Princeton University

Workplace and Environmental Safety Responsibilities

Managers are responsible for the health and safety of employees engaged in activities under their direction or supervision. They must ensure that their employees comply with all relevant regulations and accepted standards and that work activities are performed in a safe and considerate manner.

Departmental Safety Managers

Many University departments have appointed a departmental safety manager to act as a liaison between the department and the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). In most academic departments, the departmental manager has taken on this role.

The safety manager has responsibility for oversight of health and safety within his or her department and is a principal contact for faculty, staff, and students with health and safety issues or concerns. The safety manager works with departmental faculty and personnel to identify potential hazards associated with their operations and activities. The main objective is to identify and understand health and safety responsibilities clearly and fully, while providing the means and authority necessary to carry out these responsibilities.

In some departments, the safety manager has assembled a safety committee, consisting of representatives from a cross-section of the department. The safety committee may assist the safety manager in developing and implementing action plans to address health and safety concerns.

The safety manager is assisted by EHS. The role EHS plays in the safety and compliance process is described more fully in the following section.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety

The Office of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) serves the University community by providing technical support, information and training, consultation, and periodic audits of environmental health and safety practices and regulatory compliance. EHS staff work in a coordinated effort to address health and safety issues in four broad areas: workplace safety, chemical safety, radiation safety, and biosafety and sanitation.

Programs and Services

EHS offers a wide variety of programs and services to assist managers to fulfill their health and safety responsibilities. These programs and services, including ergonomics, are listed at: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/about/services.htm

Health and Safety Profiling

EHS provides a health and safety profiling service to departmental safety managers. To assist departments in determining which regulatory requirements or other health and safety programs apply to their specific circumstances, EHS has developed a profiling process that includes a joint systematic review of departmental operations and activities by EHS staff and departmental representatives. The product of this effort is a listing of health and safety programs that are relevant to the particular needs of the department. The health and safety profiling procedure can be applied to an entire department or to a functional area within it and is applicable to both academic and non-academic departments. The following Web site contains a more detailed description of the profiling process: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/healthsafetyguide/i.htm#dhsp

Manuals and Training Guides

EHS has developed a wide range of safety manuals and training guides, which are listed at: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/manualsandguides/mandg.htm

One of the most useful guides for a departmental safety manager is the Health and Safety Guide, which was written by the staff of EHS to provide departments, managers, supervisors, and employees with information on a variety of health and safety topics. It is also designed to serve as a general reference document and guide to assist safety managers in the development and implementation of their departmental health and safety programs.

Health and Safety Guide — http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/healthsafetyguide/toc.htm

Training

EHS provides a large variety of specific training programs for managers, principal investigators, employees, and students. For details of the training programs offered by EHS, go to: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/Training/index.htm

Policies

The University has established various policies concerning specific issues related to health and safety. These are detailed at: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/about/policy.htm

Emergency Action Planning

Each department must develop an emergency action plan that details the actions to be taken when a department or building must be evacuated due to fire or other emergency. Information about emergency action planning can be found at: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/emergency/fire.htm.

Health and Safety Committees

Several different University committees are involved in providing oversight of health and safety efforts and in developing health and safety policy. Additional information about these committees is available at: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ ehs/about/committees.htm.