GN EH76 - Control of laboratory animal allergy

1 GNGui da nce Not e EH7 6 Guid anceNot es are publishedund er fivesub ject head ings:Med icalEnvironmentalHygieneChemical Safet yPlantand MachineryGeneralControloflaboratoryanima lallergyTh is guid anc e is is suedby th e Heal th and SafetyExec llow in g the guidanceis not compulsoryand you are freeto tak e other ac if you do fol low the gu idan ce youwill normallybe doingenough to complywi th th e alt h an d safetyinspectorsseekto sec ure complianc ewit h the law and mayreferto this gu idan ce as illu stratinggo od pr ac tic

2 Alth an d SafetyExecutive1 of10pagesIntroduction1 Thisguidance note drawsattenti on tohealt h risksfr omexposuretolabora to ryanimalal sesemployers andmanagersof animalfacilitiesonthepre cautionsneededtoprevent oradequatelycontr olexposure, asrequired by th e ControlofSubstances Hazardousto Health Regulations 2002(asamended)(COSHH).It alsodeals withduties undertheManagement ofHealthandSafetyatWorkRegul ations 1999(t heManagementRegulations) ,in cl udingth e needto co-operate and co-ordinatewher e di ffe rent employerssharea , it doesnot dealwithother healthandsafetyis suesrel at in g toworkwith laboratoryanimals,forexample managementofin fectionrisksand risk ofin jury fromworkingwith prote ction ofanimal s usedinexperimentalworkis th e subject of specificlegisl ation,ie th eAnimals (Scient if icProcedures)

3 Act1986,whichisenfo rcedbythe Home there quirementsoftheActandthewelfareofani mals,and hasbeen producedinconsultatio nwith note isai med in particularatempl oyer s oups,suchasempl oyees and healt h andsafetypr ofessionals,willal sofi ndit shoul d be read in conjunctio n wit htheCOSHHA pproved CodeofPractice(ACOP).1Wh at is lab orato ry an im al al lerg y?4 Labor atory animalal lergy(LAA) isanall ergichyper sensitivityresponsewhichmaydevelopasa resultofexposuretoanimalal ler 20%ofpeople whowork withlaboratory animal s experiencesomeal lergi c symptoms duetocontactwith, orinhalationof,animalal aretypicallyrh ini tis(r unny orstuffynose),conjunctiviti s(watery orprickly eyes)

4 And 10%ofallthosewho workwithlabor atoryanimals develop theserioussymptoms mai n,but notth eonly,sourcesofanimalal ler gens areurine,fur, hai r,dander, saliva,droppingsand serum. The majorityofcasesofal lergi c diseaseamong labor atoryanimalworkers arecausedby ratsand mice,probablybecauseth eseareth e animal s mostcommonlyusedinexperimentalwor ,cats,insectsand shellfi shcanal socauserespiratoryandskinal lergi esin somein div idual formationaboutth e mechanismsunderlyi ngth e developmentofasth macanbefound inSt andards of care for occup ati on al asth of heal th and safetyinani mal faci li ti es6 The COSHHR egulationsrequireemployerstopreventor.

5 If this is notreasonably practicable,adequately controlexposureof empl oyeestohazardous substances,includin g animal al d be achievedbyassessin g th e risk,pr ovidingsuitable cont rolmeasures,and monito ringto ensurethat thecontr olmeasuresremainef fecti veand arecorrectly includesafeworkingpractices,roomventil ation systems,localexhaust ventilation (LEV),personalpr ot ectiveequip ment (P PE)andrespiratoryprotectiveequipment(RPE ). Information, instructionandtrainingshouldalsobepr ovidedtothoseworking inanimal facilit toensurethattheday-to-daymanagersofanani mal facili tyhavesuffi cientcompetenceandaut horitytoensurecont rolmeasuresarepr oper importa ntinsomeeducat io nal establishmentswher e, fo r example,a seniortechnicianmay beincharge of facilit ie s usedbysenior red fa cilitie s and visi to rs8 Employersalsohavea duty , sofarasisreasonablypracticable.

