Information for Supervisors

SUPERVISOR TRAINING CLASSES

Safety training is a fundamental responsibility of all supervisors, including principal investigators, lab directors, class instructors, and shop supervisors for which Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management (EHS&RM) continues to provide responsive assistance.

UAF's policy on Employee Safety Training Procedures #301, states that all Deans, Directors, and Department Heads are responsible for ensuring new employees receive Safety Orientation Training, coordinate with EHS&RM to arrange for employee training unique to their job assignments, conduct in-service training activities for review, and/or to address new issues, maintain records of employee training, and cooperate with EHS&RM when training recommendations are indicated.

Additional instruction must also be provided whenever a new hazard is introduced in the work area or laboratory. Supervisors are also responsible for communicating specific information to their staffs and/or students concerning safety procedures to be followed for all routine and non-routine laboratory or maintenance tasks involving hazardous materials. Employees and students are to be informed of any new information concerning potential hazards as it becomes available. If laboratory work involving chemicals is part of an academic course, it is the instructor's responsibility to include safety training on the course's specific chemical hazards as part of the curriculum.

If you have any questions, please contact the Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management main telephone at 474-5413.

Accidents and Incidents

Injured on the Job - What To Do

If an employee sustains an injury on the job, or while performing work related functions off campus there are a number of things a supervisor must do.

FIRST, if needed, provide immediate medical assistance, call 911 or x7721 for emergency dispatch. If the individual receives medical assistance and/or has time loss a "Report of Occupational Injury or Illness" must be filled out and distributed within 10 days of the incident/accident. Contact 474-5413 for the form. Click here for information on how to fill out form.

If your employee sustains a fatal injury the Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management office MUST be notified within 8 hours.

If your employee is hospitalized (admitted to the hospital) then Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management MUST be notified within 8 hours.

The two reporting requirements above are important as OSHA has strict rules stating the employer will report to them within 8 hours. The Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management office will be the contact with OSHA. During non-business hours, holidays and weekends (when EHS&RM is not open), contact 474-7721.

Information you will need at the time of call:

If an employee goes to the hospital for treatment the supervisor should follow up with the hospital to ascertain if the employee was admitted. The follow-up on hospitalization is crucial!

If an injury occurs but does not require medical treatment of any kind, an "Incident Report" should be filled out. This report can then be sent electronically to Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management.

Ergonomics

Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management has developed a comprehensive Ergonomic Program at UAF. The program has three phases; phase one, an educational seminar (one hour); phase two, on-site evaluation, and phase three, corrective actions. Safety Officer, Annette Chism is the program director, if you have any questions regarding ergonomics, please contact her at 474-5413.

Although, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) final rule on Ergonomics was repealed by President Bush, the university is still responsible for injuries sustained due to ergonomics under 29 CFR 1910. The responsibility to ensure employees are not in discomfort due to poor ergonomics rests with individual departments. Purchasing of equipment recommended in the evaluation will be made by your department. There may be some situations where Loss Prevention money may be available; however, this is not a guarantee.

As employees have become more aware of the Ergonomic Program there have been numerous requests for on-site evaluations. EHS&RM has been attending department staff meetings to introduce the program by completing phase one - the one hour educational training session. This training highlights ergonomic principles, how to maximize what you already have, exercises and a section on what can potentially harm you. After the training session the employees return to their workstations and apply the principles they learned. On-site evaluations are then offered to those who would like one.

EHS&RM fields many calls from individuals requesting a new chair, as they feel their chair is inadequate. It is extremely time consuming to do one on-site evaluation, cover all that is in the one hour training, then perform the one-on-one evaluation, only to have someone else in the office now wanting an evaluation. This is the reason for the staff meeting approach, it saves time for your department and for the safety officer. Below is a guideline showing indications of a need for ergonomic evaluation. If you, as the supervisor, answer yes to any of the questions it is a very good indication the training class and evaluations should be performed.

Indication of Need for Ergonomic Evaluation

Training Classes Required

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) requires a wide range of training classes be offered to employees when the work is related to certain topics. Use the matrix below to determine your department's environmental, health and safety compliance responsibilities. Listed below are programs and training that your department may be required to have in place. Contact Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management for further information (474-5413.)

Specific Federal OSHA Standards That Mandate Training

Page last update on 4/14/08 by A.Chism