IACUC Training Documentation Requirements

As of January 1, the IACUC Compliance Team has begun to ask for documentation of procedure-specific training for individuals on protocols.  The team has prepared faculty over the past year for this requirement, which is based on regulation. Information about the requirement that was communicated over the past year is outlined below, along with a link to templates that may be used for this documentation.

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PIs are now required to maintain records of the training of their laboratory staff in lieu of having to list each staff member’s training information on every Animal Care and Use Protocol submitted.  If you are listed as the PI on an IACUC protocol, your signature or x500 submission attests that you will “be responsible for the supervision, training, documentation of training, and work of staff listed on this protocol.”  So, the main change is that the IACUC Compliance Specialists will ask to see the training records during  inspections.

PIs can maintain these records however they see fit.  Templates have been posted that PIs can choose to use if they find them useful. These templates are in unprotected ‘Word’ document format to allow PIs to modify them for their purposes.  The templates can be found at the bottom of the ‘Training and Certification’ page under ‘Staff Training Records’ on the IACUC website.

A common question is how to describe the expertise and training of long-term employees and others who likely have years of experience in a variety of techniques.  One possible example is: “John Doe has 25 years of experience doing X and is qualified to train others to perform this procedure.”

If PIs have not already done so, they should establish records to document training in animal procedures currently used by their staff and be prepared to show these documents to compliance staff during inspections.