Safety Committee

Purpose

The purpose of the Safety Committee is to bring all Linfield University employees together to achieve and maintain a safe, healthful environment.

Goal

The goal of the safety committee is to eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses by involving all employees and students in identifying hazards and suggesting how to prevent them. Members of the committees are expected to have an interest in accident prevention, occupational health and a willingness to work in support of this important university effort.

Objectives

The safety committee has four objectives:

1. Involve employees in achieving a safe, healthful workplace.
2. Promptly review all safety-related incidents, injuries, accidents, illnesses and deaths.
3. Conduct quarterly workplace inspections, identify hazards and recommend methods for eliminating or controlling the hazards.
4. Annually evaluate Linfield University workplace safety and health program and recommend improvements to management.

Campus involvement

The safety committee will encourage employees and students to identify health and safety hazards in the workplace. Concerns raised by employees and students will be presented to the committee in writing; the committee will review new concerns at the next regularly scheduled monthly meeting. You may bring any safety issues to the attention of the committee by e-mail to the director of EH&S: estenehjem@linfield.edu or call 503-883-2431 for assistance.

Organizational structure

McMinnville campus committee members

• Standing members:
  • Director of EH&S
  • Director of Linfield Public Safety
  • Utility trades manager
  • Senior associate athletic director, responsible for the HHPA facilities
• One lab coordinators (biology, chemistry, physics or environmental science). Member may be recruited by academic affairs and approved by Staff Council.
• Two faculty representatives appointed by the Faculty Senate. One faculty member representing the sciences and one at-large faculty member.
• Two facilities services employees (cleaning services, utility trades, building trades, grounds or auxiliary services). These members may be recruited by the facility services department and approved by Staff Council.
• One staff member representing the Linfield campus community nominated and approved by Staff Council.
• One student representative nominated by Associated Students of Linfield University (ASLU).

The director of EH&S will:

• Chair the meetings
• Communicate with the committee
• Schedule regular committee meetings
• Develop written agendas for conducting meetings
• Prepare meeting minutes

Portland campus committee members

• Standing Members:
  • Director of Portland operations
  • Director of EH&S
  • Director of public safety
  • Experiential learning center manager
• One Portland faculty representative nominated by Faculty Senate.
• One Portland staff representative nominated by Staff Council.
• One student representative nominated by School of Nursing ASLU.

The director of Portland operations will coordinate the committee.

• Communicate with the committee
• Schedule regular committee meetings
• Develop written agendas for conducting meetings
• Prepare meeting minutes

Meetings

Monthly schedule

The safety committees will meet at an agreed-upon time each month, except when the committee conducts quarterly workplace safety inspections.

Agenda

The agenda will state the order in which the safety committee conducts its business. The agenda also will include the following when applicable:

• A review of new safety and health concerns.
• A status report of employee safety and health concerns under review.
• A review of all workplace near misses, accidents, illness, or deaths occurring since the last committee meeting.

Minutes

Minutes will be recorded at each safety committee meeting and be distributed by posting on Sharepoint for all university employees.

The committees will submit a copy of the minutes to the EH&S office; the office will retain the copy for three years. All reports, evaluations and recommendations of the committee will be included in the minutes. The minutes also will identify representatives who attended monthly meetings and representatives who were absent.

Training

New representatives will receive training in safety committee functions, hazard identification and procedures for investigating accidents from the director of EH&S.

Safety log

The committees will maintain a log of all employee and student safety concerns, including the date received, recommendations to management and the date the concern was resolved.

Response to concerns

The committees will respond to employee and student concerns in writing and work with the director of EH&S and the VP for finance and administration to resolve them. The committees will present written recommendations for resolving concerns to the VP for finance and administration. Within 60 days of receiving the written recommendations, the VP for finance and administration will respond in writing to the committee indicating acceptance, rejection, or modification of the recommendations.

Incident and accident investigation

The safety committees will review new safety or health-related incidents at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Safety-related incidents include work-related near misses, injuries, illnesses and deaths. When necessary, the committee will provide written recommendations to the VP for finance and administration eliminating or control­ling hazards.

Workplace inspections

The safety committees will conduct quarterly workplace inspections of university facilities and provide a written report.

1. The written report will be presented to the university leadership team which documents the location of all health or safety hazards found during inspection. The report will recommend options for eliminating or controlling the hazards.
2. Within 60 days of receiving the written report, the leadership team will respond in writing to the committee, indicating acceptance, rejection or proposed modification of the recommendations.

Annual evaluation

The safety committees will evaluate Linfield University’s workplace safety and health program and provide a written evaluation of the program to management.

The committees will also evaluate their own activities annually and use the evaluation to develop an action plan for the next calendar year.