II. Responsibilities
1. All Science Employees and Students
1.1. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. All ACC science employees and students enrolled in science classes are expected to assume responsibility for the safety of themselves, others around them, and the environment.
1.2. Science employees and students shall immediately report any accident, incident, or hazardous condition to their supervisor, professor, science laboratory assistant, or SSC. If the accident or incident requires outside medical assistance, employees and students shall also make a report directly to the EHS & Insurance Office.
1.3. Science students and employees shall:
a. Participate in required EHS training
b. Use prudent practices and good judgment when working with hazardous materials, organisms or procedures, and when participating in hazardous or outdoor activities.
c. Follow established EHS policies, practices and procedures.
d. Notify anyone who could be affected by hazardous materials or organisms that they are using or by hazardous procedures that they are engaged in.
2. ACC EHS & Insurance
Office
2.1. The ACC EHS & Insurance Manager heads the EHS & Insurance Office and reports to the Associate Vice President of Business Affairs.
2.2. The EHS & Insurance Office:
a. Administers the ACC Environmental Health and Safety Management System.
b. Coordinates ACC’s response to chemical incidents, accidents, injuries, fires and natural hazards/disasters.
c. Assists in the identification and mitigation of EHS hazards in ACC activities and facilities.
d. Oversees ACC compliance with local, state and federal EHS regulatory requirements.
e. Establishes ACC EHS practices, procedures and management.
f. Coordinates the ACC comprehensive emergency plan.
g. Ensures that ACC conducts regular practice exercises of its plans and procedures to respond to chemical incidents, accidents, injuries, fires and natural hazards/disasters.
h. Provides ACC employees with education and training in EHS regulations, safe practices and procedures, and hazard identification/elimination.
i. Provides a strong safety and loss prevention system for ACC.
j. Drafts ACC EHS administrative rules and plans.
2.3. The EHS & Insurance Office is the college's primary contact with local, state, and federal EHS agencies and with fire, police, and medical responders to emergencies and disasters. The EHS & Insurance Office is also responsible for compiling and submitting all ACC EHS reports to governmental agencies.
3. Dean of Mathematics and
Sciences
3.1. The Dean of Mathematics and Sciences has primary responsibility for protecting the health and safety of employees and students in the Division of Mathematics and Sciences and for compliance with all EHS requirements for the Division. The Dean reports to the Associate Vice President for Academic Programs.
3.2. The Dean of Mathematics and Sciences:
a. Oversees the Science Safety Committee.
b. Appoints and supervises science safety Coordinators (SSCs) for each science task force.
c. Appoints and supervises Science Laboratory Coordinators for each campus at which laboratory courses are taught. The Dean also assigns responsibilities for laboratory and preparation facilities that are jointly used by more than one task force.
d. Works with the ACC Executive Team to provide the SSCs, faculty, and laboratory assistants with adequate compensation and resources to comply with EHS laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and protocols.
e. Ensures that employees of science disciplines and science students comply with EHS laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures and protocols.
4. Science Safety Committee
4.1. The Science Safety Committee is made up of the Dean of Mathematics and Sciences, the ACC EHS & Insurance Office Manager, the SSCs in Biology, Chemistry, and Physical Sciences, the Department Chairs in Biology, Chemistry and Physical Sciences, and a Science Laboratory Assistant.
4.2. This committee shall:
a. Oversee and manage the EHS program in ACC science disciplines. This includes developing effective and practical EHS policies, standards, procedures, and protocols to comply with EHS governmental rules and regulations, and to implement ACC EHS policies and guidelines.
b. Prepare and maintain a Science Safety Handbook. This handbook contains EHS policies, standards, procedures, and protocols for ACC science disciplines including those required for ACC HazCom and HazWaste Programs.
c. Designate science work areas within each ACC workplace and identify a faculty or staff member responsible for each area.
d. Provide input and expertise to the EHS & Insurance Office for college-wide EHS policies, plans, and administrative rules.
e. Address EHS concerns of science students, staff, and faculty.
5. Science Safety Coordinators
5.1. SSCs are appointed by the Dean for each of science task force in the Division of Mathematics and Sciences. These individuals report directly to the Dean of Mathematics and Sciences.
5.2. SSCs shall:
a. Oversee and coordinate EHS programs for disciplines within their task force. This includes, but is not limited to, serving as hazardous material communication coordinator (Unit and Area HazCom Coordinator) for their task force.
b. Maintain EHS training records for employees assigned to disciplines within their task force for a minimum of five (5) years after training.
c. Provide the EHS & Insurance Office, their Department Chair, and for classified staff, their Science Laboratory Coordinators, with an annual notice of EHS training completion for faculty and staff in disciplines within their task force.
d. Provide the EHS & Insurance Office with current names and telephone numbers of emergency contacts for chemical/ hazardous waste incidents and emergencies in laboratories and preparation rooms supervised by employees of their task force.
e. Ensure that science disciplines within their Task Force comply with:
(1) Policies and directives of the EHS & Insurance Office and the Science Safety Committee
(2) The ACC Hazardous Communications (HazCom) Plan
(3) The ACC Hazardous Waste (HazWaste) Plan
(4) Laboratory safety and hygiene standards, procedures and protocols
(5) Protocols for science field activities
(6) EHS training requirements for ACC science personnel
f. Evaluate reports of EHS hazards and problems in science courses and facilities, and consult with affected individuals.
