Category: Compliance, Integrity & Safety

UGA’s Office of Research Safety (ORS) has adopted a new software for its Chemical Safety Plan (CSP) program that will streamline submission of CSPs for investigators and lab managers across campus. Called ChemSafeUGA, the new platform links to outside databases that make it easier for lab personnel to keep their CSPs up to date with information on chemicals and substances and their respective hazard categories, current rosters of lab employees, and building/location information.

The CSP program affects more than 500 investigators spread among 1,200 labs at UGA. Each lab is required to submit a CSP, which helps both employees and ORS to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for storage, handling, usage and spill response of hazardous chemicals and waste products. CSP is part of UGA’s wider Environmental Health and Safety Management System.

Among ChemSafeUGA’s improvements are:

· Automatically linking a lab’s chemical inventory into hazard categories as defined by Chematix, and lists Particularly Hazardous Substances (PHS) for investigator and lab staff awareness.

· Connection to HR, Student Affairs and Facilities Management Division databases to streamline entry of laboratory staff and locations into the CSP.

· Connection to UGA Professional Education Portal to streamline reporting of training progress by lab personnel.

With the adoption of ChemSafeUGA, lab managers no longer will need to obtain personnel MyIDs to complete their CSPs, nor will they need to track down information about the training requirements for those personnel.

ChemSafeUGA was developed by the Office of Research Information Technology group in close consultation with UGA’s Research Safety Committee. ORS will roll the new system out during spring 2024 as it builds its calendar for lab safety inspections, reporting its progress and compliance back to the committee during the rollout.

If you have questions about ChemSafeUGA, contact ORS Director Zeke Barrera at 542-9373 or ebarr@uga.edu.

After several recent incidents that have required police or fire assistance in the research labs after hours or on weekends, the Office of Research Integrity & Safety is requiring all principal investigators and laboratory supervisors to register or update their primary and alternate emergency contacts in the Chematix system. This information will only be made available to UGA Police and UGA Lab Safety. 

Instructions:  

Only Principal Investigators and Laboratory Supervisors assigned in the Chematix system can enter this information. 

1.       Login to the Chematix system at chematix.uga.edu using your UGA credentials.  

2.      Click on the Resources tab in the menu bar.  

3.      Click the View My Locations on the Resource Management page.  

4.      Click the laboratory location/name under your respective assignment (PI or Lab Supervisor). The link will show the building number, the room number and the lab name identifier. For example, 1000/0531/C – Smith is the link that identifies the Smith Laboratory in room 531 of the Biological Science building. 

5.      On the bottom of the following page, click the After-Hours Contacts button.  

6.     Enter cell and/or home number for both a primary and secondary contact. These contacts should have after-hours entry access and knowledge of all hazards in the lab space. All of your lab locations require a primary and secondary contact. 

7.      Click Submit. A success message will appear.   

8.      Repeat this procedure for each of your assigned locations.   

9.     Logout of the system when finished.   

If your lab location is not listed or if you encounter any issues with the Chematix system while updating your emergency contacts, contact the Environmental Safety Division at 706-542-5801 or email chematix@uga.edu.   

The Human Research Protection Program professionals provide guidance and support for students and staff developing submissions for IRB review. They can provide guidance on: completing online submission forms; drafting recruitment materials and describing recruitment processes; drafting consent materials; describing data management processes; and collaborations with other entities. Make an appointment using the Support Appointment Form. 

More information

A new Office of Research Security and Export Controls (ORSEC) is on the horizon within the Office of Research. Under the Office of Research Integrity and Safety umbrella, ORSEC will continue its export controls and economic sanctions compliance mandate while responding to new and evolving federal guidelines related to research security requirements for federally funded research.

ORSEC also will further shepherd compliance with heightened security and safeguarding requirements when the institution performs certain restricted research projects. As UGA steps up its sponsored research activity with federal “mission agencies” such as the Department of Defense, ORSEC’s responsibilities will become even more important.

The establishment of ORSEC is driven mainly by the research security requirements as outlined in National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and associated agency implementation guidance. These new federal mandates will require the development of a formal research security program, applicable across research funded by all federal agencies. The research security program will include elements of cybersecurity, foreign travel security, research security training, and, where appropriate, export control training. Additionally, ORSEC will work to ensure that research requiring heightened safeguarding meets federal requirements for safeguarding controlled unclassified and classified information. Marty Bink serves as the facility security officer and the director of defense and secure collaborations in the Office of Research. In his facility security role, Bink will work closely with the ORSEC director as facility security responsibility transitions into that office.

ORSEC will also work closely with Gene Pope and the Office of Conflicts of Interest Review and Management regarding disclosure and reporting obligations mandated in NSPM-33 related to conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, and outside activities and affiliations.

More information, including an updated website, an outreach and education effort, and new policy or process, will be communicated to the research and university community over the coming months.

Starting May 23, Dan Runge will serve as the director of ORSEC. Dan has worked in research compliance at UGA since 2014. He is a member of the Association of University Export Control Officers and earned a bachelor of science from Kansas State University, a law degree from the University of Kansas, and a master of laws in international law from the University of San Diego. Runge was a prosecutor when he practiced law in Kansas.

Attention human research investigators: We recognize and value UGA investigators’ experience and expertise in conducting research projects. Further, we understand the demands on researchers’ time, and we strive to create systems and infrastructure that provide a high level of research project management support. However, the PI is ultimately accountable for ensuring that individual research projects meet all reporting and approval requirements. While the IRB portal is programmed to send courtesy reminders at 90, 60 and 30 days prior to a study’s expiration date, this system does not replace the responsibility of PIs to be aware of the approval period for research studies.

