IACUC
Health and Safety Program

In order to provide a safe and productive working environment for all faculty, staff, students and volunteers, the university provides the following Research Occupational Health Program managed by the URI Health Services, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and Environmental Health, and Safety (EHS). This program is required for all individuals working within URI animal facilities who are involved in the direct care of vertebrate animals, and individuals having direct contact with animals, including:

  • Full time, part time, and temporary personnel involved in animal care in URI Animal Facilities that house animals for research and teaching.
  • Research investigators and their technical/research staff (includes post-docs, graduate students and some undergraduate students).
  • Instructors involved with animal work.
  • Other URI personnel who may reasonably be expected to come in contact with vertebrate animals.
  • Collaborators, contract service providers and others allowed unaccompanied/unsupervised access to URI Animal Facilities that house animals for research and teaching.

Individuals having direct contact with animals are required to:

  • Enroll in the Research Occupational Health Program, which evaluates each individual’s animal exposure based on the frequency and duration of contact with animals, intensity of exposure, hazards associated with the animals to be handled, hazardous properties of agents used in the research, susceptibility of individual employees, hazard-control measures available, and occupational history of individual faculty, staff, and students. For more information, visit the Research Occupational Health Program.
  • Complete training. All faculty, staff and students working with animals in research and teaching environments are required to complete CITI species-specific modules which contain health and safety information for working with the specific species. Additional EHS training courses may be required based on your position and duties. For more information, visit Animal Care and Use Training.