Animal Users Training

1
Animal Users Training

• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
• Of Personnel and Others

2
Animal Users Training

• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
• Purpose of this training
• OSH and ACC
• Hazard Identification
• Who is affected?
• What are the hazards?
• Biological
• Chemical
• Physical
• Control of Hazards
• Mindsets about Hazards
• Strategies to Control Hazards
• Hazard Avoidance
• Engineering / Practices
• Personal Protective Equip.
• Programs to control hazards

• How the ACC provides oversight
• ACC protocol asks for hazard information.
• Addressing OSH issues
• Safety protocols
• Other hurdles
• IBC, RSC, CT DPH, DEA
• Specific Issues
• CH2O perfusions
• Anesthetic vapors
• Lab Animal Allergies
• Hazardous Chem Waste
• Non-human Primates
• Select Agents
• Biosafety Disk Tour.
• ORS Staff

3
Purpose of this training

• It is not meant to make you sit through another
  safety training.
• It is meant to present an overview of safety with
  relation to the ACC so that you can see what
  safety issues will be considered and how they
  will be considered.
• The hoped for result is you will be able to write
  and follow protocols taking safety issues into
  account.
• Your ACC protocols will be processed more
  efficiently, with fewer safety bottlenecks.

4
OSH and the ACC

• The ACC is required to consider the welfare of
  the researchers, animal care staff (ACTs) and
  others as well as the animals.
• The ACC has a member whose job it is to identify
  hazards to people during experiments with animals.

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Identification of Hazard

• This is done by performing a risk assessment,
  which consists of
• Looking at the routes of exposure and acute
  and/or chronic toxicology, and
• Analyzing how exposures to materials might occur
  in each step of the experimental process, from
  receipt, through handling, storage and use, to
  disposal and transport of waste materials.

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Who may be affected by incorrectly controlled
laboratory hazards?

• Transport personnel
• Researchers
• ACTs
• Building Occupants
• Waste handlers
• Transport personnel
• The General Population

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What kinds of materials or processes pose hazards?

• RG-2 Infectious Biological Agents
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Parasites
• Fungi
• Unknown potential (like Bloodborne pathogens)
• Human Blood, Tissues, Body Fluids
• Non-human Primate Tissues

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What kinds of materials or processes pose
hazards? (2)

• Flammables
• Reactives
• Sensitizers
• Irritants
• Waste Anesthetic Gasses

• Hazardous Chemicals
• Unknown toxicology
• Tumorigens or Carcinogens
• Mutagens
• Teratogens
• Corrosives
• Toxics

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What kinds of materials or processes pose
hazards? (3)

• Hazardous Radiation
• Ionizing radiation
• X-rays from instruments
• Gamma rays, alpha and beta particles from
  radioactive materials
• Non-ionizing radiation
• Lasers
• Ultraviolet light
• Macro and microwaves

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What kinds of materials or processes pose
hazards? (4)

• Other Physical Hazards
• Repetitive motion and ergonomic issues
• Temperature extremes
• Cuts and sticks from sharps
• Animal bites
• High sound levels

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What kinds of materials or processes pose
hazards? (5)

• Animal Handling exposure to
• Dander, hair, fur, saliva, urine, feces
• Significant risk of developing allergies leading
  to
• hives from contact,
• allergic conjunctivitis,
• allergic rhinitis,
• asthma (sometimes permanent), and/or
• anaphylaxis

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Hazard Control

• Mindset It is not a foregone conclusion that
  exposure to hazards is inevitable.
• Hurdles
• Getting past the mindsets that allow us to accept
  exposures to hazards.
• Figuring out how to physically control exposures
  to hazards
• Hazard avoidance
• Engineering controls and prudent practices.
• Programs to assure that hazards are addressed and
  controlled.

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Mindsets About Risky Behavior

• Disclaimer and Invitation
• Aside Acute vs. Chronic exposures.
• You might not know youre being exposed or
  accumulating damage.
• Familiarity breeds contempt- or at
• least, lack of respect.

