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There is no question that well trained, competent personnel are key to a successful laboratory animal research establishment operation and exceptional animal welfare. Across the world, numerous organisations, both commercial and non-profit ones, have established excellent training programs for diverse levels of animal care and use a variety of training recording systems.
Training also has an important legal aspect. It is required by law that most countries adhere to and maintain certain training and competencies for personnel working with animals. In some cases, the individuals and the institutions are responsible for managing training and the respective documentation. Other legal systems, for example in the UK or Germany, foresee an official authorisation issued by the governing authorities as the basis for performing any work with lab animals, instead of, or in combination with individual training records.
Within the European Union (EU), the directive 2010/63/ EU aims to harmonise regulations and address the area of training and competence with Article 231. Even though not explicitly required by the text, there appears to be a tendency of member countries to interpret the requirements in a way that places the responsibility for the management of training and competence more with the Establishment, rather than the member country. […]