DOCUMENT NUMBER: 301
ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 1996

REVISION DATE: APRIL 2003
SUBJECT: Employee Safety Training Procedure

OBJECTIVE: To ensure employees are familiar with hazards associated with their jobs and to reduce the potential for accidents that may cause injury, and/or illness, to employees and the public. To prevent loss to University of Alaska property.

SCOPE: Applies to all University of Alaska Fairbanks employees.

A. University of Alaska Fairbanks Deans, Directors, and Department Heads

1. Ensure new employees receive Safety Orientation Training.

2. Coordinate with Environmental Health & Safety and Risk Management (EHS&RM) to arrange for employee training unique to their job assignments.

3. Conduct in-service training activities for review, and/or to address new issues.

4. Maintain records of employee training.

5. Cooperate with EHS&RM when training recommendations are indicated.


B. Environmental Health & Safety and Risk Management Department

1. Provide regular safety training classes of a general interest.

2. Distribute a schedule of training classes.

3. Coordinate with deans, directors, and department heads to provide employee safety training.

4. Provide assistance, where needed, for development, and/or coordination for specific training needs.

5. Maintain a safety training library.

6. Review and evaluate training programs, in order to maintain a high level of effectiveness and interest in safety subjects.
 

C. Employees

1. Attend safety training classes scheduled and participate in the activities.

2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the training classes and provide feedback for improvement, or indicate additional subjects of interest.

3. Study materials provided at training classes and apply the knowledge to job tasks.
 
 

Safety education is important for several reasons. A task completed safely will also be completed correctly, efficiently, and with a high degree of satisfaction. Also, OSHA requires employers to follow established safe work procedures. The requirement assumes that employees have been instructed and that it is the employersduty to ensure that they have been. To meet OSHA obligation, and raise the level of safety awareness, two education programs are required.

A. New Employee Safety Training
1. Before employees may begin to perform the specific duties for which they were hired, they must read and sign a New Employee Safe Work Practices checklist. A new employee is any person new to your department or operation. Transfers from other departments, experienced applicants, and those new to your type of work should be treated the same.

2. The completed New Employee Checklist must be kept with the employees' file (see Appendix A, this section).

B. Safety Training for All Employees
1. Periodically by department (monthly and as needed).

2. Before a new process, or piece of equipment, is to be put into operation.

3. Annual refresher to maintain certification or competence.

4. When situations call for pre-operations training, to ensure a safe operation or procedure. 

C. Instructional Meeting Content
1. Instructional meeting content should consist of a specific safety subject directly related to operational safety.

A. All training activities should be documented. This documentation should include the name of the trainer, the name(s) of the employee(s) trained, the subject of the training, the date and duration of the training, and the title of the lesson plan that was used.

B. Records should be retained and distributed as follows:

1. Copy to EHS&RM
2. Copy to Department Training File
3. Copy to Employee File

A. Training resources are available from a number of sources:

1. EHS&RM Department
2. Local Fire and Emergency Services
3. National Safety Council
4. Consultants/Safety Professionals
  

A. ASBESTOS REMOVAL AND CONTROL PROGRAM

The Asbestos Removal Control Program consists of instruction for all maintenance and custodial personnel, as to the type and location of asbestos-containing building materials on campus, and the probability of their encountering this material in the normal course of their activities. This instruction should be provided to them by their specific supervisor as part of the Right-to-Know Training Program. Specific employees in the trades, who will be working with asbestos-containing materials, will be required to attend and complete a state certified asbestos worker training course. Only state certified asbestos workers will be allowed to work directly with asbestos-containing materials at UAF.

B. DRIVING PROGRAM

Contact EHS&RM for specifics.

C. EMERGENCY AND NATURAL DISASTER PLAN

Training in this area will include a discussion of our existing emergency plan, or civil defense plan, as it was intended to be, and discussion as how to deal with civil defense emergencies at the present time.

D. FIELD SAFETY PROGRAM

Training in field safety will cover our concerns, relative to people operating at remote sites, and under field conditions without adequate support services.

E. HAZARD COMMUNICATION PROGRAM

This training will consist of the following:

1. An initial overview of the history, and need for, hazard communication in the workplace, citing specific examples of injuries that have taken place due to the lack of such training.

2. A discussion of various kinds of hazards that may be encountered in the workplace. These would be physical hazards, chemical hazards, and stress-creating, or inducing, operational situations.

3. A detailed discussion of the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), and all of its components, with examples, handed out. This would include discussions of the various definitions, and their application in the workplace, in things such as, threshold limit value and various exposure limits.

4. A discussion of the need to properly post work areas, and provide accessibility to the Material Safety Data Sheets, for physical and chemical agents in each unit.
  

F. HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PROGRAM

Hazardous materials training will be provided to all employees. UAF has adopted a Hazard Communication Manual and training has been provided for all Unit Safety Coordinators. Training for Unit Safety Coordinators will be provided periodically as new assignments are made. The Unit Safety Coordinator, using the Hazard Communication Manual as a guidance document, will provide Right-to-Know Training for all employees in their areas, covering both hazard materials and hazard physical agents. Basically, the program provides:

1. All hazards, both chemical and physical, in the work area will be listed and an inventory maintained.

2. An MSDS; i.e., Material Safety Data Sheet, for each identifiable hazard will be maintained in the workplace, readily accessible to any employee.

3. All hazardous materials, on the work site, will have a labeling system in place. Either an acceptable manufacturer's labeling system that is easy to understand, and meets the criteria of the Hazard Communication Manual, or a substitute label following the NFPA 704 Standard.

4. The Hazard Communication Written Program Manual will be available for review by any employee.

5. Employee training on hazardous materials, and hazardous physical agents will be conducted on a regular basis.
  

G. HAZARDOUS PAINTING PROGRAM

The Hazardous Painting Certification Program will include written, as well as practical, testing in methods of ventilation, respirator selection, chemical reaction to body tissue, proper use of painting tools, knowledge of relevant health and safety laws and regulations, as well as some discussion of relevant portions of state occupational safety and health standards as referenced under 8 AAC 61.010. Our program will be conducted by an individual certified under the state program to conduct the course and should last approximately eight hours.

H. HAZARDOUS WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM (HazWOpER)

Training will consist of:

1. Background and history of environmental incidents on, or around, the campus.

2. Standard Operating Procedures, general measurements, and requirements necessary in dealing with an environmental incident.

3. Survey and reconnaissance of various levels of protection.

4. Site control in setting up workstations.

5. Site control in setting up decontamination stations.
 

It will also cover some training in this area which parallels the fire departments' incident command system.

I. LABORATORY SAFETY PROGRAM

UAF has adopted, by reference, the Laboratory Safety Manual, produced by the Alaska Public Health Laboratory. This safety training program will cover the following areas:

1. General Guidelines

2. Disaster Planning

3. Emergency Procedures

4. Dangerous Chemicals or Infectious Agents

5. Fire or Earthquake

6. Fire Precautions in the Laboratory

7. Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Flammable Liquids

8. Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Various Laboratory Chemicals

9. Dealing with carcinogenic materials; compressed gases; various equipment and machinery found in the laboratory; and the proper use and handling of personal protective equipment. This program will cover the proper handling, and processing, of biohazard materials, including waste disposal.
  

J. PESTICIDE SAFETY PROGRAM

Safety training in handling and use of pesticides consists of the following areas:

1. Protecting your body: what you should wear, protective clothing, and what types of other protective equipment.

2. Personal clean up and operational methods, such as, entering and leaving treated areas.

3. It will also cover handling pesticides safely, transportation of pesticides, pesticide storage, mixing and loading pesticides, safety guidelines, and enclosed handling systems.

4. Pesticide application, cleaning equipment and proper disposal. What to do with excess pesticides and how to deal with containers.

5. Clean up of pesticide spills (minor or major spills).

6. First aid and pesticide poisoning recognition. This will include some basic first aid, pesticide poisoning recognition, pesticide indexes, and the effects of pesticide chemicals on the human body.

K. RESPIRATORY PROTECTION PROGRAM

1. An introduction to the history and use of respiratory protection in the industry.

2. An outline of employer/employee responsibilities.

3. How to properly select a respirator specific to the application, use or training.

4. How to properly test and fit a respirator; inspection and repair of respirators.

5. Record keeping; cleaning and disinfecting; storage of respirators; and other emergency equipment.

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All employees are expected to observe the safety rules listed in the University of Alaska Fairbanks Safety Program Manual, along with specific department job related rules discussed by your dean, director, or department head.

Prior to your starting work, your dean, director, department head, or supervisor will go through the following checklist to familiarize you with the UAF programs. You will then sign and retain a copy of this for your records.

(Check off each item as you discuss, or perform, task with employee.)

_____ 1. Review UAF Safety Policy

_____ 2. Review general facility safety rules

_____ 3. Review department and job related safety rules

_____ 4. Issue personal protective equipment

_____ 5. Tour of facility and department

_____ 6. Review facility fire and emergency procedures

_____ 7. Procedures for accident reporting

_____ 8. Housekeeping and clean up procedures

_____ 9. Hazard Communication

_____10. Others________________________________________________

I, _________________________, have discussed these items with my supervisor, agree to abide by same, and have received a copy for my file.

EMPLOYEE
SIGNATURE:_______________________DATE:_________________

SUPERVISOR'S
SIGNATURE:__________________DATE:___________________

Distribution:

Employee (copy)
Personnel File at Human Resources (original)
University of Alaska Fairbanks Department Head File (copy)

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