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Mindsets About Risky Behavior (2)

• Making it through the yellow stoplight reinforces
  continuing to try to make it through the yellow
  stoplight.
• Gee, that wasnt so bad
• Sets up an acute risk.
• Science Mythology (or Tradition?)
• Scientists may have to be exposed to unknowns or
  even test their theories on themselves...
• Madame Curie
• The Mad Scientist in the Collective Consciousness
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R.L. Stevenson
• Dr. Frankenstein - M. Shelley

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Hazard avoidance

• Movie about weighing hazardous or unknown
  chemicals. Typically chronic, possibly acute.
• What could be done to avoid this hazard?

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Avoiding weighing hazards

• Order unknown toxicology and known hazardous
  chemicals accurately pre-weighed or,
• Pre-weigh a vial of chemical. Dissolve the
  chemical inside the chemical fume hood, using
  several rinses. Rinse the vial with acetone or
  ethanol and drain well. Reweigh the vial or,
• In the chemical fume hood, remove some powdered
  chemical from the stock container into a tared
  closable container. Reweigh the closed container
  with the chemical. Calculate how much solvent to
  add based on desired concentration and weight of
  the chemical.

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Hazard avoidance (2)

• Certain workers must avoid any potential exposure
  to particular hazards, due to health conditions,
  for example
• Potentially pregnant and pregnant workers must
  avoid
• Working with teratogens - chemicals that cause
  reproductive effects such as birth defects
• Working with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that
  causes stillbirths and various serious birth
  defects.
• Immunocompromised individuals must avoid many
  typically innocuous microorganisms.

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Engineering Controls

• Chemical Fume hood (CFH)
• Good for protecting the worker against
• Inhalation of airborne liquid and dry particles
  including animal products like dander
• Inhalation of vapors and gasses
• Splashes ( parts of the body behind sash)
• No good for protecting sterility of what youre
  working on.
• Works by taking room air across the project and
  expelling any contaminants out a stack on the
  roof of the building.

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Engineering Controls (2)

• Class II Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs) a.k.a
  tissue culture hoods
• Good for protecting the worker against
• Inhalation of airborne liquid and dry particles
  including animal products, like dander.
• Splashes ( parts of the body behind sash)
• Good for protecting sterility of what youre
  working on.
• No good for vapors and gasses (exhausts them into
  the room).

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Engineering Controls (3)

• Class II BSCs continued
• Airflow in the BSC is filtered

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Engineering Controls (4)

• Dilution or General Ventilation
• Lab air is not re-circulated like in most office
  buildings.
• Incoming air is 100 filtered outdoor air.
• Exhaust air is 100 exhausted outside.
• A high number of room air exchanges keep
  contaminants diluted to keep exposures low.
• It does not eliminate inhalation exposures.

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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Engineering controls are always preferable over
  PPE when feasible.
• Examples of PPE include
• Gloves with long gauntlets or other wrist
  protection.
• Eye / Face protection.
• Lab coat, long pants, closed-toe shoes.
• Respirator
• What routes of exposure do each of these protect?
• Dermal? Inhalation? Ingestion?

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Prudent Practices

• The foundations of safety in the lab are prudent
  practices. These include
• Making use of engineering controls and personal
  protective equipment.
• Finding out what hazards are involved in
  procedures before an exposure occurs.
• Think through potential problems, develop
  emergency procedures and have them in place.
• Basic laboratory safety and security
• Leaving the lab, wash hands before touching
  anything you will ingest or public items. Lock up
  the lab.
• No mouth pipetting.
• No food or drink in the lab.
• Etc.

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Emergencies

• Fire, out of control chemical or biological
  spill, or medical emergencies, call x7777.
• Controlled spills, injuries and potential
  exposures to hazardous chemicals or infectious
  agents, notify the PI and CLAC Director, go to
  EHS (x2893) or during off-hours go to the
  hospital ED (x2588).
• people exposed to bloodborne pathogens and other
  infectious agents should receive treatment within
  1 hour of exposure.
• For assistance with controlled spills, or
  potential emergencies call the Office of Research
  Safety (x2723).
• Receive WC207 form from HR (x2204) and fill out
  Employee Accident/Incident Report.

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Control of Hazards Through Programs

• OSH Programs exist from the Federal through the
  Institutional levels.
• As mentioned, the ACC is federally required to
  provide OSH oversight of PIs for the Institution.
• According to the laws and guidelines that address
  various classes of hazards, the PI or Laboratory
  Director is ultimately responsible for OSH in
  their laboratories.

