September 17, 2020

October 2020 Inspections

Dear IACUC Investigators,

In March we announced that the IACUC inspections were postponed per the receipt of  Flexibilities for Assured Institutions for Activities of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees Due to COVID-19 from the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW). With the resumption of many in-person operations at 日韩无码, the IACUC has been in communication with our regulators to discuss management of 日韩无码鈥檚 October inspection.  While they acknowledge the complexities of conducting inspections during a pandemic and emphasize that the safety of all workers be made the top priority, we are expected to complete our inspections as soon and as safely as possible. To that end, the IACUC, in consultation with Risk Management and Safety, has developed a set of practices to safely and efficiently complete our Fall 2020 inspections. 

To limit foot traffic during busier times on campus, inspections will be conducted in two phases:

  1.  The Animal Care Facilities will be inspected on October 8th during our regularly scheduled semi-annual inspection.
  2. All laboratory inspections will be completed after the Thanksgiving holiday on December 2nd, 3rd, and 4th when students have left campus for the semester. 

For the protection of our IACUC members, staff and community, we will use the following procedures while conducting our visits:

Inspectors will:

  • have completed the 日韩无码 Health Check-In Tool prior to conducting the inspection
  • have completed the 日韩无码 Return to Work Training 
  • wear masks at all times in laboratory and animal housing spaces
  • initially greet you outside of the lab and animal housing spaces 
  • respect the approved room density requirements
  • make interactions brief to minimize exposure 

We request that researchers:

  • wear masks when in the presence of the inspectors
  • be prepared to greet inspectors at the approximate time on the schedule
  • have drug logs and have drug box keys ready for inspectors
  • reduce the number of key personnel within the lab to allow inspectors access

Attached is a copy of the schedule of Animal Care Facility Inspections that will be completed next month. A more detailed schedule with specific inspection times for your laboratory area in November is forthcoming.   If you have safety concerns beyond those precautions outlined above, please contact our office at IACUC@uvm.edu or 656-1282.