Two UNH employees receive award

Two UNH employees were recently cited for the development of a nationally recognized shipping manual. The American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) awarded David Gillum and Andy Glode in the Office of Environmental Health and Safety the “Outstanding Means of Communication Citation” for the development of the “UNH Shipment of Biological Materials Manual.”

The ABSA citation was developed in 1999 to formally acknowledge high-impact and original (noncommercial) training materials. The shipping manual was evaluated on its relevance to the biosafety profession, creativity and originality.

Anyone shipping biological material at UNH must be trained and certified in the proper packaging and labeling techniques, as well as the proper shipping methods, prior to making a shipment. The shipping manual was written to accomplish this goal and is used to train and certify individuals to ship biological materials at UNH. Penalties for noncompliance with shipping regulations can result in fines of up to $500,000 per incident for institutions. Individuals can be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced up to a year in jail.

This manual has received nationwide attention, and several institutions, including many colleges and universities, have adopted the UNH Shipment of Biological Materials Manual as their biological shipping manual. Some of these institutions include Dartmouth College, Stanford University, Southern California BIONET, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Texas A&M University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Alabama.

The biological shipping manual is available free of charge on the UNH EHS Website at: http://www.unh.edu/ehs/shipping/.