“Well-trained and motivated personnel can often ensure high-quality animal care.…”

4. “Well-trained andmotivated personnel can often ensure high-quality animal care.…”

5. Training “hits” • 64 Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals • 36 Institutional Administrator’s Manual for Laboratory Animal Care and Use • 35 Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook • 22 Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories • 17 Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules • 3 PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals • 7 Animal Welfare Regulations, 9CFR, Part 3

6. AAALAC identified training deficiencies (mandatory/suggestion) Year IACUC OHSP Personnel 1998 9/6 3/2 1/1 1999 10/5 4/6 1/4 2000 5/4 7/3 0/4 2001 4/0 4/5 5/3 2002 3/3 4/2 1/4

7. Many deficiencies and suggestions for improvement in other areas are related to inadequate training.

8. Institutions should develop and embrace a culture of training, inclusive of administrators, compliance staff, IACUC, veterinary staff, animal care staff, and research staff.

10. The AAALAC International Program Description • Describe the training, certification level and type, and experience of animal care personnel. • Describe the continuing education opportunities provided to animal care personnel.

11. The AAALAC International Program Description • Describe the personnel training for specific procedures: • use of hazardous agents in animals • educational program(s) to inform personnel about zoonoses, personal hygiene and other occupational health and safety considerations

12. The AAALAC International Program Description • Describe the personnel training for specific procedures: • training and experience of personnel performing surgery • training and experience required to perform anesthesia • training and experience of personnel carrying out euthanasia procedures

13. Animal care staff • Husbandry personnel • Supervisory personnel • Management personnel

14. Animal care staff • Veterinarians • Veterinary technicians • Surgical technicians and support staff

15. Animal care staff • Technical support staff • Research staff providing husbandry

16. Assignments may be specific, or one person may wear many hats.

17. Types of animal care programs • Large versus small • Focused versus diverse

18. Training requirements • Regulations and guidelines • Specific species training • Specific task training

19. Continuing education/retraining important.

20. Mechanisms to implement training • Condition of employment • Prior to facility/animal access

21. Training development/documentation • Training coordinator • Facility management • Veterinary staff • Other specialists (biosafety officer, etc.)

22. Regulations/guidelines/animal welfare basics • Web-based training • Generic (VA, etc) • Institution specific • Seminars • Publications • Videotapes

23. Specific species/task training • AALAS classes and certifying exams (ALAT, LAT, LATG). • AALAS Certified Manager of Animal Resources (CMAR) exams. • Institute for Laboratory Animal Management (ILAM) educational program and certification.

24. Specific species/task training • Web based training • Textbooks, videos • Training manuals, SOPs • On job training

25. A combination of methods often helps reinforce training and accommodates different types of learners.

26. Continuing education/retraining • National, district and branch AALAS meetings. • Other professional meetings and sponsored seminars (AAALAC, LAMA, SCAW, etc). • Reviewing SOPs. • Reviewing web-based training.

27. Case studies • Immune compromised mice housed in sterile microisolator cages being changed by animal facility personnel on open bench. • Animal care staff working in animal rooms in street clothes. • Animal care staff dumping cages in dirty cagewash; no dump station in room and no PPE being worn.

29. Institutional responsibilities “Each institution should establish and provide resources for an animal care and use program that is managed in accord with this Guide and in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations” . . . Guide for Care & Use of Laboratory Animals

30. Organizational structure:research perspective

31. Organizational structure: university perspective

32. IACUC charge “AWRs and PHS Policy require institutions to ensure that people caring for or using animals are qualified to do so.” Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

33. Guide recommendations(personnel qualifications and training) There are a number of options for the training of technicians. Many states have colleges with accredited programs in veterinary technology (AVMA 1995); most are 2-year programs that result in associate of science degrees, and some are 4-year programs that result in bachelor of science degrees. Nondegree training, with certification programs for laboratory animal technicians and technologists, can be obtained from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). There are commercially available training materials that are appropriate for self-study (Appendix B). Personnel using or caring for animals should also participate regularly in continuing-education activities relevant to their responsibilities. They are encouraged to be involved in local and national meetings of AALAS and other relevant professional organizations. On-the-job training should be part of every technician's job and should be supplemented with institution-sponsored discussion and training programs and with reference materials applicable to their jobs and the species with which they work (Kreger 1995). Coordinators of institutional training programs can seek assistance from the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) and ILAR (NRC 1991). The Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC 1993) and guidelines of some other countries are valuable additions to the libraries of laboratory animal scientists (Appendix B).

