Charter

Safety Committee Charter

Safety Committee LogoPurpose

The purpose of the safety committee is to bring employees and managers together to achieve and maintain a safe and healthy workplace

Membership

  • Four classified staff volunteers. The Lane Community College Employee Federation will provide a supporting role in finding volunteers.
  • Four faculty volunteers. The Lane Community College Employee Association will play a supporting role in finding volunteers.
  • One management representative from College Operations appointed by the Vice President for College Operations
  • One management representative from Instruction and Student Services appointed by the Vice President for Instruction and Student

Committee Chair duties may include:

  • Scheduling meetings, notifying members
  • Preparing an agenda
  • Inviting specialists or resource persons as required
  • Facilitating meetings
  • Ensuring all discussion items end with a positive decision
  • Reviewing and approving the minutes
  • Assigning projects to members
  • Ensuring that the committee carries out its function

Current chair is Marleena Pearson

Services

  • Director, Health and Safety
  • Facilities Management and Planning Director
  • College Operations Risk Manager
  • Environmental Specialist
  • Workers’ Compensation Claims Coordinator
  • Health and Safety Project Specialist
  • Employee Wellness Coordinator

Members of the committee must have an interest in occupational health and have the desire to work toward improvement in workplace health and safety.

Term of Membership

Members shall be appointed to staggered terms of no less than two (2) years in duration.

Training of Committee Members

All members of the Safety Committee will be provided training in:

  • Safety committee purpose and operation.
  • Oregon Administrative Rules 437-40-030 through 437-40-055 and their application.
  • Methods of conducting safety committee meetings.
  • Hazard identification in the workplace.
  • Principles regarding effective accident and incident investigations.
  • How to use applicable Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Codes, which apply to building safety inspections.

Duties and Functions

  • Elect a committee chair and co-chair. Chair and co-chair positions shall be two-year terms. The chair and co-chair terms shall be staggered by one year and shall begin in October.
  • Hold regular meetings at least once a month except months when quarterly workplace safety inspections are held.
  • Maintain written records of all meetings, including meeting agendas and minutes. Post minutes and agendas on the Safety Committee website and send them to each division for posting.
  • Establish a system to obtain and review safety-related suggestions, reports of hazards or other information directly from all persons involved in the operations of the workplace that would help in creating a safe work environment.
  • Establish procedures for investigating all safety-related incidents including injury accidents, illnesses and deaths for the purpose of recommending corrective action necessary to prevent similar events from recurring.
  • Evaluate the College’s policies and procedures, which may affect safety and health in the workplace and make recommendations for change or adoption of new policies and procedures to the Vice President for College Operations.
  • Evaluate the College’s accountability system and make recommendations necessary to implement supervisor and employee accountability for safety and health to the Vice President for College Operations.
  • Evaluate the College’s safety and health training practices and recommend procedures necessary to ensure that all employees are trained to perform their work in a safe manner to the Vice President for College Operations.
  • Ensure that workplace inspections are conducted by Building Safety Representatives to locate, identify and document safety and health hazards on a quarterly basis and submit list of corrections to the appropriate department.
  • Make recommendations regarding correction of the hazards to the Vice President for College Operations.
  • Establish a procedure to review corrective action taken by the College on all safety and health inspection reports and all recommendations made to the Vice President for College Operations by the committee.

Committee Recommendations

Each recommendation made to the Vice President for College Operations should:

  • Be clearly and concisely written.
  • Provide justification for implementation.
  • Show implementation costs.
  • List benefits to be derived.

Authority

  • The committee shall have the authority to perform the duties listed above in the advisory capacity but shall not have the authority to make policy, interfere with the work of employees, directly change the condition of any department, or challenge supervisory authority.

Procedures

  • Agendas and minutes of meetings and copies of all Safety Committee reports and recommendations will be maintained in Human Resources for a minimum of three (3) years for inspection by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division.
  • The Health and Safety Project Specialist will prepare the minutes from each meeting, post them on the Safety Committee website and send them to each division office for posting.