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CAUBO’s New National EHS Committee

Collaboration and Partnerships Required to Meet Mounting Regulatory Requirements Around the Environment, Health, Safety and Emergency Management. Julia Lewis - Ryerson University Gilles Morier - University of Ottawa Grant McCaughey - University of Manitoba Chris White - University of Guelph.

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CAUBO’s New National EHS Committee

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  1. Collaboration and Partnerships Required to Meet Mounting Regulatory Requirements Around the Environment, Health, Safety and Emergency Management Julia Lewis - Ryerson UniversityGilles Morier - University of OttawaGrant McCaughey - University of ManitobaChris White - University of Guelph

  2. CAUBO’s NewNational EHS Committee The mandate of the National Environmental Health and Safety Committee is to identify legislation or policy relating to Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Compliance and Emergency Management and to provide oversight and recommend best practices to support prudent management decisions at their institution. Chair – Michael Histed (University of Ottawa)Western Rep – Grant McCaughey (University of Manitoba)Ontario Rep – Dan Langham (Queen’s University) Quebec Rep – Sue Magor (Concordia University)Eastern Rep – Dave Foley (InterUniversity Services Inc.)

  3. The ‘Internal Responsibility’ Framework Grant McCaughey, Director Environmental Health and Safety Office University of Manitoba 204-474-9290 Tel E-mail: mccaugh@cc.umanitoba.ca Web Page http://umanitoba.ca/admin/human_resources/ehso/

  4. Here is a scenario to think about ………. • Assume you are a Principal Investigator, responsible for 2 staff and 3 grad students. • You have been called by University Security Services and advised that there has been an accident in area that you are responsible for. One of the staff and 2 students have been taken by ambulance to the Emergency Department. The initial investigation indicates that there was an explosion and fire. • Security Services also tells you that a safety and health officer from the Department of Labour and a City police officer have requested your presence for an interview regarding the incident.

  5. Are you Prepared ?? • Will you be prepared to deal with the authorities? • Will you know and understand your responsibilities? • Will you be confident in your ability to show that you have done your best to be duly diligent in providing a safe and healthy workplace?

  6. Due Diligence • Provincial H&S/Environmental Legislation is fairly consistent across Canada. • Offences under the legislation are considered ‘strict liability’ offences. This allows for the defence of due diligence. • Due diligence is the level of judgment, care, prudence, determination, and activity that a person would reasonably be expected to do under particular circumstances.

  7. The Internal Responsibility System For OSH purposes, the IRS is based on the principle that everyone at the workplace; the employers, workers, contractors and self employed persons, all share a responsibility for the health and safety of persons at the workplace. How can we ensure we have established programs that provide for an all-inclusive participation of all workplace participants ?

  8. Provincial Safety & Health Laws-Basic Worker Rights- • right to know about hazards • right to participate in safety activities • right to refuse dangerous work How can we ensure we have established programs to deliver on these basic rights ?

  9. University Structure is Unique (to say the least) Corporation University Directors of Corp BOG/PVP Managers Deans, Directors, Dept Heads Supervisors PIs, Prof, Mgrs. Workers Workers Students CORPORATION UNIVERSITY

  10. Establishing Due Diligence ? • Comply with Act/Regulatory Requirements • Institute Safety and Health Controls • Undertake Inspections and Audits • Provide Training (Right to Know) • Allow Participation (H&S Committees) • Ensure adequate and proper Supervision • Reasonably foresee and protect staff/students from hazards

  11. Collaboration is Necessary! • Need to establish mechanisms to allow collaboration to take place in order to meet due diligence responsibilities, which include; • Developing a comprehensive OSH Program that identifies the responsibilities of all participants and clear goals and objectives. • Developing effective and consistent training programs for staff/students. • Developing effective communication systems to get the ‘ message’ out. • Setting up effective systems to allow participation, i.e. joint H&S Committees

  12. How to Collaborate/Partner? • Establish a central Health and Safety Committee, composed of all bargaining unit reps, student rep, academics and administrative staff. ( Statutory requirement in most jurisdictions) • Setup Local Area H&S Committees (Faculty/Building/Area) • Set up Topic/Hazard specific Committees to deal with particular risks – i.e. Radiation, Biohazards, Emergency Management, etc.

