A Section on Service Animals in the Microbiology Teaching Laboratory Has Been Included in the 2019 Update to the Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories

Regulatory Framework

In the United States, there are laws to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal rights. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 42 USC 12101 (2015) ² and the Rehabilitation Act (RA) Section 504 ³ govern disability law in higher education in both public and private institutions.

RA Section 504 states that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under a program or activity that received federal funding. Requirements include reasonable accommodation for individuals with disability, program accessibility, effective communication for people with hearing impairment, and accessible new construction and alterations. ² An accommodation is not reasonable and not required if it results in a fundamental alteration of programs, administrative burden, or the tolerance of unreasonable health or safety risks. ³ “Program or Activity” as defined in the RA Section 504 includes the operations of “(2)(A) a college, university, or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education.”

The Fair Housing Act, as amended in 1988, prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of disability to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded equal housing opportunities. A landlord may be required to grant an exception to the “no pet” policy to an individual who is blind and needs a service dog. ⁴

In general, ADA Title II prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities (RA §504) in all state and local government programs and public transportation programs.

Definitions

Disability ⁵ : Under the ADA, the term disability means, with respect to an individual: (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits 1 or more major life activities of such individual; (b) a record of such an impairment; or (c) being regarded as having such an impairment.

Service animal ³ : The ADA defines a service animal as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Examples of such work include alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure or calming a person with posttraumatic stress disorder. Service animals are working animals, not pets, or emotional support animals (ESAs).

Reasonable accommodation under RA 504 ⁶ : An institution is required to take reasonable steps to accommodate a disability unless it would cause the institution undue hardship. Reasonable accommodation often includes making facilities accessible and usable by persons with disabilities and making reasonable modifications in academic programs. ³ Factors to be considered by university officials include administrative burden, cost, health and safety, and minimizing the impact on other participants.

Reasonable accommodation ³ : The term reasonable accommodation is defined by the ADA in the context of service animals as including: (a) making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities and (b) job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

A reasonable accommodation under the ADA may include when an individual in a classroom has an allergy to or a fear of dogs. An accommodation should be provided by assigning individuals (the allergy bearer and the owner of the animal), if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility. ⁷

A reasonable accommodation would be denied when a service animal is requested to access operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment. ³

How can the institution verify the need for a service dog? San Diego State University’s Service and Guide Dog Policy states that only 2 questions may be asked if it is not apparent what work will the service animal be providing a student: (1) Is the service animal required because of a disability? and (2) What work or task has the service animals been trained to perform? Documentation of the service animal training is not required. ⁸ This query follows the general recommendations of the ADA. ⁹

The service provided by the animal may be obvious, such as a dog guiding the blind, alerting the deaf, pulling a wheelchair, or assisting with a mobility impairment. These cases do not require further inquiry, and an accommodation is expected. However, if the disability is not an obvious health condition, then the 2-question standard applies. Service dogs may be trained to detect seizures, sense the onset of psychiatric disorders, remind to take medications, turn lights on, and keep disoriented individuals from danger, among other functions. The inquiry may not include documentation of the individual’s disability, certification, training, or licensure documentation for the service animal or ask demonstration of the animal’s ability to perform the task required by the individual. The scope of the query is always limited by the state’s specific ADA certification issued by the US Department of Justice. ¹⁰

Table 1 presents the elements that need to be discussed and documented in writing before a human partner with a service animal can access a microbiology lab, what the 2019 guidelines include, and additional considerations that may improve the outcome of this accommodation.

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Table 1.

Service Animals in Microbiology Laboratories: What the 2019 ASM Guidance Includes and Additional Risk-Assessment Considerations.

Elements	2019 Guidelines for Teaching Labs	Additional Considerations
Stakeholder	Instructor Human partner Campus ADA compliance officer	- Include campus safety and biosafety officer.
What to discuss	Confirm safety expectations Conditions for removal of service animal	- Conduct a risk assessment to understand the biologicals and chemicals present in the lab. - Understand the needs of the student. - Length of the class/breaks. - Use of other laboratory animals; there are regulations related to laboratory animals that must be discussed with the IACUC. 11,12 - Who will clean up animal-related accidents (eg, urine, feces, vomit, blood) and dispose of waste in appropriate waste containers? - Discuss any training received by the service dog either by a certified trainer or by the human. Is there a registration as animal-assisted therapy dog, animal-assisted activities, or similar?
Legal framework	Not included	- State-specific laws covering service animals. 10 - Federal applicable law.
Institutional policy	Not included	- Some institutions may restrict the access of animals to laboratories where there are radioactive materials. 13 - Check animals in campus-buildings policies and discuss with institution’s representative. - Encourage voluntary registration with an institutional emergency system. 14
Personal protective equipment	Paw covers Impervious body cover Eye protection	- PPE should be determined by the risk assessment.
Location of human partner	In a lab situation, closer to the end of the lab table with access to the nearest exit door	- Review the needs of the service animals and the human partner. You may not ask these questions directly: Is the service animal required to be in proximity to the human partner? Are there particular circumstances when this may occur?
Location of service animal	Next to human partner? Direct view of human partner? Should not be directly on floor	- Are there additional risks due to the location (spills, vapors, moving equipment)? - Potential locations: recessed wheelchair area, portable kennel, adjacent nonlab room.
Other hazards	Trip hazard for others in the laboratory	- Others with susceptibility to animal allergens. - Odors - Noise
Exiting procedures	Remove service animal PPE and discard or decontaminate	- Human partner should remove own PPE before doffing service animal’s PPE.
Emergency procedures	Emergency contact information for service animal (veterinarian, animal hospital, poison control)	- Emergency contact information for human partner and animal trainer - Is the service animal comfortable with fire drills and unusual sounds such as fire alarm? - How to administer first aid to the service animal? Will it be comfortable if human needs first aid? - Drill emergency evacuation: Is there need for human/service animal to use a different exit? - How and where to report incidents and accidents for the animal, the human partner, or both?

Abbreviations: ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act; IACUC, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; PPE, personal protective equipment.

The ultimate success of individuals with disabilities and their service animals participating in teaching labs safely depends on the following:

commitment of all stakeholders to make it work