All facility staff, students, facility managers, and principle investigators who use animals in research, teaching, or provide daily animal care at the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØ (UCB) must keep up-to-date records of how and when personnel are trained. This includes documenting the qualifications of Teaching Assistants for classes that use animals, Principle Investigators and lab personnel that have active animal protocols, and all animal facility staff.

Our Animal Welfare Assurance with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare indicates that all Principle Investigators will ensure that training documentation is accurate and available to the IACUC Office. This will allow the IACUC to verify that everyone is properly trained, or that there is a plan in place to train inexperienced individuals.

General Required Information for Training Documentation (applies to both methods)

  1. List the animal procedures on which the training is taking place and indicate whether someone is in-training or proficient. Someone who is ‘proficient’ should demonstrate satisfactory performance of the task.
  2. The date when a person is proficient in each procedure or the years of experience if this date is not known.
  3. Description of information provided during the training (e.g. procedure trained on).
  4. The name of the trainer if the training took place at UCB.
  5. Additionally, indicate if the person has enrolled in the occupational health program and taken other relevant training such as the IACUC CITI training, AALAS training, etc.

These documents should be modified when personnel become proficient in a procedure, take additional courses/trainings and/or when a new species is added to an active protocol. Personnel must have training in the responsibilities for all of the species on the protocol.Ìý

Option 1: Individual Training Qualification Document

  • How to keep this form:
    The form we use is a compilation of the best aspects of forms for this purpose from other institutions. Each individual in your lab, whether they have been working for 15 years with animals or are new to animal research (no experience) will have a copy of this form with their name on it. It should be updated as often as necessary to reflect training proficiency. The procedures listed on this form should be specific to your lab and the protocols the individual will be working on.
  • Who should keep this form:
    Facility managers should use this Individual training qualification document. Labs with laboratory personnel who are doing the daily animal care instead of animal care staff (e.g. labs that run satellite facilities) should use this form. Additionally, any other labs that would like to use this method may do so.
  • When to submit the form to the IACUC: Ìý
    When you submit a new protocol or submit an amendment to add personnel to an existing active protocol, add the names of individuals and the responsibilities they will perform on that protocol in the physical protocol form. In addition, attach all of the training documentation for all individuals on that protocol using the attachment paperclip icon.Ìý
  • Semi-annual inspection:
    At each semi-annual inspection at the very least, you will be required to print a list of names of personnel working in your lab. You do not need to print all of these individual forms.

Option 2: Lab Training Qualification Excel Spreadsheet

  • How to keep this form:
    See attached for an example of this (it is based on the form used to get enrolled in Occupational Health). An excel spreadsheet can serve as a training document for an entire lab. Other formats can be used provided the required information is included.
  • Who should keep this form:
    Principal investigators with large labs may prefer this method for keeping track of personnel training.
  • When to submit the form to the IACUC: Ìý
    When you submit a new protocol or submit an amendment to add personnel to an existing active protocol, add the names of individuals and the responsibilities they will perform on that protocol in the physical protocol form. In addition, attach all of the training documentation for all individuals on that protocol using the attachment paperclip icon.Ìý
  • How the IACUC will verify training documentation:
    At each semi-annual inspection at the very least, you will be required to print and hand over a simple list of active personnel in your lab. No need to print out the excel spreadsheet, as formatting it will be difficult.