Occupational Health and Safety

First confirm with your supervisor (this could be your Principal Investigator (PI), Faculty Advisor, or Supervisor) that you need to complete the evaluation for an active IACUC protocol by reviewing the requirements listed above. 

You must cc your PI/Faculty Advisor/Supervisor on the email to researchintegrity@wwu.edu requesting paperwork to so ACAUP staff know you have confirmed with them that you need to complete the medical evaluation. 

Please do not submit medical evaluation requests for projects/protocols that have not been reviewed and approved by the IACUC. 

Students who participate in animal research, instruction and/or work affiliated with WWU must complete this medical evaluation form every three years that student has direct, physical contact with live vertebrate animals totaling 24 hours or more per year.*

Exception: Students having direct, physical contact with live vertebrate animals** in only one quarter-long course do not need to complete this form.  Contact in an instructional setting of one-quarter duration is considered too short to create a significant exposure.

*The total hours include time spent on field research approved by the WWU Animal Care and Use Program. The term “year” is intended to refer to a consecutive 365-day period.

**The term “vertebrate animals” does not include humans

The purpose of this evaluation is to identify and reduce your risks of exposure, illness, and developing allergies to mammalian laboratory animals and to help prevent exacerbation of any existing allergies. Other non-mammalian lab animals, whether acquired for lab or field research may also pose significant health risk to certain individuals.  With the information you provide on this form, an occupational medical health professional will assess your risk for allergies/ potential exposures and inform you of the proper protective equipment required for your work with live vertebrates.

Individuals who have frequent, direct physical contact with live vertebrate animals over an extended time period are at increased risk for potential exposure to infectious agents and developing or exacerbating allergies related to laboratory animals.  If you have direct, frequent contact with live vertebrate animals as described above, your exposure may be significant.

Allergies to Animals: Individuals at increased risk include those with: a history of allergies or hay fever, allergies to domestic animals such as cats or dogs, a history of working with animals or animal products, and/or exposure to tobacco smoke. 

Symptoms of allergic reactions may occur alone or in combination.  Respiratory symptoms may include nose, eye and throat irritation, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and/or shortness of breath.  Skin irritation symptoms may include itch, red rash and/or hives.

A rare but severe reaction from sensitization is anaphylactic shock.  This includes a sudden difficulty breathing or swallowing. It is urgent to get medical aid immediately if these symptoms appear.

Allergies generally progress over time.  Even if allergic symptoms are not experienced when exposure to animals first begins, symptoms may develop over time.  Repeated exposure to allergens may result in sensitization, which may occur after a few months or as long as ten years.  Sensitization can cause symptoms to begin or to become increasingly severe.

If you experience any of the symptoms listed above or have concerns related to possible animal exposure in the workplace, inform your Supervisor or Principal Investigator. If you develop laboratory animal allergies, you may require a NIOSH-approved respirator to continue to be able to work safely with animals.  The respirator must be fit-tested to each individual after successful medical evaluation. “Comfort” or surgical facemasks do not adequately filter animal fur and dander and may not be used to protect against respiratory allergies.

Zoonoses: Zoonoses are infectious agents that can be passed from a live vertebrate animal to a human.  Wild caught animals have a higher risk of passing zoonoses to individuals that handle them.  Modern laboratory animal breeding and production has greatly improved the microbiologic quality of research animals, but some animals are naturally infected with viruses or bacteria that may cause severe disease in people.  Protection of research and animal care staff requires strict adherence to standard work practices and protective clothing requirements, prompt reporting of all animal-related injuries, compliance with OSHA and the mandatory occupational health processes which may include allergy testing and, when appropriate, vaccination. 

Protocol-related Risk:  If your research requires creating transgenic animals or introducing infectious agents, experimental pathogens, recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids, human /non-human primate blood, cell lines, or tissues into animals, your activities must be approved both by the ACUC (Animal Care & Use Committee) and the IBC (Institutional Biosafety Committee). 

Other hazardous material use including toxic or radioactive materials will be reviewed by the appropriate ACUC safety reviewers.

Login to your MyWesternHealth account and select the "Animal Allergen Clearance" appointment. You will then be prompted to indicate that the appointment is for "ACAUP/IACUC Animal Allergen Clearance."

Bring the completed medical evaluation form to your appointment. Your provider will review the form and ask you follow up questions before issuing their clearance recommendation. 

Reminder! Ask your provider for a copy of their exam/appointment notes that will include their clearance recommendation(s). You can also download a copy of the provider's exam note via your MyWesternHealth account. You will need to submit the provider's clearance recommendation to ACAUP staff.

The information in each completed form is evaluated by a WWU health care professional to make the following determination:

• An individual may work with or near vertebrate animals;
• An individual requires a consultation with a health care professional or Environmental Health and Safety staff prior to working with or near vertebrate animals; or
• An individual may not work with or near vertebrate animals, generally due to significant health consequences.

The medical evaluation forms remain part of protected medical information stored on a secure WWU server maintained by ACAUP staff. Your information will be retained for three years and then destroyed.

Students affiliated with WWU that meet the animal contact criteria identified above must complete the following medical evaluation and submit this form every three years. 

Yes. To maintain your confidentiality, your supervisor, faculty mentor and PI should not look at or review your answers. 

ACAUP will securely store the completed clearance paperwork for three years after which time the record will be destroyed.

See step 5 of How to Complete Medical Evaluation (Students only).