757 Laboratory Safety

Training and Best Practices

Employers should ensure that workers are trained to adhere to the following good practices to prevent exposure to zoonotic diseases when working with research animals:

• Avoid use of sharps whenever possible.
• Take extreme care when using a needle and syringe to inject research animals or when using sharps during necropsy procedures.
• Never remove, recap, bend, break, or clip used needles from disposable syringes. Use safety engineered needles when practical.
• Take extra precautions when handling hoofed animals. Due to the physical hazards of weight and strength of the animal, large hoofed mammals pose additional concerns for workers. Hoofed mammals may resist handling and may require multiple workers to administer medication or perform other functions.

• Keep hands away from mouth, nose and eyes.
• Wear appropriate PPE (i.e., gloves, gowns, face protection) in all areas within the animal facility.
• A safety specialist may recommend additional precautions, based upon a risk assessment of the work performed.
• Wear tear-resistant gloves to prevent exposure by animal bites. Micro-tears in the gloves may compromise the protection they offer.
• Remove gloves and wash hands after handling animals or tissues derived from them and before leaving areas where animals are kept.
• Use mechanical pipetting devices (no mouth pipetting).
• Never eat, drink, smoke, handle contact lenses, apply cosmetics, or take or apply medicine in areas where research animals are kept.
• Perform procedures carefully to reduce the possibility of creating splashes or aerosols.
• Contain operations that generate hazardous aerosols in BSCs or other ventilated enclosures, such as animal bedding dump stations.
• Wear eye protection.
• Wear head/hair covering to protect against sprays or splashes of potentially infectious fluids.
• Keep doors closed to rooms where research animals are kept.
• Clean all spills immediately.
• Report all incidents and equipment malfunctions to the supervisor.
• Promptly decontaminate work surfaces when procedures are completed and after surfaces are soiled by spills of animal material or waste.
• Properly dispose of animal waste and bedding.
• Workers should report all work-related injuries and illnesses to their supervisor immediately.
• Following a bite by an animal or other injury in which the wound may be contaminated, first aid should be initiated at the work site.
• Contaminated skin and wounds should be washed thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes.
• Contaminated eyes and mucous membranes should be irrigated for 15 minutes using normal saline or water.

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