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Quality Assurance Phase of Laboratory Clean Sweep Effort

All NIH Research Staff should be advised that the NIH will commence the laboratory Quality Assurance (QA) step of the Clean Sweep effort beginning on Tuesday, October 7, 2014. This is the second phase of the Clean Sweep project as a result of the Variola discovery back in July.

During this phase, the Office of Research Services, Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) will be confirming the accuracy of the laboratory inventories submitted during phase I as well as inspecting all storage locations for biological materials handled at BSL-2 and above.

This process may take several months to complete so we ask for your patience as we perform this mandatory assessment. Each building will receive advanced notification as to when the inspections will occur.

The inspection process will consist of two steps:

1) Confirming the accuracy of any inventory that has been submitted to the Central Inventory Database.
2) Conducting a complete check of all storage locations.​

These inspections will be performed by members of DOHS and support staff. When the QA staff enter your laboratory, they will ask for your assistance with conducting the inspections. At no time should the QA staff handle any of the research material.

For questions about the Clean Sweep effort please contact DOHS at 301-496-2346. 

Thank you,

Division of Occupational Health and Safety.
Office of Research Services.
National Institutes of Health.