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Semi-Annual Facility Inspections

Both PHS Policy and the federal Animal Welfare Regulations require that the IACUC physically inspect all institutional animal facilities at least once every six months. While this regulatory requirement is the primary reason for conducting facility inspections, the semi-annual visits are also an excellent opportunity for IACUC members to reach out to campus researchers and observe first-hand the projects and activities they are conducting.

As described in our PHS Assurance and AAALAC Program Description, facility inspections are performed by subcommittees consisting of two voting members of the IACUC. The members of a given subcommittee/site visit team must not have any conflicts associated with the areas they will be inspecting; for example, members cannot inspect their own laboratories or the vivarium in which their animals are housed. While campus veterinarians are typically present on all vivarium inspections, they don't count as voting members for that visit - their presence is advisory only, since they have oversight responsibility for all vivarium locations.

Facility Inspections are scheduled for May and November of each year. Approximately one month prior to commencement of the inspections, the IACUC Administrator will email all IACUC members asking for their availability during a subsequent three to four week period. There are several ways for IACUC members to communicate their availability:

The more options you can provide, the easier it is to put together the site visit teams and schedule the inspections. Each IACUC member will be scheduled for one or two inspections, and most last for two to three hours. Full participation of all members is vital in order to limit the number of inspections each committee member must perform.

Once all committee members have responded, the IACUC Administrator plots the members' availability on a spreadsheet. Members who haven't previously responded are contacted to try and fill in the empty spaces. Once the schedule is set, a confirmation and a copy of the full schedule is distributed to all IACUC members and an announcement is made to campus researchers via ZotMail about the upcoming inspections. See a sample zotmail announcement here:

How to Conduct a Facility Inspection

The conduct of a facility inspection varies slightly with the location being visited. In general, however, all locations where live animals are housed, transported, maintained, bred or used in surgical and non-surgical procedures are inspected for conformance to the specifications of The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. A summary of these guidelines has been prepared for use in both laboratory and vivarium inspections:

Laboratory inspections are an excellent opportunity to conduct informal post-approval monitoring or research activities, review procedures, make recommendations and occasionally hear investigator concerns.

Deficiencies and concerns observed during laboratory and vivarium inspections are noted by the IACUC Administrator during the inspection. A follow up memo or email is sent to the responsible party (e.g., Lead Researcher, laboratory manager, Campus Veterinarian and/or vivarium management staff) as soon after the inspection as possible, with a detailed description of the deficiency and a recommended plan and timetable for correction.

Once all Facility Inspections are completed, findings are compiled and a report is prepared for review by the IACUC at a convened meeting. Following approval by the IACUC, it is forwarded to the Vice Chancellor for Research and a copy is retained in the Office of Research Administration.

Adapted from: OLAW/ARENA Institutional Animal Care and Use Guidebook, 2002