Institutional Biosafety Committee
Established by the Laboratory Director 09/02
The IBC has been charged by DOE with the planning and implementation of the campus Biosafety Program with a purpose to ensure the health and safety of all personnel working with biohazardous agents. The IBC makes certain that research conducted at the Institution is in compliance with the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules; DOE notice N450.14, The HHS publication Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. 4th edition (1999); 42 CFR Parts 72 and 73; and drafts campus biosafety policies and procedures, and reviews individual research proposals for biosafety concerns.
Purpose:
The IBC is a standing committee that makes recommendations to, and is charged by, the Laboratory to do the following, for work involving biological hazards:
- Oversee and manage the site-wide biosafety program;
- Review and recommend approval of proposals, plans, and programs that involve receipt, storage, use, and transfer of regulated biological agents and toxins in ANL facilities;
- Assess and confirm biosafety hazard control and containment levels required for non-BSL 1 level activities;
- Review and recommend for approval facilities for biological work, procedures for receipt, storage, use, and transfer of biological materials; and qualifications/training/expertise of personnel working with those biological materials;
- Ensure compliance with all applicable international, federal, state, and local regulations; and
- Evaluate adequacy of relevant aspects of ANL plans for security, safeguards, and emergency management.
P.I. Responsibilities:
The IBC would like to remind all Principal Investigators of the responsibilities of personnel engaged in activities using recombinant DNA (rDNA) and/or biologically hazardous materials that pose a potential risk to the health of humans or animals, either directly through infection or indirectly through damage to the environment.
P.I.s are responsible for the following:
1) Determining whether or not activities under their direction involve rDNA or biohazardous agents.
2) Registering the activity with and/or seeking approval from the IBC prior to initiation of said activity.
3) Complying with federal and institutional guidelines for safe handling of biohazardous materials.
4) Informing personnel of risk potential and providing them with adequate training to minimize their exposure.
Please note that if you are performing this type of work without IBC approval, you are out of compliance with current DOE and NIH regulations, and have placed the institution in that position as well.
It is important that P.I.s conducting this type of research submit rDNA and Biohazard applications for review by the IBC as soon as possible to ensure that the review process does not impede research activities. Applications are available through the IBC web site under Submit a Protocol Review. The committee usually meets once a month to review new applications and discuss biosafety issues relevant to Argonne National Laboratory. Note that an application form will not be reviewed by the committee until a SIGNED form is submitted to the biosafety office (building 202 room L122).
Please view NIH Guidelines for more information regarding rDNA guidelines.
Thank you in advance for your assistance in ensuring Argonne's compliance with current regulations and guidelines.
Diane J. Rodi, PhD
Chair, Institutional Biosafety Committee
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