Cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that allows livestock breeders to create identical twins of their best animals. This breeding technique does not change the genetic makeup of the animal. The most common procedure used today is known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which makes it possible to produce many animals from a single donor. SCNT involves transferring the genetic information from one animal into an empty oocyte, or egg.

While cheaper, 'healthier' food may sound like a good thing, the important question to ask is, how should it be accomplished? The answer is not by cloning animals. Animal cloning raises concerns on numerous levels and there is simply no need to clone animals for food. The remarkable inefficiency of cloning poses serious threats to animal welfare, as does engineering these animals for ever more intensive production, which is already associated with great animal cruelty and suffering.

Animal cloning has been rigorously studied for decades, since the earliest research on embryo splitting in the late seventies and early eighties. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has analyzed numerous scientific studies on the subject, conducted over 30 years and encompassing several generations and large families of livestock. Cloning enhances animal wellbeing, and is no more invasive than other accepted forms of assisted reproduction such as in vitro fertilization.

A risk assessment, concentrates on lead hazards. This is usually what most people are interested in: is my house safe? A risk assessor takes dust and soil samples and sends them to an accredited laboratory. If lead hazards are found, the risk assessment report includes a prioritized plan, based on your budget, that tells you how to remove or manage the hazards.

While there may be no direct harm to the original animal, many other animals are exploited as 'production units.' In the cloning laboratory, female cats are injected with hormones to synchronize their reproductive states and they undergo multiple surgeries to implant cloned embryos and extract fetuses. The odds are against the kittens' survival. Feline cloning techniques are so new that no one yet knows the long-term consequences.

A risk assessment should involve the identification of significant hazards present in a working environment or arising out of commercial activities and work activities.

Cloning is the term commonly used to refer to a procedure known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the procedure which was first used to create Dolly the sheep in 1996. In SCNT, the nucleus (which contains the genetic material of an animal) is removed from an unfertilized egg and replaced with the nucleus of an adult (somatic) cell from the donor animal to be cloned, ultimately resulting in an animal that is an almost exact genetic copy of the donor (though some differences remain).

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines the term eugenics as "the science of improving (esp. human) population by controlled breeding for desirable inherited characteristics". The use of cloning for eugenic purposes is the most common concern about cloning. The majority of laws, guidelines, and formal agreements forbid the use of cloning for eugenic purposes.

A risk assessment should be carried out whenever there is significant change in your business. For example when your workforce changes or you get lots of new equipment or premises. Certain activities also require a risk assessment. These include manual handling operations, use of hazardous substances, operations producing noise, working with asbestos and lead, operations that need personal protective equipment.