Status and Details

This page contains information about the status, approval and a summary of the changes from the previous version of the document. Please note that the Unit Head listed on this page is the current owner of this policy and may not reflect the University position/staff member who owned this policy at the time of publication.

Biological and Gene Technology Work Safety Policy

Show Field Notes

Status	Historic	Indicates if this version of the document is in effect (Current), yet to come into effect (Future), or expired (Historic).
Effective Date	16th June 2016	This is the date on which this version of the document came into effect.
Review Date	16th February 2019	The next review of this document is scheduled to commence on this date.
Approval Authority	Vice-Chancellor and President	The noted authority approved this is version of the document.
Approval Date	10th June 2016	This is the date on which this version of the document was approved by the authorised authority.
Expiry Date	19th October 2023	This is the date on which this version expires. It may still apply, conditionally, after this date.
Unit Head	Deborah Sweeney Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Research, Enterprise and International 96787417	This is the officer generally responsible for day to day administrative matters.
Enquiries Contact	David Cheng Ethics Officer (Animal, Biosafety and Radiation) 47360884	General enquiries should be directed to the officer/area listed.

Summary of Changes from Previous Version

24 August 2022 – System Administrator Fix – processed updates to the associated information and links in relation to Federal Government Departments title changes: ‘Department of Health’ changed to ‘Department of Health and Aged Care’.

5 May 2021 – System Administrator Fix – update the placeholder for the Biosafety and Radiation Safety Committee from the expired Division-based record to the Committee-based record.

2 April 2019 – Preliminary review completed – minor amendments underway.

This policy has been revised and updated in line with relevant legislative requirements. Definitions have been revised. Requirements of the University's Biosafety and Radiation Safety Committee (BRSC) have been included. Clauses covered by other University Policies and Procedures have been removed. Cl (1) further clarifies different categories of high-risk biological agents and refers to relevant legislation controlling safety and security when working with certain biological agents. In Cl (1), reference to Quarantine legislation has been replaced by Biosecurity (the Biosecurity Act commences on 16 June 2016 and replaces the Quarantine Act 1908). Cl (2) has been simplified. The additional Cl (3) explains the obligation for the University to have an Institutional Biosafety Committee (the BRSC) under the Gene Technology Act. Cl (4) has been added to describe the other University Policies and Procedures that are relevant to this Policy. Section 2 has some additional definitions, some have been deleted, and others have been clarified. Section 3 - Policy Statement now includes specific requirements of the BRSC in Cl (7). References to SOPs in Section 4 have been removed as they were considered to be too detailed for a Policy. SOPs are now referred to in Cl (7). Old Cl (13) - (16) have been removed as these responsibilities are stated in the University's Work Health and Safety Policy. Old Cl (17) - (21) have been removed as they are considered too detailed for a Policy; they are referred to generally in new Cl (7) and are included in the requirements of the BRSC. Cl (9) refers to the Laboratory Safety Guidelines.

Clauses Amended

Policy: 7

Procedure: 8

Guidelines: 9