Responsible Executive: Executive Vice President for Business and Finance
I. PURPOSE
All faculty, staff, students, and administrators of Motlow State Community College (Motlow State) should work together to create and maintain a safe working and learning environment. In order to ensure this safe working and learning environment is established and maintained, this policy is created to define responsibilities, guidelines, and processes for Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).
II. GUIDELINES
- Motlow State Academic Deans have supervisory responsibilities to provide leadership on safety issues. Faculty and staff who supervise student workers or who work with students in labs, shops, studios, and other places where there are potentially hazardous machines, equipment, substances, or materials also have special responsibilities for helping ensure the safety of all those involved. Deans, department leads, faculty, and staff must also be concerned with the safety of students in normal classroom situations and in events they sponsor which are attended by the public. In addition, all personnel are required to follow all safety regulations and procedures, and to report immediately to the appropriate personnel all accidents and injuries, and to report potentially dangerous situations which might result in accidents and injuries.
- Deans and department leads should read or review the Employee Safety Handbook annually and provide departmental leadership to ensure a safe learning and working environment.
- Department leads should ensure faculty annually read or review the Employee Safety Handbook thoroughly. The faculty should assist the EHS Coordinator as requested by the department lead, should bring safety issues to the attention of the department lead and faculty as needed throughout the year, and should participate in safety training when offered by the EHS Coordinator. The EHS Coordinator, department lead and faculty should work together to ensure that all safety standards and regulations are met and observed.
- Academic personnel who work in labs, shops, studios, and other workplaces that have potentially hazardous machines, equipment, materials, or substances should read or review the safety manuals annually, conduct regular safety inspections in their work area, take appropriate training when offered by the EHS Coordinator, and take all appropriate and prescribed measures and precautions to ensure a safe working environment. Special attention should be given to precautionary procedures and safeguards and to the use of personal protective equipment, and to make certain all personnel in the area follow the safeguards and use the protective equipment.
- Academic Deans should address general safety issues each fall with all full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, and secretaries. Procedures for emergency situations should be discussed. Everyone should be aware of the nearest unobstructed building exit for all classrooms and workplaces and should at the first class or group meeting in the semester or term see that all students are aware of those exits. All course syllabi should contain a request for students with disabilities who would need assistance in an emergency evacuation to self-disclose that need to the instructor no later than in the second day of class or second group meeting. Following the self-disclosure, the instructor should discreetly secure volunteers from the class or work group to assist in evacuating students who require help. The instructor should make sure that the volunteers are given proper instructions on methods of evacuating students with disabilities, and particularly those who use motorized and non-motorized wheelchairs. Instruction must include that elevators are not to be used in a fire emergency.
- Academic Deans should see that all accidents and injuries within their units are properly reported as soon as possible after they occur and no later than three (3) business days after the occurrence. Departmental clerical personnel and faculty should also help ensure that all accidents and injuries are reported as soon as possible.
III. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY STATEMENT
It is the policy of Motlow State to provide its faculty, staff, and students with a workplace safe from recognized hazards and to protect the natural environment.
The commitments of the administration and employee involvement are complementary and form the core of any Environmental Health and Safety program. The administration of Motlow State provides the motivational direction and the resources for organizing and controlling activities within our family environment.
We regard safe and healthy campuses as a fundamental value of the organization along with our community focus of protecting our environment through sound practices and resource conservation. Accordingly, our mission is to:
- Develop an Oversight Team to monitor environmental health and safety practices of our campuses;
- Provide visible involvement in implementing our program(s) so that all of our associates understand that the administration’s commitment is serious;
- Furnish workplaces free from recognized hazards which are likely to cause death, illness, injury, and/or property damage;
- Comply fully, as a minimum standard, with all federal and state regulations involving environmental safety and health;
- Establish a Safety Committee representing all functions of Motlow State;
- Train employees in environmental safety and health procedures and regulations;
- Ensure that working safely and following good environmental practices is a condition of employment;
- Encourage employee participation and support in the identification and elimination of known hazards by developing procedures for reporting unsafe working practices or conditions; and
- Monitor progress towards a safer and healthier workplace and environment on a regular basis.
As all of us strive to accomplish our mission to adhere to strong environmental safety and health practices each and every day, Motlow State will remain a safe place in which our associates work. Our students will enjoy our campuses and our communities will be free of environmental hazards for future generations to come.
IV. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OVERSIGHT TEAM
- The following are members of Motlow State’s Environmental Health and Safety Oversight
Team:
- President
- Executive Vice President for Business and Finance
- Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Executive Vice President for Student Success
- Executive Vice President for Workforce Development and Community Relations
- Executive Director of Human Resources
- Director of Facilities Services
- Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator
V. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- The Oversight Team at Motlow State will serve as the governing body for development
and implementation of environmental health and safety policies and procedures. The
Oversight Committee will:
- Regularly review EHS issues and progress in program development during the meetings;
- Ensure that responsibilities throughout the organization are defined;
- Ensure accountability for EHS commitments and take corrective action when appropriate;
- Support Safety Committee involvement in college wide initiatives to improve safety, health and environmental performance with annual reviews of activities;
- Ensure that issues identified in hazard identification initiatives are mitigated or controlled in accordance with assigned responsibilities and schedules;
- Ensure all direct reports receive appropriate education and training;
- Ensure that direct reports are communicating EHS issues to employees/students; and
- Ensure that appropriate EHS rules and procedures are developed and consistently enforced.
EXHIBITS
SOURCES
HISTORY
Leadership Council Approved: November 29, 2010
Revised: editorial update September 13, 2017; April 29, 2023
Institutional Oversight Committee Approved: August 17, 2023
President’s Cabinet Approved: August 25, 2023
Effective Date: November 29, 2010; August 25, 2023