The Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) and Office of Research Facilities (ORF) Portfolio Assessment Reporting Branch have collaborated to establish a new safety tool designed to track active research spaces within the NIH intramural program. The Active Research Tool (ART) is a FIMS-based (Facility Information Management System) component that is capable of overlaying custom safety information onto current floor plans for quick reference. It is anticipated ART will sharpen the scope of active research space at NIH and support hazard communication.
Hazard communication is an important component of laboratory safety. The potential risks and requirements associated with laboratory spaces must be communicated. For example, a biosafety sign posted on a lab door clearly communicates that biological research is conducted inside the space and precautions must be followed for entry.
At other times, it can be unclear if an area is considered an active research space. For example, it is quite common for laboratories to engage in temporary annual shutdowns for routine maintenance. When a safety clearance sign is posted, it indicates no research activities are permitted in the lab while it is shut down. It does not preclude the possibility that biological materials may still be present. When labs are temporarily shut down, are they still active research spaces?
“To the best of my knowledge, the term 'Active Research' has never been formally defined within the biosafety community. With ART, we characterized 'active research' as any space where biological research may be performed or where biological materials may be present," said Adam Clarkson. “A suite could have a safety clearance sticker on the door, but if there are biological materials present such as in a locked freezer, then it will be monitored as an active research space."
ART will support hazard communication by clearly identifying active research spaces. Project officers and safety professionals will be able to characterize active research spaces based on color status found on floor plans. The biocontainment level, primary point-of-contact, posting dates and history of the room will be available to review.
It is anticipated ART will have additional uses. For example, it will be used to identify previously unregistered spaces, freezer storage areas, dark rooms and cold rooms. As a result, such areas can be more fully assessed and continuously monitored. Institutional knowledge of active research space will grow.
Another useful feature of the new tool will be its data analytics capability. Users will eventually have the ability to determine how much of a floor, building or campus is considered active research space based on square footage. Utilizing active research square footage as the numerator over total square footage will help discover trends and inform management decisions.
As with biomedical research, data quality matters when it comes to ART. DOHS staff are in the early planning stages of carefully collecting and entering data. While this will take time, it is anticipated it will be well worth the effort. Once ART is fully deployed, it will be a novel biosafety tool facilitating the safe oversight of biomedical research across NIH.
