Mission Statement

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) works to assure safe and healthful environments for all segments of the campus population through programs of information and education, review and monitoring, technical consultation and provision of direct services. OEHS is also responsible for developing programs to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal health, safety and environmental regulations and campus policies on environmental health and safety.

Vision Statement

OEHS will be a valued partner in the creation and maintenance of a safe and healthy University environment and will achieve excellence through its provision of leadership, oversight, stewardship and services.

Core Values

OEHS has adopted a Code of Professional Conduct. These core values describe the standards of excellence to which we as a staff aspire. They guide our actions and help to assure accountability, responsibility and trust as we interact with one another and our campus clients.

• Excellence: We dedicate ourselves to the highest standards of quality in our professional work, outreach, public service, mentoring, and advising.

• Integrity: We commit ourselves to an open, honest, and trustworthy approach to all endeavors we are working on. We value fairness, straightforward conduct, adherence to the facts, sincerity and transparency. We will make a reasonable effort to provide appropriate professional referrals when unable to provide competent professional assistance.

• Responsiveness: We respond to and address the needs and expectations of our students, faculty, staff, partners, and external constituents.

• Respect: We foster an environment of mutual respect. We listen to each other, encourage each other and care about each other.

• Diversity: We commit to an inclusive community for diverse students, faculty and staff. We reject bigotry, oppression, degradation and harassment, and we challenge injustice toward any member of our community.

• Accountability: We are personally and organizationally accountable for all that we do and commit to providing timely and comprehensive evaluation of our programs and efforts.

• Innovation: We want to be at the forefront of change and believe that the best way to lead is to learn from our successes and mistakes and continue to grow. We are forward-looking and break new ground in addressing important community and societal needs.

• Openness: We encourage the open exchange of information and ideas from all quarters of the university community. We believe that through collaboration and participation, each of us has an important role in determining the direction and well-being of our community.

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Goal 1: Increase Financial Management

Goal 2: Clarify Internal Roles and Responsibilities for the OEHS Department

Goal 3: Clarify External Roles and Responsibilities for the OEHS Department

Goal 4: Provide Services to Meet Regulatory Mandates

Goal 5: Reduce Risk and Liability

Goal 6: Increase Effectiveness and Quality of Services

Goal 7: Continue to Assure OEHS Long-Term Viability

Goal 8: Encourage the Development of a Chemical and Waste Minimization Program on Campus

Goal 9: Improve Internal Communication

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Goal 1: Increase Financial Management

Action Steps:

• Develop a measurement system of waste stream costs to forecast expenditures. Recommendation: A mechanism will be established for OEHS to provide its recommendation to the Central Budget Committee for annual budget increases to cover increased costs of waste disposal (due to additional or increased vendor costs not covered by University contractual agreements).

• Develop a hazardous waste charge-back system for profit centers on campus.
• OEHS will go out to bid for all hazardous waste disposal contracts (e.g., hazardous waste, infectious waste, universal wastes).
• Assure that OEHS has the funds available to manage hazardous waste disposal. Recommendation: That the University maintain a centralized hazardous waste disposal budget.


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Goal 2: Clarify Internal Roles and Responsibilities for the OEHS Department

Action Steps:

• With input from supervisors and other department staff members, develop work plans for each OEHS staff member that are in alignment with OEHS strategic priorities; review and update PDQs as necessary.
• Develop a process for maintaining current regulatory knowledge.

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Goal 3: Clarify External Roles and Responsibilities for the OEHS Department

Action Steps:

• With input from key stakeholders, identify roles and responsibilities in OEHS programs; determine the scope of OEHS authority for managing these responsibilities.
• Revisit, and if necessary, revise the OEHS mission statement.
• Develop a process for recommending steps the University should take to implement new health and safety regulations and policies.

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Goal 4: Provide Services to Meet Regulatory Mandates

Action Step:

• Rectify critical service deficiencies identified internally and by third-party reviewers.
• Recommendation: Hire staff to address critical service deficiencies (for a total of four new FTE OEHS staff members as recommended by third-party reviewers).
• Recommendation:  If additional funding for FTE hires is not available, hire third-party consultants to rectify critical service deficiencies (as recommended by third-party reviewers).

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Goal 5: Reduce Risk and Liability

Action Steps:

• Create a system to identify priorities for safety issues on campus and develop action steps for addressing those issues.
• Assure that OEHS has funds available to manage critical fire, life safety, and environmental management projects that arise.
• Recommendation: A percentage of Repair and Renovation funds is dedicated to OEHS to administer.

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Goal 6: Increase Effectiveness and Quality of Services

Action Steps:

• Develop a process for laboratory decommissioning and the reduction of legacy chemicals; work with Human Resources to project age-related retirements in order to anticipate scheduled laboratory cleanouts; create a charge-back system for laboratory decommissioning.
• Make the current moratorium on OEHS handling of electronic waste a permanent policy that is effective immediately.
• Assure the Central Hazardous Waste Accumulation Area Security Plan is kept up-to-date.
• Recommendation: Hire a third-party consultant as needed to review and update the Central Hazardous Waste Accumulation Area Security Plan and to develop roles and responsibilities for OEHS staff members.
• Develop a comprehensive Infectious Waste Management Plan.
• Recommendation: Hire a third-party consultant to develop a comprehensive Infectious Waste Management Plan and to develop roles and responsibilities for OEHS staff members.
• Provide outreach and education to the University community by working with Media Relations to develop and disseminate articles regarding OEHS projects and activities.
• Ask departments that generate and/or handle Universal Waste to identify a contact person who is responsible for alerting OEHS when there are new hires or changes in job descriptions that require Universal Waste training.

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Goal 7: Continue to Assure OEHS Long-Term Viability

Action Steps:

• Continue to engage campus administration to conduct long-term assessment of OEHS infrastructure and facility needs.
• Develop a strategy to ensure the University has included a code-compliant hazardous waste facility in the institution’s master plan.

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Goal 8: Encourage the Development of a Chemical and Waste Minimization Program on Campus

Action Steps:

• Develop a Chemical and Waste Minimization Program.
• Recommendation: University will provide funding to hire a third-party consultant to develop a Chemical and Waste Minimization Plan and provide funding for OEHS to manage the implementation of the plan; roles and responsibilities of campus departments will be described in the plan.

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Goal 9: Improve Internal Communication

Action Steps:

• Clarify the OEHS system for internal communication regarding how to know what needs to be communicated to whom, and when.
• Maintain monthly staff meetings.