OEH&S

OEH&S conducts routine health and safety audits of all facilities. Additional audits may be conducted upon request, after an incident, or if required by the appropriate Safety Committee.

Department Safety Advisors are responsible for auditing all Campus worksites for compliance with environmental, health, and safety regulations, policies, and safe practices. Each worksite is audited at least once per year. All laboratories, shops, and non-office areas are audited more frequently, usually once per calendar quarter. Audits may focus on Fire and Life Safety, on Safety associated with the use, storage, or disposal of hazardous chemicals, on Safety associated with use of Biohazardous materials, or on safe use of radioisotopes or other radiation sources.

The audit process is based on use of a checklist. The checklist describes a set of conditions which, as a minimum, must be met for a worksite to be considered safe. The checklists are updated periodically to reflect regulatory or policy changes. A copy of the General Checklist is shown below for your reference. To obtain a copy of a particular checklist (for self-evaluation purposes) choose from the following list and contact your Department Safety Advisor. You can also request a copy of a checklist by calling OEH&S at 476-1300.

The current internal audit frequency is as follows:

When performing an audit, the Department Safety Advisor will schedule a site visit, during which he/she will meet with the person responsible for that area. The DSA will work with that person to identify unrecognized hazards and make recommendations for mitigating the hazards. Following the site visit, the DSA will issue a report which identifies any significant violations found. Violations require that the responsible person take immediate action to correct the hazard, and report back to OEH&S on the action taken. Failure to correct the hazard or to respond to OEH&S can result in punitive action by the appropriate safety officer or safety committee.

In addition to the regularly scheduled audits, audits can be performed at the request of any employee. Should you feel that a hazard exists in your workplace or that your workplace has not been regularly audited, please contact your Department Safety Advisor.

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General Checklist