ABSTRACT
Performing husbandry for animals exposed to potential hazards presents many unique challenges to creating and maintaining a safe work environment. Managing an animal facility, and the husbandry staff therein, when hazards are present requires an in-depth knowledge of the principles of biosafety and how they are applied to the provision of husbandry that also results in the highest level of welfare attainable for each species for which care is provided. The primary guidance on the safe handling and containment of biological hazards in the United States is jointly published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. There are two primary concerns when considering the design and construction of an animal facility being built with the intended purpose of working with any experimental hazard. The first is the safety of the people, and the second is the protection of the surrounding environment.
