Health and Safety
Our department is committed to providing its employees a safe and healthy workplace. To ensure that this objective is accomplished, we have developed and will maintain a department specific Health and Safety program.
Our Department's Health and Safety program contains elements which meets the requirements of the University of British Columbia and Workers` Compensation Board of British Columbia. These elements include:
- Safety Policy
- Local Safety Committee
- Orientation, Training and Supervision of Workers
- Hazard Assessments and Work Site Inspections
- Accident Investigations
- Safe Work Procedures
- First Aid and Emergency Services
- Personal Security and Public Safety
- Hazardous Materials
- Health Promotion and Return to Work
- Records and Statistics
- Program Review
- Environmental Protection
If there are any questions regarding the health and safety in the Department of Zoology, please contact your local safety committee representative or the Science JOHSC committee representative.
Note the following elements of the Safety Program:
Due diligence means taking all reasonable care to protect the well being of all employees. To meet the standard of due diligence, our Department takes all reasonable precautions in the circumstances to carry out departmental work and safety and health responsibilities. This is the standard of care required to comply with the safety and health regulations and orders made under the BC Workers Compensation Act and enforced by the WorkSafe BC. The courts will recognize a formal defense of due diligence in prosecutions. In practice, the WorkSafe BC will also recognize a defense of due diligence and may relieve employers of monetary penalties for violations of the regulations-if employers can establish that they were duly diligent.
No member of the faculty, staff or student should be doing any activity if they believe that the activity would create an undue hazard to themselves or to others. Current regulations make it clear that all employees must be trained and have relevant hazard information on the materials they are working or exposed to.
When a faculty, staff or student member has reasonable cause to believe that the activity they are about to do would create undue hazard to the health or safety of any person, including themselves, they have the right and responsibility to:
Report the circumstances of the unsafe condition to his/her supervisor (or principle investigator). The supervisor will investigate the matter and ensure that any unsafe condition is remedied without delay or if in his/her opinion the report is not valid he/she shall inform the person who made the report.
See the Biological Sciences emergency response plan HERE.