  13. National Integrated Risk ManagementGOAL:toenable calculated risk taking in support of distinct research and learning mandates driving innovation and organizational development Compelling External Context Consistent Strategic Focus Collaborative Approaches

  14. Legislation – EH&S Responsibility Summary

  15. Legislation – EH&S Responsibility Summary The list is not exclusive and is intended as a guide to the types of legislation that impact University operations

  16. Compelling External Context • National Comprehensive Liability“Criminalization of health and Safety” • Broad Risk Spectrum = “Broadened Partnerships” • Focus on Best Practices in Sector Defense = “ Need for Collaborative Synergy“

  17. …. building a responsive foundation O/EH&S, Security, Emergency Management, Public Safety, Public Health, Regulatory Affairs

  18. Consistent StrategicFocus… Critical success factors Risk Management System Internal Responsibility System IRM STRATEGY Integration and Support System Audit

  19. Collaborative Approaches Motivating Internal Synergies Fostering External Partnerships Leveraging National Sector Specific Influence

  20. A naïve “risk management” approach • How can different specialist teams work together to ensure regulatory compliance and a safe workplace? • Identifying and assessing is the first step • Think about eliminating, controlling, or mitigating possible risks • Think in terms of likelihood of occurrence and consequences if an event does occur • Prevention is better than correction or cure • Insurance is good but not a panacea: Should be viewed as part of a more comprehensive risk management strategy • Professors should be our partners: Moves us from a “regulatory” to “client service” frame of mind

  21. Research is integral part of what we do • Integral to our raison d’être • Not a typical corporate environment : • Professors have a freedom of action unknown in any other organizational environment. • Students are important research performers who are by definition transitory and often, at least at the start, inexperienced. • We must, and do, delegate huge responsibilities to people with tremendous independence. • The nature of the activities is a key contributor to exactly the type of Environment, Health, Safety and Emergency Management issues we must manage.

  22. Partnering with the Research Managers • Our environment: • Volume, intensity and inter-disciplinarity of research is increasing as universities take on a larger societal research role • The regulatory environment changes quickly, continuously and occasionally in obscure ways  • Even small changes can have big impacts • Medically-oriented research is increasing relative to others • Use of biohazardous materials, radioactive compounds, human and animal subjects increasing faster than “rate of research growth” would suggest

  23. As a research manager, I care about: • Research development and growth • Good management • Are we following the rules? • Do we have the right policy / administrative infrastructure? • Can we keep up? • Have I missed anything?

  24. We can’t do it without the experts! • We, research managers, rely on the collective wisdom and expertise of the specialized teams • Becoming extremely difficult for institutions to know and to adapt • Becoming impossible for the researcher to know everything • We want you and your teams to be an integral part of our institutional research management team • We want to work with you manage and mitigate risks, to educate, to monitor and ensure compliance and, in general, to do the right thing

  25. Different issues are managed differently: • Ethics / Human Subjects  Project by Project • Animal Care  Project plus Procedures (within projects) • Radiation / Biohazards  Project plus Procedures (within projects) plus Laboratory certification • Environment  Project plus Procedures (within projects) plus Institutional capacity • Health and Safety  Institutional capacity then Laboratory then Project

  26. What we have in common: • Data • The need for information sharing, supported by appropriate and shared systems, has never been greater • We all collect project-based data – would be a good place to start! • Clientele • Expecting ease of use, consistency of approach, inter-service coordination, tools and information • How can we help them be successful?

  27. What we have in common: • Communications needs: • As educators, we should be thinking about : • Ensuring that our clientele has ready access to the information they need to do things properly • How each interaction with our clientele affords a pedagogical opportunity. • As communicators: We have important messages to deliver to, and receive from, our clientele. • Monitoring / Compliance Needs • Coordinating processes as much as possible to minimize duplication of effort and facilitate for our clients

  28. In conclusion: • Promote much closer working relationship between risk management, regulatory, and research management teams • Good management all round mitigates risks • We need to work together • To assure integrated management approach • To share information, communications opportunities • To wield influence • Ultimately, to better serve our research community: Professors, students, trainees and employees • Mitigating risks helps us all be, and stay, successful

  29. Thank You! Collaboration and Partnerships Required to Meet Mounting Regulatory Requirements Around the Environment, Health, Safety and Emergency Management Julia Lewis - Ryerson UniversityGilles Morier - University of OttawaGrant McCaughey - University of ManitobaChris White - University of Guelph

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