The University of Prince Edward Island is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for the University Community to work, study, and visit.

This site includes health, safety, and environment (HSE) policies, procedures, and other documents and forms to protect workers, faculty, staff, students, visitor, and the environment from harm. 

The Health, Safety, and Environment Team is here to assist you in fulfilling your health, safety and environment responsibilities and to provide oversight and guidance on compliance. Safety is a responsibility shared by everyone on campus.

The Health, Safety and Environment Management System is intended to be a useful guide for Area Leaders. An Area Leader is defined as a person who has direct supervision of a work unit or area. This term is used throughout this document for simplicity; in many cases, the “Area Leader” does not hold a consistent managerial/supervisory title, although usually, they are the Supervisor for a particular area. For example, an Area Leader may be a Dean, as in Arts; a Chair, as in Chemistry; a Foreman, as in Physical Plant; or a Director, as in the Sports Centre.

​The UPEI Health, Safety, and Environment Manual and/or Laboratory Safety Manual will assist Area Leaders to develop components specific to their area, staff, students, and visitors. Due to the variety of operational procedures that occur on campus, each work unit may have a different way to organize its records. For a program to work efficiently, it must ensure that it is user-friendly and applicable to the specific operations of the area. For that reason, the Area Leader is responsible to organize materials they deem most effective for their operations. The UPEI Health, Safety, and Environment Management System will follow the OH&S legislated Internal Responsibility System (IRS). Health and safety is the responsibility of everyone. Management must ensure workers use equipment, training, and procedures to protect themselves. Workers must immediately report hazards and risks to their Area Leader.

​Each Area Leader must ensure that the UPEI Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and Laboratory Safety Manuals are readily available and the applicable sections to their work areas are reviewed and understood by all those individuals they supervise. These documents must be used as a reference to meet the minimum legislative requirements, as well as, the expectations of UPEI while implementing safety management in the areas supervised. All the records, plans, procedures, and standards required by the Health, Safety and Environment Management System will be readily available electronically for all workplace parties. The Health, Safety and Environment team will assist Area Leaders in interpreting the Health, Safety, and Environment Management System documentation so they can develop specific HSE practices, procedures, guidelines, etc. for their operations. The Health, Safety and Environment team can be reached at (902) 566-0516 or (902) 566-0901 or via email at hse@upei.ca.

​Note: the UPEI Health, Safety and Environment System undergoes a continuous review with improvements made where necessary.

Communication and Training

All Supervisors must be familiar with the administration of the Health, Safety, and Environment Management System in order to follow the protocol for hazard assessments, incident investigations, and inspection reports. The Incident Reporting: Supervisor Responsibilities protocol provides information on what is meant by a minor and major injury incident, and the specific requirements that must be met once an incident has occurred. The Health, Safety, and Environment team is available for assistance and will follow-up when warranted.

Everyone on campus is encouraged to identify and communicate hazardous acts and conditions observed to those affected. All levels of management will make safety a standing agenda item (when applicable) at meetings by reviewing past area incidents, inspection results, and/or safety controls in the area. It is best to keep these communications short and frequent. At the very least, the topic should be raised to solicit any safety challenges in areas that require attention.

Formal safety communication should be recorded in Area Leaders’ (and other supervisors’) files, along with other meeting notes. Electronic follow-up messages are encouraged. Any pertinent correspondence must be passed on to the local H&S Working Groups for information or discussion. This is critical in exercising due diligence if the need arises. All training must be documented and kept on file as a form of due diligence. Training records should include the type of training, instructor, dates, and attendees.

Supervisors are expected to accept concerns or complaints from the staff. Suggestions to improve safety in the area may be addressed via a completed UPEI incident report form, hazard analysis document, by raising issues at meetings, through local H&S Working Groups, or the UPEI Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC). The more vehicles for two-way communication exist, the better the system works for everyone. Managers at all levels are responsible for providing leadership and for planning and directing the training program. Supervisory training will be arranged through the Health, Safety and Environment Department as it applies to the HSE Management System.

Area leaders, Supervisors, the H&S Working Groups, and the JOHSC members will be trained in their duties and responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the standards set by the University. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
 

• Safety Committee Activities

• OH&S Act and OH&S Regulations

• WHMIS Regulations

• HSE Management System Administration

• UPEI Inspection Procedure and Follow-up

• Reporting/Investigation of Incidents

Staff, students, and faculty must be adequately trained so they are able to perform their tasks properly. Training may come at various stages: employee orientation, on-the-job training, and refresher training as practices or processes change. The safety training for staff and faculty is the responsibility of the supervisor. Supervisors must instruct workers in safe and efficient performance of duties. Supervisors must demonstrate, evaluate, and monitor employees to ensure they become skilled and knowledgeable in their job.

Training requires participation by all parties involved. Hazards have to be communicated and people have to be trained in how to deal with them. Everyone is encouraged to ask when uncertain as to how a task is performed or how to use a piece of equipment or tool. Experienced staff are expected to help identify training needs for themselves and their peers and make suggestions to the Area Leaders or Supervisors. Supervisors must encourage others, and make them feel comfortable to ask questions on their safety performance at work.

