Safety Committee Priorities

The Utah State University Safety Committee strives to promote a university-wide culture of safety where individuals are safe to work, learn, and visit by actively identifying, preventing, and correcting safety concerns.

Identify, Prevent & Correct

Environmental Health & Safety

Priorities

  1. Help USU Administrators, Faculty, Staff and Students develop, implement, evaluate and apply Safety Plans as outlined on Policy 3014.3
  2. Facilitate the implementation, inspection, and maintenance of Engineered Safety Infrastructure across USU camps
  3. Help promote Safe Travel
    1. Walking, Driving, Traveling

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Good safety plans promote a strong culture of safety
    2. The use and maintenance of engineered safety controls reduces hazards
    3. Slips, Trips, and Falls remains the #1 Accident at USU
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Track and quantify approved Safety Plans
    2. Increased functionality of equipment
    3. Monitor accident rates
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Safety Plan evaluation is part of the annual review
    2. Develop a USU Safety Plan library

Chemical Hygiene Committee

Priorities

  1. Chemical Hygiene Plans
    1. All laboratories are required to complete and update a CHP annually
  2. Laboratory Close-outs
    1. Chemicals, equipment, etc. should be dealt with prior to faculty leaving the University
  3. Training
    1. Training requirements should match activities personnel are involved in
    2. Track using Learn Blue

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Creation and maintenance of a CHP provides vital lab specific hazard information.
    2. Chemicals are not being left for others to deal with.
    3. Personnel would receive training appropriate to the task.
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Annual accounting of who does and does not have an updated CHP.
    2. Start tracking laboratory close-outs and when they do not occur.
    3. Focused safety training and documentation
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. 1 and 3 are established practices but communication and documentation needs improvement
    2. Policy needed at the university level with implementation

Field Safety/EHS

Priorities

  1. Emergency Response Plans
  2. Communications plans
  3. Ensure all employees are trained on how to submit an accident report.

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Without clear emergency response plans and communications plans/pathways, planning and emergency response can be delayed.
    2. Not knowing how to effectively investigate an accident and report it can lead to similar accidents in the future. (Heinrich Pyramid)
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Successful completion and review of Field Safety Plans
    2. Adequate supervisor investigations in accident reports to ServiceNow
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Field Safety Plan, peer review of research, communications, and safety plans, and the continuance of fostering a culture of safety here at USU

Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

Priorities

  1. Review all approved protocols annually.
  2. Ensure labs with approval protocols meet the requirements of the BMBL 6th Edition.
  3. Ensure laboratory SOPs are updated and reviewed by all personnel at least annually.

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Help ensure funding is not jeopardized
    2. Enhance safety in all BSL-2&3 labs
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. With an annual review report
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. These will be on a case-by-case bases and then communicated and applied with other labs as applicable

Radiation Safety Committee

Priorities

  1. Ensure compliance with DWMRC
  2. Ensure all X-ray and radioactive material users are trained; establish laser training
  3. Routinely audit the system

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Maintains our license; supports the research enterprise; reduces health risks
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Tally of training; quantify accidents and violations at in-lab visits
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Departmental information sheet on equipment that requires authorization and/or training

Caine College Safety Priorities: AWARE

Priorities

  1. I: Identify Checklist-(a safety issue): training, safety, equipment, availability of safety items
  2. P: Prevention Annual training, review safety sheets SOP’s before operation.
  3. C: Correction Run & review training + work with the Safety Office to improve communication. Make sure safety equipment and literature is available.

Be AWARE

  1. A Actively participate in safety training.
  2. W Watch & Witness to ensure equipment is safely used.
  3. A Adjust and improve to create a keen awareness.
  4. R Respect each other and respect equipment.
  5. E Engage early to improve communication about SOP’s.

CAAS

Priorities

  1. Recommit to PPE
  2. Risk/safety assessments in classroom/teaching laboratory settings
  3. Census of safety plans in farm/field work settings

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Increase PPE compliance
    2. Expand vision beyond laboratories
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Dept self-evaluations
    2. Increase proportion of plans on hand
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. As needed in classroom/teaching labs

College of Engineering/Biological Engineering

Priorities

  1. Develop a shared digital chemical inventory.
  2. Develop standardized lab door placards indicating lab layout, hazards, emergency resources.
  3. Develop online resources for lab use requirements.

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Will facilitate tracking, storage, sharing, disposal of all chemicals
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Real-time updates on a web server or box folder
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Link key card lab access to required user trainings as posted on each lab door

College of Humanities and Social Science

Priorities

  1. Create an evacuation plan for emergencies
  2. Ensure all employees are trained on the evacuation plan
  3. Ensure employees & students have clear access to the evacuation plan

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. This is impactful because the Staff Committee isn’t aware of an evacuation plan
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Improvements will be measured by training per department
  3. Distribution
    1. This information will be distributed with the help of the college’s staff committee

College of Science

Priorities

  1. Maintain safety infrastructure to deal with fainting incidents during tours of Cadaver lab
  2. Improve safety instruction for field trips
  3. Campus-wide: separation of electric wheeled and pedestrian traffic on paved pathways

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. CoS has fainting incidents during tours of Cadaver lab every year
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Possible reduction of incidents
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Open to suggestions

College of Education and Human Services

Priorities

  1. Review safety incidents from past three years and identify common safety concerns in the college.
  2. Ensure all employees are trained on how to submit an accident report.
  3. Review Emergency Response Plans for College

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. 1 & 3 will provide insights into safety issues and preparedness. 2 will train faculty in accurate and timely reporting
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Safety representatives will discuss, identify gaps, and report at semesterly safety committee meetings
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Identification of common safety concerns (1) and challenges will allow the development of new prevention measures and better trained employees (2 & 3) will promote a safer environment.

