The Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) will begin its next round of semi-annual facility inspections on Monday, September 23, 2024.
Inspections will run through Thursday, September 26, 2024, and include any animal rooms, surgical suite support spaces, and areas where procedures are conducted with animals.
Facility Inspection Reminders
- Please designate at least one individual to serve as a spokesperson for your laboratory. This individual should have detailed knowledge of the animal use procedures outlined in your laboratory’s IACUC approved protocol AND be able to provide access to locked cabinets, drawers, or storage areas that contain drugs and other medical materials.
- Laboratory visits are generally scheduled in four-hour increments to account for a variety of factors. As such, the Animal Care & Use Office (ACUO) will be unable to make scheduling adjustments. Although every effort will be made to adhere to the distributed schedule, unforeseen circumstances may result in schedule deviation(s). It is strongly recommended that laboratories identify AT LEAST TWO other individuals to serve as secondary contacts to fill-in in case of emergency or last-minute personnel changes.
- If no Designated Spokesperson has been identified in eRAM, then it is assumed that the PI will serve in this capacity.
- For inspections with a ULAM focus:
- Each inspection will begin in SPF animal housing areas, though this may be altered if there are contaminations
- Only ULAM Husbandry Supervisors need to be present
As a reminder, the Animal Care & Use Program is piloting a one-week condensed schedule for Fall 2024 semi-annual IACUC facility inspections. Our goal in making this adjustment is to reduce Study Team burden while still ensuring that our IACUC is able to fulfill its important regulatory oversight responsibilities.
Preparation Resources
We strongly encourage you to review the following tools and resources with your staff – including any students involved with research in your laboratory – to help prepare for inspections:
- Lessons Learned from Winter 2024 Semi-Annual Facility Inspections (newsletter article)
- Are You Inspection Ready? Checklist (PDF download)
- Aquatics Facilities Checklist (PDF download)
Questions?
Should you have any questions or concerns about semi-annual IACUC facility inspections, or if you would like to share feedback on the revised schedule format, please contact the Animal Care & Use Office at [email protected].
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