34. Guide recommendations(personnel qualifications and training) There are a number of options for the training of technicians. Many states have colleges with accredited programs in veterinary technology (AVMA 1995); most are 2-year programs that result in associate of science degrees, and some are 4-year programs that result in bachelor of science degrees. Non-degree training, with certification programs for laboratory animal technicians and technologists, can be obtained from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). There are commercially available training materials that are appropriate for self-study (Appendix B). Personnel using or caring for animals should also participate regularly in continuing-education activities relevant to their responsibilities. They are encouraged to be involved in local and national meetings of AALAS and other relevant professional organizations. On-the-job training should be part of every technician's job and should be supplemented with institution-sponsored discussion and training programs and with reference materials applicable to their jobs and the species with which they work (Kreger 1995). Coordinators of institutional training programs can seek assistance from the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) and ILAR (NRC 1991). The Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC 1993) and guidelines of some other countries are valuable additions to the libraries of laboratory animal scientists (Appendix B).

35. Guide recommendations(occupational health & safety of personnel) Personnel should be trained regarding zoonoses, chemical safety, microbiologic and physical hazards (including those related to radiation and allergies), unusual conditions or agents that might be part of experimental procedures (including the use of genetically engineered animals and the use of human tissue in immunocompromised animals), handling of waste materials, personal hygiene, and other considerations (e.g., precautions to be taken during personnel pregnancy, illness, or decreased immunocompetence) as appropriate to the risk imposed by their workplace.

36. The organizational structure of universities can make compliance challenging IACUC Focus Group

37. Who trains the trainees?

38. Training tiers

39. Administration • Research administrator • Focus on compliance (regulatory perspective) • Interested in education • Academic administrator • Focus on education • Interested in compliance (academic integrity)

40. Principal investigator • Professor • Dedicated teacher • Dedicated to research • Believes in academic freedom • Often believes that regulatory compliance is an obstruction to academic freedom

41. Research staff Laboratory manager • Empowered by the P.I. • Directs day to day operation of the lab • Career employee • Most knowledgeable of regulations Laboratory technicians • Entry level position • Frequently have other career aspirations • Regulations learned from lab manager or PI Student assistants • Gaining experience to increase competitiveness for professional school • Need to work • Follow directions • Least knowledgeable of regulations • Met the professor once

42. Trainees Postdoctoral fellows • U.S. citizens & foreign nationals • Well trained in research methodologies • Highly motivated • Moderately knowledgeable of regulations Graduate students • U.S. citizens and foreign nationals • Focus is on studies • Learning the ropes and pushing the limits • Marginally knowledgeable of regulations Undergraduate students • Want to learn • Naïve • No knowledge of regulations

43. Gradients in training exist

44. Guide recommendations • An occupational health and safety program must be part of the overall animal care and use program (CDC and NIH 1993; CFR 1984a,b,c; PHS Policy). The program must be consistent with federal, state, and local regulations and should focus on maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. The program will depend on the facility, research activities, hazards, and animal species involved. The National Research Council publication Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals (NRC In press) contains guidelines and references for establishing and maintaining an effective, comprehensive program (also see Appendix A). An effective program relies on strong administrative support and interactions among several institutional functions or activities, including the research program (as represented by the investigator), the animal care and use program (as represented by the veterinarian and the IACUC), the environmental health and safety program, occupational-health services, and administration (e.g., human resources, finance, and facility-maintenance personnel). Operational and day-to-day responsibility for safety in the workplace, however, resides with the laboratory or facility supervisor (e.g., principal investigator, facility director, or veterinarian) and depends on performance of safe work practices by all employees.

45. Building a culture of compliance • Administration • IACUC • Professors • Staff • Trainees

46. Building a culture of compliance: administrative “buy-in” Research Officer & Academic Officers must understand the importance of compliance. IACUC can be instrumental in educating the administration.

47. Building a culture of compliance: IACUC facilitation IACUC should be knowledgeable of the regulations & responsible for advocating best practices to both administrators and professors. “Educate” rather than “Train.”

48. Building a culture of compliance: IACUC facilitation

49. Building a culture of compliance: professorial “buy-in” Let the Professor Teach. “Educate” rather than “Train.”

50. Building a culture of compliance: encouraging professorial “buy-in” Get the students to ask the Professor to teach a course. “Educate” rather than “Train.”