Safety coordinators are the liaison between their departments, researchers, and EHS. They help to resolve issues by answering researcher’s questions, correcting or elevating issues, and disseminating information about safety and environmental health issues and topics.
Safety coordinators complete the following tasks:
- Act as safety liaison between the academic or research operations and EHS, and assume the authority delegated by the dean or chair to deal with safety or environmental issues that arise during research operations.
- Disseminate all safety and environmental information to appropriate personnel in the department. This may be educational material, posters, signage, or specific changes in safety or environmental rules or practices.
- Perform periodic walk-throughs of academic laboratory and research areas to identify safety or environmental issues that require mitigation or reporting to EHS.
- Work with academic or research faculty and staff in resolving questions or raising concerns to appropriate authorities.
- Notify both the unit safety committee and EHS of potential safety hazards, exposures, accidents, injuries, illnesses, spills, releases, near misses, or other regulatory and environmental issues.
- Attend the annual EHS training program for Safety Coordinators and any other training recommended by EHS or safety oversight committees.
- Respond in a timely manner to all reports of failures of individuals to adhere to safety or regulatory requirements.
