In the event of any release of recombinant orqanisms 
or of non-compliance with the Guidelines, the state or local 
health authorities should be immediately notified. The effects 
of any accident will be first experienced within the local 
surroundings. Consequently, the State Health Department or 
its local equivalent should be informed at all times of what 
organisms are being used, and of all releases of recombinant 
organisms, even those considered minor. The Health Department 
representative should be an active participant in biohazard 
assessments as well as remedial emergency activities. We also 
recommend that in addition to providing advice, a Center of 
Disease Control Strike Force be organized which will be ready 
to act in the event of an emergency. 
We recommend that grievance procedures for 
workers be established tinder the Guidelines. The Decision 
document states that OSHA regulations already provide such 
a mechanism. In fact, however, the OSHA regulations 
covering this area do not apply to state or local governments 
and as such would not apply to recombinant DNA research 
conducted in many state universities. A specific protocol 
to deal with charges of both willful and negligent non- 
compliance should be established by the NIH. This protocol 
should detail how and to whom charges should be brought, 
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