be notified
by the ACC if an ACC Safety Protocol is required. You may also be notified
that due to the rDNA work in your ACC protocol, an Institutional Biosafety
Committee (IBC)
Registration is required for compliance to the
NIH rDNA
Guidelines.
- ACC Safety Protocols are distinct from IBC
Registrations:
- They serve separate regulatory functions and
cover different safety/compliance considerations.
- You may be required to complete either or both
processes.
- There are two kinds of ACC Safety Protocols:
- ACC Safety Protocols for Hazardous Chemicals and
chemicals whose toxicology is unknown, that are used with animals, are
written with this form. Housing for these animals is typically in Center
for Lab Animal Care (CLAC) chemical isolation.
- Those for Hazardous Biological materials that are
used with animals are written with this
form. Housing for these animals
is typically in CLAC biocontainment.
- When experiments combine both chemical and
biological hazards, hybrid ACC Safety Protocols, or one of each may be
written to cover the hazards. Housing will be picked during the writing
process to be appropriate for the timing and the hazards. Contact the
Biological Safety Officer (BSO) for consultation about this.
- ACC Safety Protocols result from a negotiation
between the Principal Investigator (PI), the CLAC Director and/or the BSO
about the best facilities and procedures to use to protect animals and humans during the experiment. Once
all are in documented agreement, the ACC Safety Protocol is considered approved and
fulfilling the requirement for ACC Protocol approval. At that point the
protocol is distributed to CLAC, to the ACC, to the Employee Health Service
(EHS), and to
InfoEd in the ACC module. The version posted on InfoEd is the agreed-upon,
working version and must be followed. It may be changed if
it is discovered that something about it doesn't work, however, this
involves re-entry into negotiations between the PI, CLAC and the BSO, and
posting on InfoEd, so that
everyone involved stays informed.