Rationale

To provide a healthy working environment in the UT Southwestern animal facilities, the IACUC requires that all work with hazardous materials in the animal facilities fulfill certain requirements. 

Definition

Hazardous materials are defined as infectious agents, select agents, toxic chemicals, carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, flammable or explosive materials, radiation producing equipment, lasers, or radioactive materials. 

Policy

Before work with hazardous materials in animals may begin the IACUC requires that the principal investigator fulfill the following requirements.

• The animal protocol incorporating the hazardous material work must be approved by the IACUC.
• Work with infectious agents, chemical hazards, and recombinant DNA must be approved by the Biological and Chemical Safety Advisory Committee.
• Use of radioactive materials must be done under a radioactive materials sublicense issued by the Radiation Safety Committee.
• Use of radiation producing equipment (e.g. x-rays or accelerators) for research must be done with authorization from the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO).
• The PI must consult with the ARC Manager, a representative from EH&S, and be enrolled in the Worker Protection Program prior to starting hazardous material work in the animal facility.
• The PI must alert their animal facility supervisor approximately two weeks before work with hazardous materials is scheduled to begin.

Applicability

This policy applies to all investigators who will be using hazardous materials in the animal facilities at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Contact Information:

For any additional questions about this policy please contact the IACUC Manager at 5-6420.

For any additional questions regarding hazardous materials please contact:

• Ron Veath at 5-8344 for toxic chemicals,
• Patrick Conley at 5-8341 for infectious agents,
• John White at 5-8340 for radioisotopes,
• Sylvia Revell at 5-8330 for radiation producing equipment, and
• John Hoopman at 8-2416 for lasers.