1. Employee Responsibilities
  2. Supervisor Responsibilities
  3. Management Responsibilities
  4. Orientation and Training
  5. Safety Committees
  6. Ergonomic Assessments
  7. Industrial Hygiene
  8. Infectious Disease
  9. Blood Borne Pathogens
  10. Occupational Accident Resulting in Injury or Fatality
  11. Discipline
  12. Wellness Initiative


Employee Responsibilities

Foundational Knowledge
Employees must be familiar with safety protocols for their workplace. All employees will attend new employee orientation that includes safety information. Employees who require job specific training due to potential workplace hazards must attend safety orientation and successfully complete job-specific training before working in that job. As conditions change, employees must participate in on-going training related to updated information.

Expectations

  1. Follow all safety and health rules described in Policy 209, delivered in training and all WISHA safety standards.
  2. Participate in required emergency preparedness activities, such as lockdown, fire and earthquake drills.
  3. Report unsafe conditions or actions to the immediate supervisor or safety committee representative promptly.
  4. Report any and all injuries to the supervisor or security staff promptly using accident/incident report form.
  5. Report all near-miss incidents to the supervisor, security staff or safety committee representative promptly.

Recommendations
Employees are encouraged to take an active role in the identification and prevention of hazards to maintain a culture of safety.

  1. Encourage co-workers by your words and example to use safe work practices.
  2. Make suggestions to the supervisor, safety committee representative or management about changes you believe would improve safety.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Supervisors are responsible for the safety of their employees and must regularly check the workplace for unsafe conditions, watch for unsafe practices, and take prompt action to eliminate any and all hazards.

Supervisors must:

  1. Understand and be able to explain current safety and health rules applicable to their areas
  2. Ensure all safety and health rules, standards, and procedures are followed
  3. Ensure that each employee receives workplace specific orientation training before starting work
  4. Ensure that an employee is fully trained and authorized to use any required equipment, including cleaning products, pesticides or other hazardous materials
  5. Work with Human Resources and the Environmental Health and Safety manager to record and maintain records for department specific training
  6. Monitor and enforce use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
  7. Correct unsafe practices
  8. Correct or report unsafe conditions
  9. Monitor employee safety performance, with special attention to fatigue and possible impairment
  10. Provide on-going training and discipline as needed to ensure employee compliance with this plan
  11. Investigate and report any occupational safety incident resulting in injury or illness

Management Responsibilities

College leadership at all levels, including but not limited to Deans, Directors, VPs and Presidents will support the College’s culture of safety by providing the planning, direction, and resources necessary to create a safe college environment.

  1. Managers should ensure funds are budgeted for safety equipment, training, and other needs.
  2. Managers will empower supervisors and hold them accountable for incident prevention, reporting and compliance.
  3. Managers must ensure all incidents are investigated and corrective actions taken in a timely manner to prevent reoccurrence.
  4. Managers will monitor vendors and contractors to ensure compliance with Seattle Colleges’ policies and industry safety standards.
  5. Managers will include safety as a standing agenda item for all meetings to review any current safety issues relevant to the group.
  6. Managers will ensure that all meetings begin with a review of emergency response procedures when attendees are unfamiliar with the space.

Orientation and Training

Employee Safety
A workplace specific orientation will occur before employees begin their initial work assignment. This includes every new employee and any employee transferring into a new department. This training will include:

  1. The location of first aid and safety equipment in the work area
  2. The location of the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and how to read and understand the terms and symbols therein (hazard communication training)
  3. Demonstration of safe practices for assigned tasks
  4. The use and care of any required personal protective equipment (PPE)
  5. Identification of all site-specific hazards in the work area

A general safety orientation will occur within the first month of the initial assignment. This includes every new employee and any employee transferring into a new department. This training will include:

  1. A review of the safety policy and procedures in Policy 209
  2. How to report unsafe conditions or practices
  3. How and when to report on the job injuries
  4. Information about the campus safety committees
  5. A review of emergency procedures

The Environmental Health and Safety manager will work with Human Resources to maintain records of safety trainings.

Student Safety

Students enrolled in classes or programs where they have exposure to hazards will receive training and instruction and personal protective equipment from the instructor teaching the course prior to exposure.

Additional safety orientations and information will occur as appropriate, to orient students to new programs, equipment, laboratories and workshops.


Safety Committees

Seattle Colleges Safety Committees are formed in accordance with the provisions of WAC 296-800-13020 and WAC 296-800-13025.

Each campus of Seattle Colleges has a safety committee that meets monthly to identify safety issues, develop solutions, review incident reports, maintain a safety bulletin board, and evaluate the effectiveness of the safety program.

