March 30, 2015 Minutes

JOINT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
&
DUNLAP INSTITUTE FOR ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

HELD ON MARCH 30, 2015, 12:00P.M. – 1:00P.M., CONFERENCE ROOM AB101-H

Minutes respectfully submitted by Alice Chow, Recording Secretary

ATTENDANCE: A. Choi, A. Chow, D.S. Moon, G. Patel, M. Williams, C. Weidner and H. Zhao

ABSENT: R. Gagne with regrets

1. Approval of Agenda:

2. Approval of Minutes of Meeting September 17, 2014: As a follow up of item 2, H. Zhao asked what the consequences were if staff did not complete the online training on basic occupational health & safety awareness.  C. Weidner said she was waiting for the reply from the HR & Equity.  According to her understanding, the university was fine as long as the university has record of training.  However, if there was no record and injury happened, the university would be liable.  She would also follow up with HR & Equity regarding the arrangement of new staff.  D.S. Moon asked if graduate students were required to complete the training.  C. Weidner said that graduate students were not required but welcomed to complete the training.  As a follow up of item 4, H. Zhao reported that he has attended the Physics HSC and has submitted our inspection report of MP to Physics.  As a follow up of item 6, H. Zhao asked M. William if he has checked with the property manager for ways to resolve the issues with the balcony surface in MP.  M. William said he would follow up.

3. Report from Joint Health and Safety Committee (South) (M. Williams): William reported that there were not much reported in the last JHSC meeting in February besides injury statistics and accessibility in labs. M. William reported that it was a huge issue in Chemistry with regards to students who need accommodations in doing lab work, especially for undergraduate classes.  The department needed to balance between accommodation and safety.  He said faculty in Chemistry seek guidelines from JHSC.  H. Zhao also reported that he received a draft menu from Physics HSC which was a guideline initiated by Chemistry.  He said if students have requests, they should submit their requests to Accessibility Office.  C. Weidner added that the Accessibility Office would assess the needs and provide assistance to the department.  She also said the university would like to provide guidelines to faculty how to respond to student requests.  H. Zhao asked if we respond to accommodation request for the planetarium tour.  M. William said we had indicated clearly that the planetarium tour was not wheelchair accessible.

4. Inspection Report, Plan and Assignment (A. Choi, M. Williams, G. Patel): William reported that inspection of AB would be conducted in April. A. Choi asked if inspection would be conducted in High Bay.  M. William said High Bay would be inspected by Physics.  H. Zhao asked M. William to forward him the report once the inspection was completed.  He would then forward the report to Physics HSC.

5. Training and Certification (H. Zhao): Zhao reported that the JHSC orientation for new HSC members was available on the UofT Portal. He added that the Astronomy HSC did not have any issue since the committee did not have any new member; however, members were welcomed to take the training as refresher.

6. Other Business: Weidner reported that there was only one injury reported in the last JHSC meeting in February, but 6 were reported after the meeting, compared with 15 were reported at the same period in the previous year. Two injuries involved staff, three out of seven happened outdoor with slips and falls and three happened in labs.  C. Weidner would circulate the document after the meeting for HSC information.  H. Zhao reminded the committee that there were eye washing stations outside AB55 and inside AB73A and M. William added that there was a shower inside the women’s washroom in basement.  C. Weidner reminded that testing of water of these stations should be conducted once a month if chemicals were not being used frequently.
   H. Zhao reported that a faculty member  fell down the stairs inside AB in October 2014.    After this incident, A. Choi has quickly contacted the property manager and had the strips installed.  She has also confirmed that strips have been installed on all building stairs.
   H. Zhao asked if the Dunlap Summer School took care of food intolerances of participants in the past.  A. Chow said the LOC asked the participants to indicate on the admission confirmation forms if they have any dietary restriction and the LOC accommodated the requests during the Summer School.
   H. Zhao asked if we were liable when movers or delivery guys break their backs inside AB while they deliver since we have stairs.  C. Weidner said their work insurance were liable. A. Chow informed the committee that Dunlap has asked for a quote to build a ramp to the basement before and has forwarded the quote to the Office of Planning and Infrastructure, but no action has been taken.  C. Weidner said she would check with the Office of Planning and Infrastructure about the ramp.

7. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held in August/September 2015.

8. Meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.