Compulsory Training

The OGTR Guidelines for Certification of PC2 facilities state that personnel undertaking dealings with GMOs in a certified PC2 facility must be trained in the Behavioural Requirements for the facility and that a signed and dated record of that training must be kept by the certification holder.

Training in Biological Safety and Gene Technology Practices is compulsory at The Australian National University for both supervisors and personnel working on the proposed dealing.

Dealings Not Involving Release (DNIRs) have further requirements. In addition to Biological Safety and Gene Technology Practices, all personnel intending to work on a DNIR must be informed of the licence conditions issued by the OGTR. There must be a signed statement that they have read and understood the licence conditions and agree to remain compliant with them before they begin work on the DNIR. This statement of 'read and understood' conditions should be kept in the facility manual.

Additional training specific to the DNIR may also be required and should be documented in the facility manual. This could include training in specific techniques, such as injecting mice.

The requirement to inform personnel of the licence conditions applies to every facility listed in the DNIR and to all persons in those facilities who may come into contact with GMOs covered by the licence. This includes staff who might be considered only indirectly involved with the DNIR such as plant culture staff, animal care/cage changing staff, and autoclave technicians.

The requirement to inform personnel also applies to Storage Only DNIRs. All personnel responsible for managing stocks of DNIR GMOs must be informed of the licence conditions and sign the statement of 'read and understood' conditions.

If a variation to a Licenced Dealing is issued by the OGTR, all personnel working on the dealing must be informed of the variation. A new statement of 'read and understood licence conditions' must be signed as soon as the variation is granted.

Undergraduate (non-Honours) students, who undertake work under constant supervision, are not required to complete the Biological Safety Course or Gene Technology Practices course, however they and their supervisors must sign a declaration stating that they have read, understood and agree to compliance with the behavioural requirements for Physical Containment 2 (PC2) facilities. The behavioural requirements are outlined in the one-page training document which is available via a link located in the box on the right hand side of this page.  Copies of the signed one-page training document must be kept by the supervisor and a record of training completion must be maintained in a training register in the PC2 facility manual for each certified facility.