Summary

The Senior Environmental and Laboratory Safety Associate (Assistant Biosafety Officer) supports the duties of the Biosafety Officer, serves as the Alternate Official to BSL-3/3E’s CDC and USDA’s Federal Select Agent Program registration and is the Assistant BSL-3/3E Facility Director. The ABSO works with different BCM departments and external vendors/contractors for routine maintenance of BCM’s BSL‐3/3E facility, supervises the annual shutdown/decommissioning and participates in CDC/DOT inspections. In the absence of the Responsible Official, the ABSO is the primary contact for the CDC. The ABSO assists the research and clinical community at BCM with biosafety needs and activities. The ABSO serves on different BCM Standing Committees, including the Environmental Safety Committee (ESC), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Institutional Review Board (IRB), and reviews IBC, ESC and IACUC protocols and performs laboratory and facility inspections for laboratories working with biological agents and recombinant DNA. The ABSO assists the BSO in running the International Air Transport Association (IATA) training program and the Autoclave Surveillance and Tracking program. The ABSO also supervises interns and temporary hires the biological safety program brings in.

Job Duties

• Is the Institutional Alternate Responsible Official (ARO) and assists the RO in the maintenance of CDC and USDA’s Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP) registration for possession, use and transfer of biological select agents and toxins, which have the potential to pose a severe threat to public, animal, or plant health or to animal or plant products.
• Secondary contact for BCM’s Select Agent Registration with the FSAP.
• Assists RO with annual select agent facility’s verification, training and updating all documentation of Select Agent Registry.
• Secondary contact for all incidents/emergency response involving exposure to select agents at BCM.
• Assists RO with all regulatory requests from local, state, and federal agencies.
• Participates in CDC inspections related to biological safety at Baylor.
• Liaises with different BCM departments and external vendors/contractors for routine maintenance of BCM’s BSL‐3/3E facility to ensure safety of BCM researchers working with highly pathogenic biological agents.
• Assists the BSO with completing required annual commissioning of the facility, meeting the requirements from the CDC, FSAP and NIH.
• Secondary contact for all incidents/emergency response inside the BSL-3/3E facility.
• Assists BSO in training new researchers in the BSL-3/3E facility on entering/exiting procedures, donning/doffing personal protective equipment, standard operating procedures, spill response, incident response and security requirements.
• Serves on different BCM Standing Committees including Environmental Safety Committee (ESC), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Institutional Review Board (IRB).
• Reviews IBC, ESC and IACUC protocols and insuring compliance with NIH and CDC regulations and guidelines pertaining to the use, handling, and disposal of potentially biohazardous and rDNA materials.
• Works with PI’s to provide expertise on biosafety related issues when submitting protocols.
• Inspects BCM’s BSL-2 laboratories to ensure compliance with regulations, guidelines, and safety policies at BCM when working with potential biohazardous material and rDNA.
• Participates in BCM’s semi-annual IACUC animal facility inspections in accordance with AAALAC.
• Ensures that each laboratory has emergency plans for dealing with accidental spills and personnel contamination, and for investigating research laboratory accidents.
• Trains and tracts compliance with IATA shipping across BCM.
• Provides technical advice and evaluations of laboratory spaces for safe use of biological agents.
• Surveys autoclaves across campus to ensure compliance with institutional policies and state regulations.
• Assists BSO with Department of Transportation inspections dealing with the shipment of infectious materials.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• Four years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Security Sensitive: Must be able to pass an FBI fingerprinting and background check in accordance with the 42 CFR 73 Select Agent Regulations.
• Master’s degree in basic or applied sciences or a related field
• Experience in environmental health and safety in an academic setting. This includes experience in the following: Biological safety, Chemical safety, Radiation safety, Environmental protection, and/or occupational safety..
• Experience in biological safety with a strong understanding of laboratory procedures
• Preferred Certifications: Board Certification as a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP), Registered Biological Safety Professional (RBP), Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), Certified in Public Health (CPH), Certified Health Physicist (CHP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), and Certified Safety Professional (CSP).