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The NIH Office of Science Policy has announced that October 2015 is National Biosafety Stewardship Month – see the attached letter from NIH Associate Director for Science Policy Carrie Wolinetz. During the month of October, institutions are encouraged to focus on sustaining and enhancing a culture of safety and responsibility in life science research laboratories.

UCLA researchers are strongly encouraged to participate in National Biosafety Stewardship Month by:

  1. Conducting inventories of their infectious agents and of communal spaces within buildings. Principal Investigators should have received a link to an online Biosafety & Biosecurity inventory and survey. The inventory and associated survey must be completed by December 31, 2015. Please contact biosafety@ehs.ucla.edu for more information.
  2. Reviewing and updating laboratory SOPs.
  3. Ensuring all materials, even within communal storage spaces, are well-labeled.
  4. Updating Biological Use Authorizations (IBC protocols) to reflect all infectious agents and all use and storage locations. This can be done through the new online IBC submission system, SafetyNet.
  5. Reviewing the training of all laboratory members and ensuring correct documentation, including EH&S and laboratory-specific training.

Please refer to the aforementioned memo from the NIH Office of Science Policy, as well as the FAQ sheet (http://www.nih.gov/science/biosafety.htm) issued by the NIH for additional information. Please contact oibc@research.ucla.edu if you have any questions.