The orientation is a familiarization of the UPEI Health, Safety and Environment Management System including UPEI policy, and the general requirements for working safely on campus. Supervisors are responsible for providing area-specific orientation. This will be a review of the specific hazards and requirements related to their job duties and their working environment.

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS Regulations)

Everyone who works with or near hazardous products must complete WHMIS training. This covers the three sections of WHMIS: Employee education, Labeling, and Safety Data Sheets (SDSs). This is sufficient information for staff to be able to ask appropriate questions as the need arises. Supplementary, site-specific instruction will be provided by the Supervisor. This includes emergency procedures; disposal, use, and storage of products; and location of the SDS binder, to name a few.

Other Specialty Training

Some other courses may also be required for specific jobs. Please contact the HSE Department to assist with coordinating specific training required in your area. The following is a list of training offered to the campus community:

• Biosafety

• Radiation Safety

• Laser Safety

• Fire Protection

• Laboratory Safety

• Standard First Aid (2-day Course)

• Emergency First Aid (1-day Course)

• Office Ergonomics

• Safe Material Handling

• Lock-out

• Fall Protection

• Confined Space

• Safety Committee Training

• Workplace Safety for Supervisors

• Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

• Workplace Harassment Regulations

• Young Workers’ Safety: Changing the Culture

• Transportation of Dangerous Goods - Clear Language (Ground)

• IATA - Transportation of Dangerous Goods (Air)

• Respiratory Protection

All students, staff, and faculty are expected to use this training to protect themselves and others. Supervisors must ensure people are properly trained to perform their jobs. There may be more training requirements mentioned in other sections. Faculty is responsible to teach their students safe work practices/procedures and enforce compliance to prevent incidents (injuries, illnesses property damages, etc.). Training must be documented to demonstrate due diligence.

Hazard Identification and Control

The Area Leader is responsible to ensure hazards are identified, accessed, and controlled. The people working in the area may also identify hazards. When critical hazards are identified, or if recommended controls place a great burden on resources, a hazard assessment must be performed. Hazard assessments must be completed through a collaborative approach which includes the Supervisor, workers and other UPEI subject matter experts such as the Health, Safety an Environment team, Risk Management, Facilities Management, Human Resources, etc. Training and templates for Hazard assessments are available through the HSE Department.

Hazard Assessment is an integral part of the UPEI Health, Safety, and Environment Management System. Area Leaders must consider controls that adequately address the identified hazards and risks. Area Leaders are responsible to ensure the implementation and adherence of controls. All people in the area are responsible, and encouraged, to comment on identified hazards and their controls.

In some cases, the HSE Management System (i.e. the HSE or Laboratory Safety Manual) will require a hazard assessment to be performed prior to introducing a new piece of equipment or performing new tasks. This will take place on an as-needed basis. The intent is to ensure that all areas and all jobs are evaluated to identify, assess, and control all actual and potential hazards to determine reasonable corrective measures. Hazard identification, assessment, and control records should be reviewed for the development and maintenance of the area-specific safety orientation. The hazard assessment results are not typically reviewed with staff as a training tool. They are used by leaders to create the necessary controls which are reviewed with all who are exposed to the hazards and to identify those hazards to new employees. However, they will form part of the manual for review if desired. For training purposes, hazard identification and control are most relevant.

Hazard identification and assessments are critical aspects of Safety Management. Proactively performing assessments is key, but they are also performed as hazards are identified through other means such as inspection reports, incident investigations, and other hazard reports.

Definitions

​Area Leader is the person most closely responsible for the day-to-day direction of work of the people in a given area. An Area Leader may be a Manager, Supervisor, Dean, Chair, or other person given this responsibility with enough authority to implement change and controls in his or her area of responsibility.

Hazard is a practice or condition with the potential to cause loss. 

Hazard Identification is a written record of hazards identified in a work area. The record includes the type of controls used to address the hazard.

Hazard Assessment is a thorough examination of an operation (site, procedure, tools/equipment, etc.) to identify and prioritize the hazards associated with it and to perform a problem-solving exercise to recommend the most appropriate possible controls.

Critical Hazard/Task has the potential for serious loss or high potential for moderate loss. It can also be extended to jobs or tasks that the hazards are not completely understood or known.

Loss is unacceptable waste of any resource (people, facilities, equipment, materials, environment, etc).

Hazard Control is a measure taken to eliminate or reduce the potential for loss.

Management System Administration

The Health, Safety and Environment Department is responsible for administering the UPEI Health, Safety, and Environment Management System. This consists of, but not limited to, the following:
 

• Development of training programs and schedules

• Arrangement and/or delivery of training and information sessions for Area Leaders, Safety Committee/Working Group members, and Senior Management

• Maintenance of training, incident, and inspection report data

The Health, Safety and Environment Management System will be audited and reviewed by the HSE Manager, the VP of Administration and Finance in consultation with the UPEI Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee on an ongoing basis. Area Leaders are the key personnel to direct work and are responsible for providing guidance for implementing their area-specific safety procedures, practices, training, etc. to protect the health and safety of those they supervise.

For any questions, please contact:

Liz Rostant-MacArthur, BSc, MSc

Health, Safety, and Environment Manager

Email: hse@upei.ca

Phone: 902-566-0516