Each safety committee is governed by a charter. The Charter outlines procedures that align with Seattle Colleges’ policy. Charters are available for public review on each campus website.

The committee is composed of management-designated representatives and employees.

  1. Employees must outnumber management representatives on the committee.
  2. The security director is a required member. In the case of occasional absence, a designee may represent the security director.
  3. A chairperson will be elected by majority vote of the committee members each year. The chair is responsible to ensure minutes are kept and posted publicly.
  4. Each member of the committee is responsible for bringing forward safety and health concerns.

Ergonomic Assessments

Employees may request an ergonomic assessment of their workstation by contacting Human Resources. If the assessment indicates that accommodations or modifications are recommended, the college will take steps, including following the Reasonable Accommodation policy to respond to the recommendations.

For disability related accommodations, employees should contact Human Resources.


Industrial Hygiene

  1. Always use the personal protective equipment (PPE) issued when needed and keep such equipment in a safe and usable condition.
  2. Check the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for any new product before using to determine what PPE may be required.
  3. Never remove or disable a safety device or safeguard provided for employee protection.
  4. Report any hazards or accidents to your supervisor or a safety committee representative.

Infectious Disease

Employees are asked to stay home when they are ill.

In the event of a pandemic, the district will deliver essential services through activation of our Incident Command System (ICS) plan, utilizing options such as telecommuting.


Blood Borne Pathogens

All employees must take precautions when dealing with blood or any human body fluids. These universal precautions are to wear gloves, use appropriate disinfectant, and thoroughly wash hands before and after removing gloves. If an employee responds to a minor injury, they should take steps to protect themselves from blood borne pathogens and other potential infectious agents, by:

  1. Assuming all blood is infectious. HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C may be present in blood. Viruses such as Cytomegalovirus can be present in urine and saliva.
  2. Employees, unless qualified by training and within the scope of their job description, are NOT required to perform first aid as a part of their duties.
  3. Employees should report discarded sharps (e.g. needles) to the public safety office/security for removal.
  4. Employees should report the presence of blood or body fluids to facilities/plant operations for removal and disinfection.

Occupational Accident Resulting in Injury or Fatality

  1. DO NOT DISTURB THE SCENE EXCEPT TO AID IN RESCUE OR MAKE THE SCENE SAFE.
  2. Any incident that results in a fatality or an employee’s admission to a hospital must be reported to Labor and Industries within eight (8) hours.
    1. The toll-free notification number is 1-800-321-6742.
    2. The injured employee’s supervisor must speak with an L&I representative. Email, fax or answering machine notifications are not acceptable.
    3. The report must include:
      1. Employer name
      2. Location and time of incident
      3. Number of employees involved
      4. Extent of injury or illness
      5. A brief description of what occurred
      6. Name and phone number of a contact person
  3. Investigation
    1. Whenever an incident results in a death or serious injury, a preliminary investigation will be conducted by a team consisting of:
      1. the immediate supervisor of the injured person, and
      2. a person designated by management, and
      3. an employee representative of the safety committee, and
      4. as needed, any other person whose expertise would help the investigation.
    2. The investigation team will take written statements from any witnesses, photograph the scene, including any equipment involved.
    3. The team will document, as soon as possible, the condition of equipment and anything in the work area that is considered relevant.
      1. The team will write an “incident investigation report” of its findings.
      2. The report will be reviewed by the senior management and the safety committee and shall include:
        1. Sequence of events leading to the incident
        2. Conclusions about the incident
        3. Recommendations to prevent future similar incidents
  4. Seattle Colleges recognizes the following definitions for use in reporting:
    1. Major (Serious) Injury: Injury that results in death, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of eye(s).
    2. Minor Injury: Injury that required emergency medical treatment. Examples include bone break or fracture, burn or laceration, or an injury that required a visit to an employee’s personal physician or outpatient clinic.

Discipline

Employees are expected to use good judgment when doing their work and to follow established safety rules. The supervisor will bring unacceptable behavior to the employee’s attention in a way that motivates the employee to correct the behavior. The District will adhere to the relevant collective bargaining agreements in any disciplinary action for failure to follow safety rules.


Wellness Initiative

Seattle Colleges strives to be a healthy and rewarding place to work and study. Toward this end, employees are encouraged to use the available fitness facilities for a nominal fee. The fee amount is set by each individual campus.

Emotional health is supported for state employees through the state’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Managers are encouraged to recommend any employee to EAP whenever they believe it would be helpful.



Companion Document : Pol
Adoption Date : 2018/10/18
Revision Date : 0001/01/01