The Occupational Safety & Health
Administration (OSHA) standards are a series of safety regulations documented
in State Bill #308. OSU has been required to comply with the OSHA standards
since 1994. An OSHA Coordinator has been appointed by the COM to work
with OSU Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) to bring the College into
compliance with the standards. Each department/Center and Institute has
appointed a Safety Representative to assist with the administration of
safety documents and record keeping. In addition, each COM building has a
Building Emergency Coordinator (BEC) and Floor Evacuation Coordinators (FECs)
who are responsible for maintaining lists of floor occupants and assisting
emergency personnel. Safety issues and training for hospital employees remain with the OSUMC Safety Department.
In most cases, each OSHA standard consists of a
modifiable safety plan accompanied by a non-modifiable appendix and tables. EH&S
(
Four of the OSHA standards, Hazard
Communication, Laboratory Standard/CHP, Bloodborne Pathogens and Emergency
Operations and Evacuation (EOEP; ‘Building Safety’) Standards, are of
particular relevance to the
Generic (Legal and general aspects, online at the
EH&S training website)
Specific (Hazards specific to the workplace, given
by the PI or supervisor yearly)
Follow Up (New hazards in the
workplace, ongoing by the supervisor)
A. Hazard Communication
Standard. The
Haz Com Plan (document) is generated and maintained by each academic
department. It covers all faculty,
staff and paid students. This "umbrella" plan is updated
annually and is maintained in the main department office. All non-research laboratory
employees must train under this standard.
1. Generic HazCom Training. This
requirement may be fulfilled by taking one of the following
modules:
(i) Generic HazCom/Lab Std
training. A one-time only, one-hour class given monthly at the Office of
Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) at 1314 Kinnear road (2-1284), and
four times a year in the
OR
(ii) Online Haz Com for
non-laboratory (clinical) research areas (EH&S Training website).
OR
(iii) FOR OFFICE STAFF ONLY: ‘Plain Talk’ or ‘MD Plain Talk’
training and self-test package. See your departmental Safety Representative.
AND
2. Work Place-Specific Training: Employees in each work area (for example,
office, shops) must receive ANNUAL training on hazards in the immediate
work area. This workplace-specific training is to be given by the supervisor,
or designee. Training records are to be maintained in the work area and must be
made available for inspection. Follow-up training should be given when
new hazards enter the workplace.
(B) Laboratory
Standard. Each COM/OHS PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR in assigned research laboratory
space must generate a Chemical Hygiene Plan. This plan must be modified to
reflect chemical and operational hazards in his/her lab and must be updated
annually. Faculty/PI is the Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) for his own lab. All PIs
and research laboratory employees must train under this standard. Training
requirement may be fulfilled as follows:
OSHA Lab Standard/Chemical Hygiene Training:
(i)
'Generic HazCom/Lab Std training'. One time, 1 hour class,
monthly at EH&S (2-1284).
(ii)
Online Lab Standard Training. EH&S training site
AND
Lab-Specific Training: Employees in research
laboratories must receive ANNUAL training on Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) for hazards in their labs and shared space. This lab-specific
training is given by the Principal Investigator or designee. An Employee
Acknowledgement Form (EAF) is completed for each lab-member. Standard Operating
Procedures should be listed on the form. The EAFs for the current year must be
kept with the Chemical Hygiene Plan. Follow-up training should be given
when new hazards (chemical/equipment) enter the workplace.
(C) Blood Borne Pathogens (BBP)
Standard: All COM/OHS employees (research,
administrative, clinical) who are likely to come into repeated contact with human
and/or primate bloodborne pathogens fall under this standard (see Institutional Biosafety Manual and
OSUMC Infection Control Manual).
Bloodborne Pathogens Training. This ANNUAL
requirement may be fulfilled by:
(i)
'Generic
Bloodborne Pathogens Training', a one-hour class given monthly at EH&S
(ii)
Online Bloodborne Pathogens
Training.
EH&S training website
AND
For those in clinical research areas in
OSUMC buildings the 'Infection Prevention Education and Self-Test’ CBL
must be completed annually
AND
(iii) Lab-Specific Biohazard Training:
Employees in research laboratories using human/primate BBPs must receive ANNUAL
training on hazards in the immediate work area. This workplace-specific
training is to be given by the Principal Investigator/Faculty member to
whom the space is assigned, or his/her designee. Current records of specific
training (Employee Acknowledgement Form) should be kept at the front of the
Institutional Laboratory Biosafety Manual in the laboratory. A list of training
topics (for example, SOPS) should be listed on the form.
(D)
Emergency Operations and Evacuation
Plan (EOEP) (“Building Safety”): Occupants of College of
Medicine Buildings (plus Means and Starling Loving) fall under this Standard.
The EOEP plan (EOEP/Building Safety section of this website) outlines the
duties of building occupants, Building Emergency Coordinators and Floor
Evacuation Coordinators in several emergency situations. The training
requirement may be fulfilled by Taking the Online EOEP (Building Safety) Training on the
EH&S training website
Records of attendance at all Generic Safety
Training are maintained on line on the ’Training Records’ section of this
website. The departmental Safety Representative should maintain a spreadsheet containing
training requirements and completions dates for all employees. This record must
be made available for inspection by local and/or state inspectors. Records
should include employee name and university ID number, date of training, type
of training, and instructor.