Workplace Safety Committee

Wilkes University has established a cooperative employee/management Safety Committee in order to provide a work place free from predictable and controllable hazards.

The goal of the committee is to adapt a proactive approach in identifying and eliminating potential work related accidents and injuries. This goal will be achieved through the committee’s efforts to raise employee awareness and making recommendations to reduce or eliminate hazards in the workplace.

Charge

Wilkes University’s Environmental Health and Safety Committee and its Subcommittee(s) are composed of representatives from across the university community. A quorum of committee members shall meet at least monthly.

Current Committee Members

The committee’s function is to:

  • Serve as a resource for various departments on campus, assisting them in the identification and correction of unsafe conditions or practices in their areas.
  • Serve as the coordinating body in monitoring compliance with safety regulations.
  • Conduct inspections of all University buildings once annually.
  • Recommend to the University's Executive-Level Officers improvements to help ensure the campus environment is as free of risk as possible, thereby reducing the number of illnesses and injuries.
  • Recommend to the University's Executive-Level Officers expenditures to maintain a safe campus environment.

Committee Responsibilities

  • Represent the accident and illness prevention concerns of employees at every employer workplace.
  • Review the employer's hazard detection and accident and illness prevention programs and formulate written proposals.
  • Establish procedures for periodic workplace inspections by the safety committees for the purpose of locating and identifying health and safety hazards. The locations and identity of hazards shall be documented in writ, and the committees shall make proposals to the applicant-employer regard correction of the hazards.
  • Conduct review of incidents result in work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses and of complaints regard health and safety hazards made by committee members or other employees.
  • Conduct follow-up evaluations of newly implemented health and safety equipment or health and safety procedures to assess their effectiveness.
  • Establish a system to allow the committee members to obtain safety-related proposals, reports of hazards or other information directly from persons involved in the operation of the workplace.
  • Develop operating procedures, such as rules or bylaws, prescribing the committees' duties.
  • Develop and maintain membership lists.
  • Develop a written agenda for each committee meeting.
  • Maintain committee meeting attendance lists.
  • Take and maintain minutes of each committee meeting, which the applicant-employer shall review. Copies of minutes shall be posted or made available for all employees and shall be sent to each committee member.
  • Ensure that the reports, evaluations and proposals of the committees become part of the minutes of the meeting which shall include:
    • Inspection reports.
    • Reports on specific hazards and corrective measures taken.
    • Reports on workplace injuries or illnesses.
    • Management responses to committee reports.
  • Make decisions by majority vote.