6 Toprevent oradequatel ycontrolexposuretohazardoussubstancesinr espectofeveryone cludes employeesbutalso in cludesst udents,te mporaryst aff employedbyagencies,contr acto rsandothervisitor outdutiesunder theCOSHHR egula tio 19 TheManagementRegulationsal sorequireemployer s whosharea workplaceto co-operateandco-ordi natesofarasisnecessary, animalfaciliti esareusedbydifferentdepartmentsofth e same org anisatio n,orbytwoormoreseparate empl yerswillth ereforeneedtoco-operatetoensureth atany systemsofworkorsafeworking practicesarefollowedbyeveryoneusi ng th e ty repr esen ta ti ves11 The Safety Representativesand SafetyCommitt eesRegulatio ns1977 gi verecognisedtradeunionstheri ght toappoin t safetyrepresentativestorepresent th e employees, in consultationwithth ei rempl oyer, about healthandsafety dutytoconsul t safety representatives,ingoodti me,ona rangeof matters.

7 Includin g thein troductionofanymeasurethatmaysubstanti al ly affectthe healthandsafetyof th e empl Health and Safety(ConsultationwithEmplo yees)Regulations 1996pl acesimilardutiesonempl oyerstoconsult withemployeeswhoarenotrepresentedbytrade shouldbe withei th erth e employeesorth eirel ected representativeofempl oyeesafety .13 Morein formationcanbefound sm ent14 COSHH requiresemployersto carryout anassessment oftheri skstothehealthofemplo yeeswhichmaybecausedby hazardous substancespresent in th e carryout a suitable and sufficient assessmentwhereverexposureto animalal lergens is likely of10 pagesGuidance NoteEH76He alth and SafetyExec ut iveDutyofemployerunderCOSHHF ortheprotectionofemployeesFortheprotecti onofotherpeopleonthepremisesRis k assessment(regulation6)

8 YesSo farasis reasonably practicablePreventionorcontrolof exposure(regulation 7)YesSo farasis reasonably practicableUse ofcontrol measuresand maintenance,examination and testingof controlmeasures(r egulations 8 and 9)YesSo farasis reasonably practicableMonitoringof exposure (regulation10)No, butmaybeappropriatetomonitoradequacyof controlsNoHealthsurveillance(regulation1 1)YesNoInformation,instructionandtrainin g etc(r egulation12)YesSo farasis reasonably practicable3 of10 pagesGuidance NoteEH76He alth an d SafetyExecutive15 Toassesstherisksto employees(andotherworkers and visitors),employerswil l havetoid entify: th e specifichazardspresent; al l pot entialsourcesofexposure; route s ofexposure; th ose peoplewhoarelikelytobeexposed; howlong they ar e exposedandhowoft en;and whichpar tsofthebody k activitieswhichrequi respecialattentionwhenassessing exposurein clude(innoparticularorder ): handlinganimals.

9 Transport in g animals; pr ocedures on animals; cage cl eaning; roomcl eanin g; di sposalofallergen-contamin atedwaste; changi ngfiltersonventil ation systems; and beexposedtoal lergensandwhoshouldbe considere d intheassessmentinclude: animal te chnicia ns; scienti fi c oracademicst affand vi sitors; st udent s; cl eani ng andmaintenancestaff (i ncludingcontr acto rs);and assessmentshouldin cludethesteps whichneed tobetakento pr event oradequately controlexposur e of workersto s willneed toselectthecorrect balanceandmixofcont rolmeasuresfo r consi der: th e need fo r animals,th e type ofanimal andnumber s required; th e use ofventilation systems includingsupplyandextr act systemsand,wherenecessary,LEVforcage cl eaning,fo r example; methods of containinganimalallergenswithinth eanimal fa cility.

10 Methods of animal husbandry,includingstockingdensiti es and choic e ofanimal bedding; appropria teanimalhandling and designofscienti fi c and technicalpr ocedures; ways of restrictingaccess to th e animal facility; useofappropria tePPE,includingRPE; maint enance, examinationand te stingofvent ila ti onsystems,LEVand RPE(in cluding face-fittesti ng whenappropriate); heal thsurveillanc