Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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Biosafety Risk Control Strategies in Laboratory Animal Research

  • Shun-tai Weng (Fujian Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research)) ;
  • Qu-wen Li (Fujian Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research)) ;
  • Ya-dong Gao (Fujian Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research)) ;
  • Yu-feng Qiu (Fujian Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research))
  • Received : 2023.05.31
  • Accepted : 2023.11.08
  • Published : 2024.03.30
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Abstract

To understand biosafety's current situation in laboratory animal research and risk factors affecting occupational health. Compliance surveys were conducted by questionnaire via Questionnaire Star (an application app on the Internet) in Chinese. Thirty-nine anonymous questionnaires were collected. The surveyed institution has established 24 types of ABSL (Animal Biosafety Laboratory) and biosafety management organizations and systems equipped with safety equipment. Our study also suggests that the principal of the laboratory establishment fails to perform supervision and inspection responsibilities, the inappropriate design of the animal biosafety laboratory, non-standardized personnel training and health management, non-strict waste management, and insufficient emergency management. The administrative department and work units should address certain safety and occupational health risks in laboratory animal research. The author proposes control strategies based on organizational guarantee, personnel management, emergency management, etc., to help prevent risks and ensure occupational health. Due to regional limitations and small sample size, the results may not be generalisable to all parts of the world. However, some of the key common issuesmay also be present in other regions, sowe believe that this research still has some relevance.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We thank Zhi-kun Lin of Fuzhou Zhaofenghua Biotechnology Co., Ltd for providing vital support and guidance. The language editing received great help from Mr. Wen-zheng Yu, MS in Marketing Analytics at Illinois Institute of Technology.

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