Promote and maintain the health and welfare of animals in a Home Office designated establishment

This standard covers promoting and maintaining the health and welfare of animals in a Home Office designated establishment, including minimising stress and the potential for injury.

When working with research animals recognise humanity’s obligation to them and your responsibility for ensuring their proper care and treatment at all times.

It includes monitoring the physical condition and behaviour of the animals you work with, implementing measures to promote health and welfare and reporting any concerns or unexpected changes.

You must be able to recognise signs of a healthy animal, including normal variations, and signs of poor health or deviation from the animals’ normal state of health and wellbeing. This may be in the context of animals undergoing scientific procedures, where expected deviations must be recognised and monitored.

Your obligations under current legislation must be known and understood and where there is concern that an animal is suffering, the required action must be taken.

Where animals are undergoing scientific procedures, obligations to the personal licensee and reporting mechanisms for unexpected health concerns must be known. The Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS), Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer (NACWO) or other named person may need to be consulted.

This standard is for animal technologists in Home Office designated establishments.

It is essential that you work strictly within the limits of the relevant project licence.

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1. confirm that your work is carried out in accordance with the approved codes of practice and the organisation’s procedures and within the limits of your authority, expertise, training, competence and experience
2. carry out all work in accordance with the relevant environmental and health and safety legislation, risk assessment requirements, codes of practice and the organisation’s policies
3. assess the risks to health and safety before starting and throughout the activity
4. comply with legislation, codes of practice and the organisation’s policies relating to the care and welfare of animals in a Home Office designated establishment
5. use safe practices and the correct clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the activity
6. maintain the required levels of hygiene and biosecurity in accordance with the organisation’s procedures
7. maintain communication with colleagues and all those involved in, or affected by, your work
8. treat animals in a manner that complies with the relevant legislation, minimises any likelihood of distress and injury and maintains the animals’ health and wellbeing, taking account of any specialist requirements
9. use safe and humane animal handling and restraint methods such that the animal is not distressed or caused harm
10. monitor the physical and behavioural condition of the animals you are working with in order to maintain their health and welfare
11. collect and analyse data and information to provide animals with the care they need to maintain their health and welfare
12. monitor the environmental conditions of the animals and make adjustments if necessary
13. check that animals are provided with the required feed and water, monitor their intake and report any concerns
14. provide animals with the opportunity to exercise, where appropriate, in order to maintain their health and welfare
15. provide animals with the relevant enrichment, where appropriate, in order to maintain their health and welfare
16. provide animals with suitable social interaction opportunities or training where appropriate, in order to maintain their health and welfare
17. recognise and report any signs of ill health, distress and pain in accordance with the organisation’s procedures
18. immediately summon assistance for any animal health emergency, and take the required action in accordance with the organisation’s procedures
19. implement specific measures to minimise ill health, pain, suffering or distress correctly and safely, in accordance with the organisation’s procedures
20. recognise humane end points and take the required action
21. deal with waste from the activity safely and correctly, in accordance with the relevant legislation and the organisation’s procedures
22. keep accurate and up-to-date records as required by the relevant legislation and the organisation
23. conduct all activities within the provision of the project licence

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1. your responsibility under the relevant environmental and health and safety legislation, codes of practice and the organisation’s policies
2. your responsibilities for the care and welfare of animals in a Home Office designated establishment under the relevant animal welfare legislation and Home Office codes of practice
3. the reasons for using animals in scientific research and humanity’s responsibilities to them
4. the importance and correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when carrying out activities in a Home Office designated establishment
5. the importance of maintaining the appropriate levels of hygiene and biosecurity and the procedures for this
6. the animal husbandry and animal management systems and the workplace quality standards used in your organisation for maintaining the health and welfare of animals
7. how to promote the health and wellbeing of the animals you work with, how to minimise the likelihood of any distress and injury and the events that can cause these
8. safe and humane methods of animal handling and restraint
9. the purpose for which the animals are being kept and how this may affect their husbandry
10. how genetically altered (GA) animals can be used for scientific research and the importance of monitoring such animals very carefully
11. the contra-indications of medicines for research animals
12. how to assess the health and welfare needs of the animals you work with and how these can be maintained
13. the appearance, posture and movement, behaviour and bodily functioning of healthy animals
14. the anatomy and physiology relevant to the welfare and husbandry of the animals you work with
15. the signs which indicate ill health, distress and pain and the actions that should be taken
16. the types of problems that may occur, their potential risks and the procedure for reporting concerns
17. the data and information that can be collected and analysed to provide animals with the care they need to maintain their health and welfare
18. the types of preventative care required for maintaining the health and wellbeing of animals
19. the housing requirements for the animals you work with
20. the feed and water requirements for the animals you work with and how these should be provided
21. how the environmental conditions may be adjusted to meet the health and welfare requirements of the animals you work with and why this is important
22. when animals need exercise, enrichment, social interaction or training and how this can be provided and why it is important
23. how animals maintain their own physical condition and appearance
24. the effects that poor health and welfare can have on an animal and the impact this can have on results
25. the measures that can be used to manage ill health, pain, suffering and distress, including the use of analgesics, anaesthetics and aseptic techniques
26. humane end points, how they are set, how to recognise when they have been reached and the action required
27. the impact of compromising phenotypes and the end points pertaining to these
28. how to recognise a health emergency in an animal and the action to take
29. the correct procedures for reporting concerns
30. the legal and organisational requirements for the handling, storage and disposal of waste produced by the activity
31. the information that needs to be recorded and the organisation’s procedures for this
32. the provisions of the project licence

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3

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2030

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Current

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Original

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Lantra

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LANAT25

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Animal Facility Manager, Licensed Animal Technologist, Team Leader, Senior Animal Technologist

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6129

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animal; research; health; welfare; biosecurity; scientific

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