Animal Care and Use
Deep expertise in vivarium / animal care facility (ACF) permitting, facility setup, operational readiness, and program initiation.
Animal Care and Use
Deep expertise in vivarium / animal care facility (ACF) permitting, facility set-up, operational readiness and program initiation.
Our Areas of Expertise
From the start, we will help ensure that your ACF program is consistent with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and provide resources, guidance, and advice to investigators, scientists, EHS staff, and ACF staff on biosafety, chemical safety, and ACF operations.
It has been a pleasure to work with Safety Partners over the last 8 years. Safety Partners is responsive, reliable, and consistent. We couldn’t have supported our growing biosafety program without them! Jennifer Savicky and Linda Epstein, who is currently working with us, and all of the Safety Partners staff are such a pleasure to work with.
Physical Facility Setup
We facilitate the initial setup to ensure you meet regulatory compliance while operating efficiently. Cage options, related equipment, and materials storage are selected according to:
- Husbandry needs
- HVAC requirements
- Wastewater and environmental regulations
- Cost
- Maintenance and Cleaning
- Ease of use
Animal Care Facility (ACF) Programs
We provide support for initial program setup for consistency with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and hands-on implementation for ABSL-1 and ABSL-2.
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
- Initial setup and ongoing implementation of all functions of IACUC oversight
- Customize and maintain the ACF Safety Manual (as described in the BMBL – Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories)”
- Tailor the ACF Disaster Plan
Training
- Develop and deliver initial and annual ACF safety training including procedures, policies, and worker safety
- Create presentation and train on ACF Disaster Plans
Animal Husbandry
- Review husbandry techniques and advise on best practices to promote worker safety
- Develop husbandry procedures, policies, recordkeeping, and documentation
- Liaise with the veterinarian as needed
Maintenance
- Support the development of SOPs specialized for ACF cleaning and facility maintenance procedures, policies, recordkeeping, and documentation
ACF Documentation Package
As an added service, we can customize our documentation package to provide additional ACF document-related support for your IACUC, ACF operations, and general standard operating procedures.
- IACUC forms including an animal use protocol, member appointment letter, semiannual program review checklist and summary, and the report to the Institutional Official (IO)
- ACF operations documents such as cage cards, animal care-related logs, and facility-related equipment and cleaning logs
- SOPs that include working with controlled substances, isoflurane, and Risk Group 2 agents (ABSL-2), as well as for receiving animals from approved vendors and tracking
Permitting and Compliance
Be prepared for initial IACUC meetings and IACUC facility audits by having Safety Partners regularly review your ACF program. Your investigators, scientists, EHS staff, and ACF staff will have resources, guidance, and advice for biosafety, chemical safety, and other ACF operations.
Learn more about our Permits, Licensing, and Regulatory Compliance services
It takes 10,000 hours to master a craft, we have 650,000+. Trust us to take the burden of EHS off of your shoulders. #safertogether