Biological Material And Dry Ice Shipment training, for safe handling and shipping of biological materials and dry ice, complies with regulatory agencies including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Department of Transport (DOT), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The training includes general awareness and familiarization (video), function-specific training, and security awareness. Prerequisite for this training is "bloodborne pathogen" training for all shippers who handle human blood, body fluids, tissues or human cell lines. Participation is required once every two years for all employees, graduate students, medical students, principal investigators, physicians, nurses, technicians and post-doctoral fellows packaging, preparing shipping documents, and shipping or transporting biological materials, patient specimens and/or dry ice.
Training Frequency
Biological Material and Dry Ice Shipment training is required every two years. Biological material and dry ice shipment training may be completed by taking the online self-instruction biological material and dry ice shipment training.
Training records are available, to confirm who has completed the EHS biological material and dry ice shipment training with the past 24 months.
Training Registration
Biological material and dry ice shipment training registration is administered via the Weill Training Management System (WTMS). Click here for additional information regarding the WTMS registration process.
- WCM Students, Faculty and Staff - Training Registration via WTMS
- Instructions for External User/Non-WCM Employee Training Registration
EHS Instructor-Led Training Schedule
Category A Infectious Substances Shipment Training
Biological materials are classified as Infectious Substances, Category A, if it is an infectious substance which is being transported in a form that, when exposure to it occurs, is capable of causing permanent disability, a life-threatening or fatal disease in otherwise healthy humans or animals.
Indicative examples of substances that meet these criteria are provided in Appendix D of the Biological Materials and Dry Ice Shipments Manual. The table listed in Appendix D is not exhaustive. Infectious substances, including new or emerging pathogens, which do not appear in Appendix D but meet the same criteria, must be classified as Category A. In addition, if there is doubt as to whether a substance meets the criteria, it must be included in Category A.
Examples of pathogens that are classified as Category A include:
- Dengue virus (cultures only*)
- Hepatitis B virus (cultures only*)
- Human immunodeficiency virus (cultures only*)
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis (cultures only*)
*Cultures are the result of a process by which pathogens are intentionally propagated. This definition does not include patient specimens. I.e., an HIV or Tb positive blood sample does not meet the criteria for shipping as category A
Category A Infectious Substances Shipment training, for safe handling and shipping of Category A infectious substances, complies with regulatory agencies including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Department of Transport (DOT), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The training includes general awareness and familiarization, function-specific training, and security awareness.
The prerequisite for this training is "Biological Material and Dry Ice Shipment" training for all shippers who handle Category A infectious substances. Completion of each component (Biological Material and Dry Ice Shipment and Category A Infectious Substances Shipment) is required for all employees, graduate students, medical students, principal investigators, physicians, nurses, technicians and post-doctoral fellows packaging, preparing shipping documents, and shipping or transporting Category A infectious substances.
Training Frequency
Category A Infectious Substances Shipment training is required every two years. Category A Infectious Substances Shipment training may be completed as follows:
- Take the online self-instruction biological material and dry ice shipment training
- Arrange an instructor-led Category A Infectious Substances Shipment training session
Training records are available, to confirm who has completed the EHS biological material and dry ice shipment training with the past 24 months.
Training Registration
Category A Infectious Substances Shipment training registration is administered via the Weill Training Management System (WTMS). Click here for additional information regarding the WTMS registration process.