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How ACC provides OSH oversight

• Each PI who wishes to use animals submits an ACC
  protocol to the ACC.
• The ACC protocol contains questions about hazards
  to humans and the protocol is previewed by the
  biological safety officer (BSO) who makes any OSH
  issues known to the Committee at the meeting.
• ACC protocol approval is contingent on the OSH
  issues being addressed by the PI.

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How ACC provides OSH oversight (2) Tips for
expediting Safety Review.

• Cooperation is the key The longer it takes me to
  figure out if what you are doing is hazardous,
  the longer your protocol will be held up by the
  ACC because it cant be approved until all OSH
  issues are addressed.
• You can help expedite by declaring hazards on the
  questionnaire up front, with a lot of detail
• Chemical Hazards If its an experimental
  compound and the toxicology at at least the
  animal level is unknown, it has to be treated as
  hazardous. Check yes and list. When listing,
  dont abbreviate supply the whole chemical name,
  the generic drug name, if possible the CAS and
  an MSDS. Only scientific evidence about
  toxicology is valid for safety determinations.
• Biological Hazards Any information you can
  provide about routes of an infections spread
  between animals or to humans is useful in a
  hazard analysis. The limit for use of
  biohazardous agents at the UCHC is BSL-2 or BL2.
  Procedures that aerosolize infectious agents are
  most hazardous.

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How ACC provides OSH oversight Tips for
expediting Safety Review (2).

• Recombinant DNA This is usually less a safety
  issue than a regulatory issue. And we have to
  comply. Most experiments here are exempt, but
  those in which rDNA enters animals nearly always
  need registration with the IBC. Declare yes for
  transgenics, knock-outs and knock-ins, for
  adoptive transfer of cells containing rDNA and
  for gene transfer with viral vectors.
• In vitro experiments in the lab with hazardous
  chemicals, hazardous biologicals, rDNA,
  radioactivity, etc., do not fall under the
  auspices of the ACC OSH program. However, chances
  are 100 that they are regulated by OSHA,
  NIH/CDC, EPA, NRC, DOT, or Institutional Safety
  Policy. Further, your ACC protocol will not be
  held up for safety issues not involving animals
  unless products of animals are hazardous ex vivo
  (e.g., tissues harvested from radioactive or
  infectious animals). Therefore, you are invited
  to declare issues from animal associated in vitro
  experiments in your ACC protocol to increase
  compliance in your lab without penalty.

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How ACC provides OSH oversight (3)

• ACC protocol OSH issues may be addressed by the
  following actions
• If the hazards are relatively benign they may be
  dealt with by incorporating safety procedures
  into the revised ACC protocol.
• If the hazards are serious, then a safety
  protocol is written in collaboration between the
  PI, the BSO, the Director and/or Assistant
  Director of CLAC. Once all parties approve, the
  safety protocol is sent to the ACC coordinator,
  who, in turn, sends out the approval letter if
  the file is otherwise complete.

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How ACC provides OSH oversight (4)

• The safety protocol asks for procedural details
  and information that the PI knows about the
  hazard to allow for a risk assessment. It also
  gives specific and general policy instructions
  for the PIs staff and ACTs that will be
  providing husbandry to the animals.

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Other hurdles

• Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)
  Registration for non-exempt rDNA experiments
  (like transgenic animals) or particularly risky
  experiments.
• Radiation Safety Committee approval for
  experiments involving ionizing radiation.
• CT DPH Lab Registration
• DEA
• What else??

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Specific Issues

• Perfusion with paraformaldehyde. Formaldehyde
  vapors must be controlled in a chemical fume hood
  or other.
• Anesthesia with isoflurane. Unless this is done
  with an anesthesia scavenger, procedures with
  isoflurane must be controlled in a chemical fume
  hood.
• Both of these may be incorporated into the ACC
  protocol, and no separate safety protocol
  written.

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Specific Issues (2)

• Allergic individuals who work with animals should
  take precautions to protect against animal
• dander
• hair, fur, scales
• saliva
• body wastes
• Protection should be both dermal and respiratory.
  Hand washing prevents ingestion exposure.