We strongly urge investigators to have multiple tools and safeguards to ensure that they meet regulatory and institutional requirements pertaining to continuing review and maintaining approval of human research projects. Setting up calendar reminders for 30 days prior to study expiration is one possible method.

Please remember that all human research procedures related to the approved project must stop when approval expires until a new approval period is granted. When research activities are complete, the PI is responsible for closing the project in the IRB portal, even if the project was for a student’s thesis or dissertation.

Please contact the Human Subject Office at IRB@uga.edu or 706-542-3199 if you have any questions about continuing review and expiration of IRB approval. More information is available in our Policies and Procedures and on the Human Research Protection Program website.

The U.S. government imposes comprehensive economic sanctions and trade embargoes on Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. These restrictions limit nearly all imports and exports of technology, goods and services involving those countries. Services are very broadly defined and include prohibitions on participating in academic conferences in Iran and tourist travel to Cuba, for example. Travel to North Korea by U.S. citizens is, for all intents and purposes, prohibited.

Additionally, the U.S. has recently subjected Belarus and Russia to significantly expanded export controls and economic sanctions. While not comprehensively sanctioned, both countries are subject to significant controls on the import and export of technology, goods,and services. 

China and Venezuela are also subject to heighted controls on end-users in those countries. 

It is particularly important that activities involving these high-risk countries receive export control review. UGA personnel may contact Dan Runge, in the Office of Export Control, at drunge@uga.edu or 2-4188 to discuss travel, shipping and activities involving these countries.

The Office of Export Control can provide in-person or video conference training for international shippers on compliance with export controls and economic sanctions. Details about export control training are available here. University personnel that engage in international shipping are strongly encouraged to complete the “Export Compliance for International Shipping” CITI module available via the Professional Education Portal (PEP). The CITI modules are available by searching for Export Compliance in the PEP search bar. 

All university personnel engaging in international shipping on behalf of UGA should request review of international shipments by the Office of Export Control prior to shipment. Anything you ship abroad is considered an export. Export shipments of equipment, tools or research materials, for example, may be submitted for review via the “International Shipping Export Control Review” form. Further details about international shipping are available here. 

Please contact Dan Runge, in the Office of Export Control, at drunge@uga.edu or 2-4188 if you have questions or concerns. 

In response to the change in UGA RIF requirements, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs has revised its policy and guidelines for postdoc appointments and terminations.

In addition to no longer requiring an RIF for grant-funded postdocs, units now have two distinct options for postdoc appointments: defined term and open term. Faculty/units can choose which best suits their needs based on the nature of the funding available. The defined-term option requires an up-front defined end date and formal continuation letters, and has less notice requirement at the time of separation, while the open-term option does not require a defined end date or formal continuation letters, but requires additional notice at termination (and may be subject to RIF if the position is state funded). 

Details of these changes can be found on pages 3 and 4 of the updated UGA Policy for Postdoctoral Appointments, found here. Updated templates for both defined-term and open-term offer letters can be found here and must be used for all new postdoctoral appointments effective April 11, 2022.  

The U.S. Department of Commerce has recently added multiple foreign universities and affiliated labs and other research centers to either the Unverified List or the Entity List. Multiple foreign universities have been previously listed and remain listed. These designations restrict, and may prohibit, certain interactions the University of Georgia and its employees may have with the designated institutions and individuals affiliated with those institutions.

The Office of Export Control, and others on campus, engage in “restricted party screening” related to many institutional interactions and agreements, such as in Sponsored Projects, and International Initiatives and Immigration Services in the Office of Global Engagement. UGA employees engaging internationally should be aware of these lists and contact the Office of Export Control prior to engaging in formal or informal relationships or collaborations, or providing services to ensure the foreign institution is not restricted.

The Office of Export Control maintains a list of restricted foreign universities on its website, but this list is not as up-to-date as utilizing the university’s “restricted party screening tool,” Visual Compliance. In addition to universities and research institutes, these lists contain individuals and entities, including multinational corporations such as Huawei and Gazprom. Please contact Dan Runge at drunge@uga.edu with questions or to set up a Visual Compliance account. 

Feb. 8, 2022, additions to the Unverified List: 

Hunan University, State Key Lab of Chemo/Biosensing & Chemometrics

Southern University of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering

Dec. 17, 2021, additions to the Entity List: 

Academy of Military Medical Sciences and multiple affiliated research institutes

Nov. 26, 2021, additions to the Entity List: 

Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, a.k.a., the following two aliases: National Research Center for Microscale: and Microscale National Research Center

Before agreeing to provide an international sale or service, product, or international shipment, UGA personnel should contact the Office of Export Control to request review of the transaction. This review will ensure an export license is not needed for the provision of the service or international shipment and include a due diligence review of the end-use and end-user at the foreign destination. 

The Department of Commerce has taken export enforcement actions, including imposing monetary settlements, against U.S. academic institutions for unlicensed export of strains and recombinants of animal pathogens to non-U.S. research institutions as well as for shipments of basic research equipment to embargoed non-U.S. research institutions. 

Detailed information about International Shipping is available here and a list of export controlled items, software, and technology is available here. UGA employees also have access to the university’s “restricted party screening tool,” Visual Compliance.

Please contact Dan Runge at drunge@uga.edu to begin due diligence.