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Our Philosophy
The safe operations and activities of UAB are
vital to its very existence. Whether the activity is teaching, conducting
research or delivering health care, it must be done in a way that is
as error free as possible, is top quality and is a final product that
is acceptable to those receiving it and to the surrounding community.
Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure that our customers have
a safe workplace by providing them with the service and knowledge necessary
to protect themselves, the UAB community and the environment.
Key Functions
The department has several key functions: Inspection
in all university areas for fire and safety problems, Issuance and control
of radioactive materials licenses; Development of control programs for
biological and chemical agents; The safe disposal of biohazardous, radioactive,
and chemical wastes; Health and safety education and training; and,
The establishment of procedures and standards of safe work practices.
Monitoring records are maintained for exposures to toxic substances,
building safety inspections, incident/accident reports, radiation exposure
levels, fire alarm tests, fire exit drills and certain medical records.
Department Structure
The Department of Occupational Health and Safety
was organized to develop control programs for seven areas:
1) Occupational and environmental health and safety
2) Radiological health and safety
3) Biological safety
4) Chemical safety
5) Asbestos abatement
6) Hazardous waste management
7) Education and training
Program area reporting is through the Assistant Vice President for Occupational
Health and Safety to the Associate Vice President for Facilities.
The Regulatory Environment
For many years, UAB has been a leader in developing
new health care methodologies and has been very successful in obtaining
grants and contracts to conduct basic and advanced bio-medical research.
To be as successful as UAB has been requires attention to details and
requires a good working relationship with a multitude of agencies and
groups that regulate or control biomedical research. The charge is simple:
"assure compliance with all occupational/environmental rules and regulations
without disruptions to teaching, research and medical care delivery".
To fulfill this charge, the department believes that partnerships must
be developed with researchers, faculty and staff. These partnerships
foster working relationships which allow OH&S to keep the UAB community
aware of requirements and to provide an audit trail of activities which
demonstrates compliance to the regulators.
Policies and Procedures
In an effort to minimize requirements and to
make sure fairness is upheld, the Department has established several
committees that set UAB policies regarding the acquisition, use, handling
and final disposal of potentially hazardous materials. These policies
are set forth in the form of "safety manuals" and represent a summation
of regulatory requirements and agreement as to how these activities
will be conducted at UAB. All health safety manuals are signed and endorsed
by the President and in many cases are part of the licensing application
and agreement with the regulatory agency.
Health and Safety Committees
Currently, there are four major health and safety
committees:
1) Radioactive and Radiation Safety
2) Institutional Biosafety
3) Chemical Safety
4) General Safety.
Membership for all committees is composed of
researchers and/or faculty, UAB administrators and DOHS staff.
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