BRF Update - August 2020
New database implementation – Mosaic
As of 3pm yesterday our old animal database, Genotrack, was disconnected – if you were in the middle of making any changes please note these will not be coming across to the new system and will need to be updated in Mosaic. For the rest of this week we will be operating based off paper records, with the new database Mosaic scheduled to become available/online as of Monday. The BRF will be focused this week and next on the work involved in this transition as well as updating records and trouble-shooting any issues that may occur.
Researcher access – The expectation long term is that anyone working with animals in the BRF will be required to update records in real time in the new system – so recording euthanised animals, movement into new cages or rooms etc. will all need to be done by the relevant researchers when they work in the animal room. However, until we are able to provide researcher training to enable them to work in Mosaic, this expectation will not apply. We have been working to set up processes that will allow work to continue relatively uninterrupted until we are able to provide training in the new database to all researchers. The main changes that will occur for now is that researchers will not be able to access the old database (Genotrack) and the cage card format will change with stickers generated by Mosaic being placed onto the cage cards instead. Otherwise please continue to the same forms provided/write on cage cards etc. for various requests.
Colony management – The BRF staff will be able to generate reports/animal lists from Mosaic to any researchers requesting them, we know this will be necessary for ongoing colony management.
Details on the format and time/dates of researcher training will be coming soon, anticipated to be in 2-3 weeks as number of details are still in development and we need to ensure this is suitable for the hundreds of labs supported by UQBR. Completion of training will be required prior to researchers being able to access Mosaic.
Delays in responses to enquiries/services
As the database project is currently taking up a significant amount of time and labour, this means that there are unavoidable delays in our responses to enquiries and for some of our services – we will endeavour to respond as soon as possible and apologise for this inconvenience.
No sipper rack in 1077
We have had ongoing problems whereby the removal of sippers from racks on the automated watering system (and people forgetting to put them back) for the purposes of special bottled water treatments means that cages are accidentally being placed in spaces on the rack with no sippers (example picture attached). This has resulted in significant animal welfare risks (happening on sometimes a weekly basis) where animals are being left without water for extended periods (e.g. overnight) until detected by the daily BRF checks. This results in dehydration in the animals and if missed for too long – possible death.
To combat this, we have set up a ‘no sipper rack’ in 1077 (picture attached) which will be dedicated for cages in 1077 that must NOT be on automated watering – all of these cages must have bottles. Sippers will not be permitted to be removed from any other racks without prior arrangement with the BRF. The labs who currently have special water bottles and no sipper cages set up will be contacted to notify them that these cages will be moved to the ‘no sipper rack’ and sippers will be placed throughout all other racks in 1077.
Transferring cages into the containment suite (1074) for cytotoxic/infectious work
If you move cages from a standard holding room into the containment suite, you must ensure the cage bases are changed to have no hole for the automated watering sippers, and that you email [email protected] so that the relevant records can be updated.
Masks and social distancing in the BRF
This is a reminder that social distancing requirements still apply in the BRF as per the current TRI policy – this must be adhered to whenever possible. I have attached the latest TRI WHS bulletin which has details on how to manage training and social distancing. If social distancing must be breached for work purposes, it is not mandatory to wear a mask at this time but this should be minimised as much as possible.
If your work involves any safety hazards that normally require a P2 mask e.g. exposure to infectious/cytotoxic agents, or laboratory animal allergens (which occurs when cages are opened on a bench) then P2 mask requirements apply. Unfortunately as P2 masks are difficult to source at this time due to COVID-19, so the BRF is not able to supply these to researchers – labs need to supply their own.
In the hopefully unlikely scenario that a lab is unable to supply masks for their own work containing LAA/infectious/cytotoxic risks and it must go ahead, then the lab may consider revising the relevant risk assessments and having this approved by the relevant TRI/partner WHS team. Approved risk assessments for these situations are to be sent to the BRF team prior to the work starting.
As always – please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns at all. Even though this is a very busy time for us the ongoing feedback is really critical at a time of significant change.
