Welcome to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee’s (IACUC) On-Line Occupational Health and Safety Training Program.
As one of the requirements of all persons wishing to work with animals in research or teaching, you must be enrolled in the Occupational Health and Safety Program (OHSP). To do so, you must 1) submit a completed Animal Care and Use Exposure Risk Assessment form that is available on-line and that it has been determined by Student-Employee Health that a) no restrictions to working with animals have been identified, or b) that you may work with animals with certain restrictions; 2) review the OHSP training document and successfully complete the quiz below; and 3) complete all other prescribed training described below.
You must obtain a passing score of 80% or higher to receive credit for this part of the training. After completing this portion of your training, you should print the Certificate of Completion provided by the program. Keep this certificate for your records.
Other Prescribed Training: If you will be working in any Western University owned or operated vivarium, you must successfully complete the eLearning Barrier Facility course and, if you are working with mice or rats, either the course titled Using Mice in Research or the course titled Using Rats in Research. You are encouraged to take all three courses although there is much overlap between the courses on mice and rats. You must also receive hands-on training prior to handling any animals or entering the Barrier Facility. To arrange hands-on session, please contact the Animal Facilities Manager at 469-5610.
At the end of each section of each course, there is a quiz. Once you have successfully completed the quiz, you may move on to the next section. You must obtain a passing score of 80% or higher on each quiz to receive credit for this part of the training program. Completion of this training does not authorize you to conduct research or teaching with animals. You must first submit an animal use protocol application to the IACUC for review and approval. Protocol application forms may be obtained from the Office of the IACUC (469-5619) or from the IACUC website. You may not begin working with animals until the protocol has been approved by the IACUC and you have enrolled in the OHSP and completed the on-line and hands-on training. Each of these training courses provides a Certificate of Completion that you should print and keep for your records. When submitting an animal protocol to the IACUC for review, it is imperative that you use the most recent version of the form or the protocol may be returned without review.