What we do

Mandated by federal requirements, the primary goal of Mizzou’s Occupational Health and Safety Program (OHSP) is to evaluate and address potential health risks to you that may be associated with your use of animals or pathogens in the research environment. 

• The OHSP is under the supervision of MU's Animal Care Quality Assurance (ACQA) office and Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC).
• Our program is required for those working directly or indirectly with research animals, their tissues or fluids in laboratory or agricultural settings.
• Office of Animal Resources (OAR) staff and principal investigators (PI) or protocol associates on an ACUC protocol or an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) protocol are required to enroll in the OHSP.

Report an injury

The UM System Report of Injury Form should be completed for all employees injured on the job. The supervisor should complete it within 24 hours of an employee's injury. If an injury is emergent, visit MU's ER immediately.

How to enroll in the OHSP in three steps

Log in to your eCompliance OHSP main page. Here you can complete:

1. Your Hazard Evaluation Form (HEF).
2. Your HIPAA-protected Confidential Health Questionnaire.
3. The required online OHSP training.

The OHSP nurse practitioner will evaluate job hazards and medical information to create a comprehensive, individualized risk assessment and vaccination recommendation. Once completed, your risk assessment will be viewable on your eCompliance main page.

1. Complete OHSP Hazard Evaluation Form (HEF).

   Individuals need only one HEF for all animal work. Make sure to update it as needed to reflect all job duties. 

   If at any time your job duties, animal exposures or medical status change, you are responsible for letting us know by updating your information in eCompliance.

   Note that a supervisor should complete the HEF for employees who are unsure of their future job duties: 

   • From your main OHSP page, select “OHSP Enrollment for Associates" tab. Then select "Create HEF for New Associate."
   • Enter the SSO or email address of the individual and click “Add Employee.”
   • Once users confirm (via system email) that you may act on their behalf, they will be listed as your employees, and you will be granted access to create/edit their HEF.
      
2. Complete OHSP Confidential Health Questionnaire (CHQ).
   • This form is HIPAA-protected and can only be viewed by the enrollee, the OHSP nurse practitioner and/or physician.
   • The information provided will assist the OHSP nurse practitioner in more accurately assessing your risks and provide you with an individualized risk assessment.
   • Update this form when your health status changes.
      
3. Complete OHSP Training.
   • Choose the best fit for you from our categories: Lab, Wildlife or Agricultural.
   • Training takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.
   • Your training and OHSP enrollment expires every three years. At this time you will be prompted to update your HEF, update your CHQ and retake training.

When your job duties, medical status or exposures change, you are required to update your forms in eCompliance. Any follow-up discussions or visits with the OHSP nurse practitioner will be determined based on your individual risks, vaccinations, boosters and/or titer checks. 

Visitors 

If you plan on working with an MU researcher who works with animals, their tissues or fluids, please complete our visitor's form. Visitors from outside the University of Missouri will need to create a login using their personal email on eCompliance to access the form.

Contact OHSP

OHSP@missouri.edu or 573-882-0182