Calling, Vision, and Values Statements
Calling: Reduce injuries, incidents, environmental detriment, property damage, and insurance compensation claims.
Overall Dreams: To continuously enhance and improve a safe and healthful environment for the University’s students, staff, faculty, and visitors by ensuring a high level of environment health and safety services as Metropolitan State University through partnership and awareness of potential hazards and viable risks and are empowered to learn, discover and work in a manner that protects themselves and the environment by learning and meeting new challenges through collaborative leadership, teamwork, and innovation.
Goals
- To develop and implement comprehensive policies, procedures, and training materials designed to improve overall environmental, health, and safety compliance with the most stringent standards across each governmental and professional entity for various groups across the Metropolitan State University System campuses.
- To develop, improve, and maintain a departmental web page that provides access to environment health and environment safety policies, procedures, guidance documents, and compliance information.
- To improve communication with the University community and stress the importance of adhering to environment health, environment safety, and sustainability standards University-wide.
- To build and foster a proactive and preventative safety culture and become an Environmental, Health, and Safety resource for the community of Metropolitan State University.
- To achieve and maintain OSHA MNSTAR Protection Program status. The highest level voluntary protection program in the United States of America.
- To be a place where people (our most valuable asset) have the continual opportunity to feel safe from harm against potential hazards (actions, conditions, and characteristics that can cause or deem harm.)
- Achieve the Calling through commitment, training, education, support, communication, and teamwork that protect the university community, environment, and property from potential hazards and viable risks.
Values
Integrity
- Exert leadership based on our ethical obligation to protect people, property, and the environment.
- Strive to be honest, fair and trustworthy. Promote accountability through consistent and honest actions.
- Be prudent stewards of Metropolitan State University’s resources.
Teamwork
- Foster cooperation and collaboration to inspire and motivate one another.
- Encourage and support the professional growth of all staff, faculty, and students.
Service
- Serve as Metropolitan State University’s advisors and mentors for the enhancement of environment health, environment safety, and sustainability.
- Provide high quality and easy-to-use services in a timely and efficient manner.
- Continuously improve our services, systems, programs, and processes.
- Implement innovative safety solutions by seeking and identifying creative solutions and taking intelligent risks.
Attitude
- Promote safety as everyone’s responsibility and maintain accountability.
- Possess and encourage a positive outlook for increased engagement and sense of achievement.
- Maintain a smart work ethic by keeping our word and taking responsibility for our work and actions.
- Details matter to us.
Diversity
- Be open minded and take action on everyone’s ideas and opinions through implementation or follow up.
- Understand the needs and situations of others through communication and perspective taking.
- Treat all individuals equitably, professionally and with courtesy, dignity and respect.
- Strive to make our policies, procedures and training accessible and understandable for everyone regardless of class, race, ethnic background, and culture.
Safety is the responsibility of every employee, and everyone participates in activities to ensure a safe work environment. The Environment Health and Safety Groups are responsible for leadership of the overall safety effort and for providing all resources which are necessary for an effective program of accident and incident prevention. Supervisors are responsible for maintaining safe work conditions within their areas and for ensuring that all operations are carried out with the utmost regard for safety. The Chemical Hygiene Officer and Laboratory Staff are responsible for the safe operation of their laboratories and for ensuring staff and students under their supervision receive the training needed for the safe use of their facilities. Each employee is responsible for consistently following all established safety procedures, for promptly reporting potential hazards, and for fostering a proactive and preventative culture focused on the safe and responsible use of Metropolitan State University facilities.
Maintaining a safe work environment is a top priority of the Environment Health and Safety Department and must be a personal goal of every employee. Each department within the university will work together, and any other organization to implement an up-to-date Integrated Safety Plan and achieve its lofty goal of achieving and maintaining OSHA MNSTAR Protection Program status.
Programs
Environmental Health and Safety aids in the prevention and protection from harm against potential hazards and viable risks through collaborative leadership, teamwork and innovation.
There are several prevention program categories provided such as: Slips, Trips, Falls, Hazardous Communication, Confined Spaces, Respiratory, Lock Out Tag Out, Ladder Safety, Chemical Safety, Fire and Life (i.e. Electrical) Safety, Thermal Stressors (Cold and Heat,) and other subcategories. Please ask for hazard prevention training, consultation, and advisement.
Request training, consultation and advisement on these topics via our Service Portal.
Environmental
- Waking and Working Surfaces (i.e. Slips, Trips, and Falls)
- Air Emissions and Ambient Air Quality (i.e. Ventilation)
- Energy Conservation
- Wastewater and Ambient Water Quality
- Water Conservation
- Hazardous Waste and Materials Management
- Waste Management
- Noise and Vibration (as Physical Hazards)
- Contaminated Land
Occupational Health and Safety
- Facility Planning, Design and Operation
- Communication and Training
- Physical Hazards
- Chemical Hazards
- Biological Hazards
- Radiological Hazards (i.e. Lasers)
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Special Hazard Environments
- Monitoring
Community Health and Safety
- Water Quality and Availability
- Structural Safety of Project Infrastructure
- Life and Fire Safety
- Traffic Safety
- Transportation of Hazardous Materials
- Prevention Through Design/Construction and Decommissioning
Quality
- Continuous Improvement
- Root Cause Analysis
- Product Liability Prevention
- Risk Management
- System Safety