Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) FAQs

Your shipment may require permits from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Commerce (DOC) and/or United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A fundamental objective of any biosafety program is the “containment” of potentially harmful biological agents.

The term “containment” is used in describing safe methods, facilities and equipment for managing infectious materials in the laboratory environment where they are being handled or maintained.

The purpose of containment is to reduce or eliminate exposure of laboratory workers, other persons, and the outside environment to potentially hazardous agents. The use of vaccines may provide an increased level of personal protection. The risk assessment of the work to be done with a specific agent will determine the appropriate combination of these elements.

Four “Biosafety Levels ((BSL) have been developed. No BSL4 work is conducted at NJIT.

• BSL-1: Suitable for work involving well characterized agents not known to cause disease in healthy adult humans and of minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment.
• BSL-2: Suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment.
• BSL-3: Suitable for work with infectious agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease as a result of exposure by the inhalation route.

In many countries, including the United States, infectious agents are categorized in risk groups based on their relative risk. Depending on the country and/or organization, this classification system might take the following factors into consideration:

• Pathogenicity of the organism
• Mode of transmission and host range
• Availability of effective preventive measures (e.g., vaccines)
• Availability of effective treatment (e.g., antibiotics)
• Other factors

Risk group classifications are primarily used in the research environment as part of a comprehensive biosafety risk assessment. There are four (4) risk group designations:

• Risk Group 1 (RG1) agents are not associated with disease in healthy adult humans.
• Risk Group 2 (RG2) agents are associated with human disease which is rarely serious and for which preventive or therapeutic interventions are often available.
• Risk Group 3 (RG3) agents are associated with serious or lethal human disease for which preventive or therapeutic interventions may be available.
• Risk Group 4 (RG4) agents are likely to cause serious or lethal human disease for which preventive or therapeutic interventions are not usually available.

NJIT provides compliance assurances to the National Institutes of Health. One of these assurances is that laboratory inspections will be conducted periodically for all research involving recombinant DNA and/or biohazards.

Contact or your Environmental Health & Safety Representative to set up an inspection at 973-596-3059. For more information visit the Department of Environmental Health & Safety.

Research conducted at each location must undergo location-specific institutional (e.g., IBC) research risk reviews and grant approval. Grant approval is often dependent on IBC approval.

New applications, responses to deferrals, and any amendments calling for significant changes to approved research require convened committee review and will be discussed at the subsequent monthly meeting.

Deadlines for new applications, responses to deferrals, and any amendments calling for significant changes to approved research are listed on our website.

Read the policies.

Forms can be found on the Office of Research website.

NJIT provides both internal and external training opportunities. The internal training is offered by the NJIT Environmental Health and Safety. For more information, go to: http://www5.njit.edu/environmentalsafety/.

NJIT also makes available the Citi training programs.