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Specific Issues (3) Allergic Reactions to Lab
Animal (L.A.) Allergens
DISORDER SYMPTOMS SIGNS
Contact uticaria (hives) Redness, welts itchiness of skin, Raised, circum-scribed red lesions
Allergic conjunctivitis Sneezing, itchiness, clear nasal drainage, nasal congestion vascular engorge-ment of conjunctiva, clear discharge
Allergic rhinitis Sneezing, itchiness, clear nasal drainage, nasal congestion clear rhinorrhea, pale /edematous nasal mucosa
Asthma Cough, wheezing, chest tightness, short breath airway hyperresponsive, decreased breath sounds,
Anaphylaxis Generalized itching, throat tightness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarhea, abd. cramps, all of above Flushing, uticaria, angioedema, stridor, wheezing, hypotension
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Specific Issues (4) Risk of Developing Allergy
to Lab Animals (L.A.)
Risk Group History Risk of Rxn to L.A Comments
Normal No evidence of allergies 10 Despite repeat exposure, 90 never symp.
Atopic Pre-existing allergies Up to 73 Once L.A. protein sensitized, workers will dev. Symp.
Asympt- omatic IgE Ab to L.A. proteins Up to 100 with repeated exposure High risk to dev. symp.of hives, asthma, rhinitis
Sympt- omatic Symptoms w/ exposure to L.A. proteins 100 33 chest symp 10 occ. asthma perm impairment
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Specific Issues (5) Protecting Against
Developing Allergy to Lab Animals (L.A.)

• Engineering controls?
• Personal Protective Equipment?
• Personal Practices?
• (see handout)
• At the first sign of allergy go to EHS.
• Periodic Surveillance Screenings by EHS are
  highly recommended for all who have contact with
  animals or animal tissues. (x2893) reqd for
  CLAC staff.

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Specific Issues (6) Protecting Against
Developing Allergy to Lab Animals (L.A.)

• Respiratory Protection for anyone working with
  Lab Animals is highly recommended by EHS. To get
  set up with respiratory protection
• Contact ORS (x2723) for an OSHA Respirator
  Questionnaire form and the UCHC Respirator User
  form that get returned after completion to EHS
  (Dr. Trapé).
• When cleared, employees will be contacted by the
  ORS for training and fit testing.
• Wear only the exact type of respirator (brand,
  model and size) you were evaluated for and fit
  tested with.
• Disposable N95 respirators of the assigned model
  and size will be provided in CLAC.

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Specific Issues (7) The times you should be seen
by Employee Health Services (EHS).

• When you are first hired or become a student
• After a potential exposure or accident
• If you are being evaluated for work involving
  hazards and required by a safety protocol.
• Annual surveillance for work with animals
• If you see signs of allergy to animals.
• If you are immunosuppressed.
• If you are pregnant, potentially pregnant or
  considering becoming pregnant.
• If you have medical questions about how your work
  impacts your health.

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Specific Issues (8) Hazardous Chemical Waste
and labeling

• Prediction This will be the biggest source of
  fines from EPA at the UCHC.
• EPA fines are big.
• Post this poster near your hazardous waste
  storage.
• If you have questions, call the EHSO at x2723.

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Specific Issues (9)

• Non-Human primate associated exposures.
• Cercopithecine herpes virus 1 (B virus) infection
  of macaques is not obvious.
• May be fatal to humans.
• Our macaques are tested and examined but results
  are not 100
• Wear PPE to protect against mucocutaneous
  exposures.
• On exposure immediate first aid.
• Report to Director of CLAC and EHS.

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Specific Issues (10)

• Select Agents
• Biosafety Manual (on disk)

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Office of Research Safety (ORS) Staff

• Radiation Safety x2250
• Ken Price, CHP, MPH,
• Director of ORS and RSO,
• Alexis Makowski, Admin Prgm Asst
• Andres Sinisterra, Asst. RSO
• Jim Fomenko, Asst. RSO
• Dave Bourret, Rsch Saf Spec
• Bob Lawson, Rsch Saf Spec
• Rob Speers, Rsch Saf Spec
• Ryan Cauley, Rad Saf Tech
• Environmental Health and Safety
• Office (EHSO) x2723
• Steve Jacobs, Asst. Director, ORS
• Liz Pokorski, Admin Prgm Coord
• Patti Wawzyniecki, IH and Ergonomist
• Ron Wallace, PhD, CIH BSO,
• IBC coordinator and IH