Extension

Priorities

  1. Provide participants, including youth, with safe educational experiences
  2. Train volunteers on safety related policies and procedures
  3. Off- and On-campus Extension faculty using county-owned, public, or private facilities should be knowledgeable of local emergency/safety plans

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Extension faculty provide experiential learning opportunities throughout the state in a variety of settings, many of which are not controlled by USU.
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Volunteer background checks and trainings; participant enrollment; staff and volunteers trained in safety-related policies and procedures.
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Improvements and best practices will be discussed in the SC Safety Meeting, staff meetings, and county director meetings. Trainings will be provided as needed.

Jon M Huntsman School of Business

Priorities

  1. Proper AED Training to employees.
  2. Find a better way to give actual addresses of locations on campuses, and train staff.
  3. Educate employees and give them the number to contact Facilities in the winter months to report icy or slick spots.

Why & How?

  1. Increases survival rates curing cardiac emergencies (staff training required).
  2. Enhances response time for emergency services.
  3. Reduces risk of slips, trips, and falls in winter months.

QCNR

Priorities

  1. Maintain Safety Plans
  2. Maintain Communication of Common Risks, Injuries, and Remedies to Members of our College.
  3. Increase Support for Spot Trackers, Satellite Phones

Why & How?

  1. These can be updated for annual review and posted on department websites to keep everyone up to date.

Fire Marshal's Office

Priorities

  1. Meet OSHA requirements on construction site visits by wearing hard hats, safety glasses, hard toe boots, and safety vests.
  2. Wear proper PPE when the need arises to enter BLS-3 labs and research areas.
  3. Obtain and wear “crampons” while walking around on campus during extremely icy conditions.

Why & How?

  1. Items #1 and #2 are already requirements and have impact not only for the safety of my employees, but also shows that we respect the safety environment established by the construction companies and the lab personnel.
  2. Zero injuries.
  3. Crampons would be a new measure to keep employees from injuries due to slipping on ice. This would result in less injuries reported to Workman’s Comp, reduced time off of work, and potentially improve quality of life for employees.

Department of Public Safety

Priorities

  1. Ensure all employees are aware properly trained on all safety requirements as they pertain to their respective assignments.
  2. Ensure all employees are trained on how to submit an accident report.
  3. Ensure employees receive proper training of equipment before use.

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. It provides a clear understanding of all safety requirements that employees are expected to follow. Understanding and knowing the reporting routes go hand in hand.
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Tracking of all requirements and training of employees.
    2. Number of incidents vs number of reports officially submitted.
  3. New/preventative measures?
    1. Department safety officer/champion.
    2. Creation of training and tracking sheets.

Dining Services

Priorities

  1. Update Knife Safety Training and make sure all employees complete annually.
  2. Replace flooring in dish room.
  3. Update Safety training to include proper lifting and team lift guidelines and have employees complete annually.

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Our most common causes of accidents are cuts, slips, muscle strains, and burns. These address 3 of the 4.
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Safety trainings will be tracked in Learn Blue. Floor will be replaced in May.
  3. New/ Preventative Measures?
    1. Safety concerns will be reviewed in manager meetings to ensure we are addressing most pressing issues.

Facilities

Priorities

  1. Emergency Response Plan
  2. New Hire Safety Onboarding
  3. Meet with Area Supervisors that have high frequency of injuries

Why & How?

  1. Overall impact will be an increased preparedness in responding to emergency situations
    1. Measurement: fully developed plan and implementation.
  2. Data analysis has shown new hires with less than 1 year on the job suffer injuries at a greater rate than their peers. 
    1. Measurement: Reduction in new hire injuries.
  3. Supervisors have meaningful impact on expectation of safety among their crew.
    1. Measurement: Meet with all identified area supervisors which leads to reduction of injuries within those areas.

Department of Libraries

Priorities

  1. Update Emergency Response Plans
  2. Provide Employees emergency trainings on varying topics
  3. Conduct Slip/Fall hazard assessment

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. Ensure safe operations and environment for patrons and employees
  2. How will improvement be measured?
    1. Safety Committee will review the Emergency Response Plan and update with campus in the current FY, facilitate an employee training on Active Shooter response, and conduct a slip/fall assessment of the building working with appropriate divisional employees. 
  3. New/ Preventative Measures?
    1. New issues and appropriate remedies will be implemented generated from the feedback and problems identified by the Safety Committee.

Statewide Campuses

Priorities

  1. Emergency Response Plans
  2. Train employees for emergencies
    1. Identify relevant trainings
  3. Conduct a Security Site Assessment
    1. Use Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles to identify gaps and determine actions

Why & How?

  1. Why are these impactful?
    1. 1 & 2. Creating ERPs and training employees will save lives in the most critical situations.
    2. 3. Identifying areas to improve will help us to prioritized and act.
  2. How will improvement be measured? 
    1. SC Safety Reps will identify current status, track progress, and report in SC Safety Meeting.
  3. New/preventative measures? 
    1. Improvements and best practices will be discussed in the SC Safety Meeting to increase implementation of effective measures. 

Division of Student Affairs

Priorities

  1. Record trainings and certifications within division 
    1. Current training and certified trainers
  2. Reporting
    1. Standardize reporting channels
  3. Education
    1. Who has obligation to report? Eliminate stigma around reporting

Why & How?

  1. Report on what trainings are currently required and offered within Division 
  2. Document standard procedures for division reporting
  3. Educate current staff/students along with onboarding new hires

Safety Committee Priorities not provided for

  • Housing
  • Risk Control Committee
  • Staff Employees Association