OSU SAF 103: OSU Safety Program

Purpose

To encourage all feasible means of achieving a safe and healthful working/learning environment that includes accident prevention for faculty, staff, students and campus visitors.

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Policy

Compliance with Safety Regulations
Oregon State University will maintain, within reason, facilities and practices that are in compliance with local, state, and federal health and safety regulations.  In the absence of appropriate statutes or regulations, standards of nationally recognized professional health and safety organizations will serve as a guide.

Supervisor Responsibility
Although the President has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of staff, faculty, and students, a great deal of safety responsibility has been delegated to supervisors.  A supervisor may be a dean, department head, director, manager, administrator or any other faculty or staff person who is in charge of one or more employees.

Supervisors are directly responsible and accountable for the welfare of employees and students assigned to them and for the administration of health and safety regulations and University Safety Procedures within their areas of control.  One of the criteria for evaluation of administrative personnel shall be their administration of safety procedures and accident prevention efforts.

Employee Responsibility
Employees of the University must have a common goal of keeping accidents to a minimum.  Most accidental injuries in the work environment are caused by unsafe work habits.  Therefore, all employees should continuously strive to develop habits and procedures that will reduce exposure to potential injury.  Employees are urged to make safe performance an essential element of every task. 

University Safety Organizations
Certain administrative organizations have specific responsibilities that deal with the health and safety of faculty, staff, students, and visitors.  Individuals with health and safety concerns should contact the appropriate office.  See SAF-Ex4 for a list of administrative organizations and their corresponding responsibilities.

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Procedure

A supervisor's safety responsibilities relating to their work areas and the employees they control should include the following duties:

• Make every reasonable effort to ensure the safety of employees and students under your control and make their workplace free of recognized hazards.  For those hazards that are not within your ability to correct, notify your supervisor about the condition(s).
• Evaluate the physical capability of potential new employees to perform the tasks required.  This is not discrimination, but rather an expected responsibility to make a reasonable determination of a potential employee's skills and physical ability to perform the tasks required by the position.
• Provide job training in work area safety procedures for all your employees, especially for new and reassigned employees with new job activities.
• Conduct regular work area safety inspections with assistance from of Environmental Health and Safety, if needed, to discover and correct unsafe conditions and work practices.
• Investigate injury accidents, not to find fault, but to determine cause and to pursue the correction of any safety deficiencies.
• Report all injuries on a Report of Accident form and send it to Human Resources.  If an injury to an employee requires physician's treatment or will result in lost work, a SAIF 801 claim form should also be completed and sent with the Report of Accident form.
• Contact injured employees early and frequently, especially where lost work time is involved, to pursue avenues for early return to work.
• Promote safe practices and attitudes among employees and students.  If protective equipment must be used, promote its use by example.
• Consider safe work habits and attitude toward the job as a part of all performance ratings.
• Respond to employees' concerns for safety in a positive manner and take appropriate corrective action.

The acceptance of these duties, devotion to this task, and the safety attitude of supervisors will determine the success of the OSU safety program.

Employees, as part of their safety responsibilities, are expected to do the following:

• Conduct their work safely and try to maintain their work areas hazard-free.
• Wear personal protective equipment as prescribed by their supervisors; the university will provide this equipment.
• Report hazards or unsafe work practices to supervisors or to Environmental Health and Safety.
• Maintain reasonable physical body conditioning for the tasks of the work environment.
• Cooperate fully with supervisors in conducting investigations of accidents so that unsafe conditions or work procedures may be corrected.
• Participate in physical restoration or vocational programs following lost-time injuries to achieve an early return to work

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Additional Information

Safety Committees
The University has established advisory committees to review and make recommendations on general safety matters or special areas of safety or health concerns.

The University Safety Committee is appointed by the Vice President for Finance and Administration.  The membership consists of faculty, staff, and students.  The Committee reviews campus safety policy and procedures as published in this Safety Policy & Procedure Manual and recommends needed changes.  The Committee serves as the forum for addressing issues affecting the safety and health of faculty, staff, students, and campus visitors.  The Committee encourages positive safety attitudes and performance among faculty, staff, and students; strives to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions; and supports and strengthens the OSU Safety Program.

The Radiation Safety Committee is appointed by the Vice President for Finance and Administration.  The membership consists of the Radiation Safety Officer and faculty members with expertise in radiation use and safety.  The Committee is responsible for recommending university policy with respect to radiation safety, establishing standards and regulations needed to implement this policy, reviewing operations and procedures of Radiation Safety, and acting as the statutory radiation use review committee required by the State radioactive materials license.

The Chemical Safety Committee is appointed by the Vice Provost for Research.  The membership consists of faculty members and a representative from Environmental Health and Safety.  The Committee is responsible for the development of policy regarding the use and disposal of hazardous chemicals.  The Committee reviews and approves the use of chemical carcinogens as required by the Chemical Carcinogen Safety Program.

The Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects is appointed by the Vice Provost for Research.  This group, also known as the Human Subjects Committee, consists of faculty members and representatives from the general public.

The Vehicle Accident Review Board is appointed by the Vice President for Finance and Administration.  The membership consists of faculty, staff, and the Manager of Transportation Services.  As mandated by General Services Division Regulations, the committee is responsible for the review of accidents involving state-owned motor vehicles.  If the accident is deemed preventable, the Committee assigns appropriate repair costs to the responsible department according to the state's self-insurance program.

The Biosafety Committee is appointed by the Vice Provost for Research.  Membership consists of faculty and staff, and the Biological Safety Officer.  There are also two members who are not affiliated with the University.  The committee is responsible for recommending policy and procedures regarding biological safety.  The committee is also charged with reviewing recombinant DNA research. 

This review includes:

• assessment of the containment levels required by the NIGH Guidelines for the proposed research,
• assessment of the facilities, procedures, practices, and training and expertise of personnel involved in recombinant DNA research; and
• ensuring compliance with all surveillance, data reporting, and adverse event reporting requirements of the NIH Guidelines.

The Farm Safety Committee is appointed by the Associate Dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences.  The committee is made up of members from the different departments within the College of Agricultural Sciences.  There is also a representative from Environmental Health and Safety and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The primary responsibility of this committee is to discuss and advise the College of Agricultural Sciences on safety issues relevant to the operations of the different agricultural departments.

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