5.3. SSCs, with the assistance of science laboratory assistants and faculty, will:
a. Conduct regular hazard assessments of class demonstrations, laboratory exercises, field activities, science laboratory classrooms, and science preparation rooms. Based on these assessments the SSC will coordinate the:
(1) Preparation of safety briefings and checklists for each exercise or activity
(2) Development of discipline protocols/procedures for laboratory exercises
and field activities
(3) Identification and acquisition of appropriate personal protective
equipment (PPE)
b. Inform employees of the location of Work Area Chemical Inventories (WACIs), procedures for accessing Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), and procedures for obtaining workplace chemical inventory lists.
5.4. SSCs will ensure that the:
a. Employees and students in their task force receive appropriate training before:
(1) Working with hazardous materials or equipment
(2) Working in areas containing hazardous materials or equipment
(3) Participating in a field activity
b. Science laboratory assistants:
(1) Conduct and maintain WACIs in their assigned areas
(2) Post and maintain current MSDSs and required EHS notices and signs
(3) Purchase and maintain required PPE
(4) Notify the EHS & Insurance Office prior to purchasing chemicals not currently on their WACI or when purchasing a quantity of a chemical above normal restocking amounts
c. EHS & Insurance Office is immediately informed of EHS incidents in their task force laboratories, classrooms, preparation rooms, and field activities that require outside medical assistance.
d. EHS reports for their task force are submitted to the EHS & Insurance Office by November 1 of each year.
6. Science Department Chairs
6.1. Science Department Chairs are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the curriculum, employees, facilities, activities, purchasing, and professional development for disciplines in their task force. They are elected by their task force and report to the Dean of Mathematics and Sciences.
6.2. Science Department Chairs shall ensure that
a. The purchasing of EHS supplies and equipment has the highest priority in discipline budgets.
b. Annual faculty evaluations include a review of the safety training record and compliance with EHS policies and procedures for each faculty member.
7. Science Laboratory Coordinators
7.1. Science Laboratory Coordinators supervise Science Laboratory Assistants and hourly employees on the campus or campuses to which they are assigned. They report to the Dean of Mathematics and Sciences.
7.2. Each Science Laboratory Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that Science Laboratory Assistants and hourly employees:
a. Perform required EHS tasks.
b. Maintain science equipment and facilities in compliance with EHS policies, rules and regulations.
c. Coordinate EHS activities with their SSC.
d. Complete EHS reports accurately and in a timely manner.
e. Complete required EHS training.
f. Have adequate time to complete EHS requirements.
g. Handle, store, and dispose of hazardous materials, organisms and waste in compliance with EHS regulations, rules, policies and procedures.
7.3. Where more than one Science Laboratory Assistant within a discipline is assigned to a campus, the Science Laboratory Coordinator shall assign HazCom and HazWaste duties for the discipline on their campus.
8. Science Laboratory
Assistants
8.1. Science Laboratory Assistants assist faculty in the preparation of laboratory exercises, classroom demonstrations and field activities, maintain preparation rooms and laboratory classrooms, purchase and maintain science supplies and equipment, supervise students during open laboratory sessions, and coordinate the work of hourly employees and work-study students. These individuals report to a Science Laboratory Coordinator for their campus.
8.2. Responsibilities of Science Laboratory Assistants include:
a. Compliance with HazCom and HazWaste requirements for assigned work areas.
b. Compiling and submitting WACIs to their task force SSC.
c. Performing EHS self-inspections for assigned work areas and reporting results to their task force SSC.
d. Meeting EHS labeling requirements in assigned work areas.
e. Posting and maintaining current MSDSs and required EHS notices and signs in assigned work .areas.
f. Notifying their task force SSCs of chemical purchases in accordance with ACC HazCom policies and rules.
g. Purchasing and maintaining appropriate PPE as directed by their task force SSC, Department Chair, or by the Science Safety Committee.
h. Collecting and disposing of hazardous materials in accordance with ACC HazWaste policies and rules.
i. Reporting EHS hazards in assigned areas to the SSC for their discipline.
8.3. In the absence of a student’s professor in open laboratory sessions, the Science Laboratory Assistant shall brief the student on EHS hazards and PPE specific to each laboratory exercise that they are working on, and enforce the use of appropriate PPE while the student is working on that exercise.
9. Science Faculty
9.1. All ACC full-time and adjunct faculty who teach science courses or who teach courses in science laboratory classrooms must comply with the EHS rules, policies, procedures and protocols described in the Science Safety Handbook and with directives of the applicable SSC and the Science Safety Committee.
9.2. ACC science faculty shall:
a. Consider EHS requirements in planning field activities, classroom demonstrations, and laboratory exercises.
b. Identify EHS hazards in activities and exercises that they prepare.
c. Report potential EHS hazards to their SSC prior to conducting an instructional activity.
d. Coordinate the preparation of appropriate safety training and checklists with their SSC prior to conducting instructional activities.
e. Conduct science demonstrations, laboratory exercises, and field activities in a safe and prudent manner to protect the health and safety of their students and their assistants, and to protect environmental quality.
f. Train students in health and safety procedures and protocols prior to classroom demonstrations, laboratory exercises, field activities, or entry into areas where hazardous materials, organisms, or equipment is present. This includes briefing students on EHS hazards and PPE specific to each laboratory exercise or field activity before it begins.
g. Enforce the use of appropriate PPE in classroom demonstrations, laboratories, and during field activities.