Organization of the SEAS/Physics/EPS Safety Committee

1. Chairperson and the Executive Committee
2. Members at Large - Safety Officers
3. Consultants
4. Instructors
5. SEAS Faculty Committee

Chairperson and the Executive Committee

The Chairperson of the Committee is responsible for the content and efficiency of the safety program. The chair ensures that all of the delegated work is carried out. The chair schedules meetings, forms the Subcommittees, and develops systems to track the progress of the program.

The Executive Committee consists of the Chairperson, the Associate Dean for Administration, the Director of the Physics Laboratories, the Assistant to the Dean for Facilities in SEAS, and the Building and Facilities Manager in the Physics Department. It provides the official interface between the Committee and the faculty. Any issues that cannot be resolved by the individual Safety Officers are brought before the Executive Committee. Major policy decisions or changes in direction should be discussed by the Executive Committee before being presented to the committee at large.

Members at Large - Safety Officers

The membership at large are all defined as Safety Officers and should have representation from all research laboratories in the School and Physics.

In addition, the full Committee should have the following representation:

1. At least 3 people from the Engineering Sciences Laboratory; one from each floor or group.These people can be graduate students or staff.
2. At least one representative per floor in Gordon Mckay Lab.
3. All technicians who interact with either graduate students or undergraduates in teaching or research labs.
4. One machinist from each department.
5. At least one graduate student who works in Pierce Hall.
6. At least one person from Aiken Lab.
7. At least one person from Lyman Lab.
8. At least one person from Jefferson Lab.
9. Administrative representatives who can help address generalized safety issues, and can help with the flow of paper work.
10. Others whom might have particular expertise or interest that would benefit the Committee.

The student/post doctoral fellow members of the Safety Committee should be changed every two to four years as a method of spreading an awareness of safety throughout our community. Ex- officio members serve as a positive influence for the overall safety program. Technical staff who year in and year out work with new, incoming students, should be permanent members of the Committee. One person should be designated the role as Scribe. The Scribe is responsible for recording the minutes of each meeting and distributing these minutes.

Safety Officers function as the liaison between students and staff. Safety Officers also function as Fire Marshals. In this role, they must familiarize themselves with the egress paths in their areas so that they can direct the flow of traffic in the event of a fire and must develop an evacuation plan for their area. They must have an up-to-date listing of the people in their area so that it can easily be determined if everyone has left the building in case of an emergency. They must identify any individuals in their area who might need special assistance during a building emergency.

The Safety Coordinator is a part-time staff position who reports to the Chair. This person is also available to coordinate and expedite any safety related matters and might also serve as Scribe.

The Safety Committee representatives

Consultants

From time to time the Safety Committee is in need of external expertise. For example, for questions pertaining to radiation or asbestos, outside help is desirable and/or necessary. The Environmental Health and Safety office has traditionally filled this role. There must be strong lines of communication between the Committee and this office. The Associate Director of EH&S (for FAS) is invited to every Safety Committee meeting. The Environmental Health and Safety representative delivers an update at these meetings regarding university-wide aspects of safety, regulations, or safety policy.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences Safety Coordinator, a position currently filled by the Director of the Biological Laboratories, serves to ensure that the general safety practices as outlined by FAS administration are not violated. He also serves as another source of safety expertise.

Instructors

An integral part of the safety program has been the Seminar Safety Series. For this series of talks, which is described elsewhere in this documentation package, it historically been necessary to recruit instructors who are not regular members of the Safety Committee. Instructors have been recruited from within the School, the Chemistry department, the office of Environmental Health and Safety, and from OSHA.

SEAS Faculty Committee

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has a standing faculty committee on safety. This committee meets concurrently with the staff committee.