Office of Facilities

INTRODUCTION TO THE SAFETY PROGRAM GUIDE & PROFILE SYSTEM

Purpose

The Safety Program Guide & Profile System has been modified (with permission) from similar systems in use at other universities. It is offered here to provide departments, managers, supervisors, and employees with information on a variety of health and safety topics. It is routinely being developed and updated. The Guide is comprised of articles on various topics, each designed to serve as a general reference document to assist departmental managers in the development and implementation of their departmental safety programs. For additional information about the Safety Program Guide & Profile System, e-mail the Environmental Safety Office (MC-ES) or call the office at (240) 567-4308.

Availability of the Guide

The Guide is available from this MC Web Page. The Web edition will be revised to reflect any changes or new material and will always be the most up-to-date copy. Hard copies of Safety Program Guide articles will be available to department managers and other selected faculty and staff upon request.

What The Guide Contains

The various topics covered by Guide have been organized into five major sections, so that articles covering related activities are grouped together. The first section covers general information with which every College employee should be familiar. The second section covers safety concerns frequently encountered in an office or classroom setting and should also be reviewed by all personnel. The last three sections organize related topics by the work area in which each is usually encountered. However, a particular activity or topic may be applicable to other areas, as well. By using the Safety Profiling System, an individual or department can quickly determine which of the topics in these three sections also require consideration during the development of a comprehensive safety plan.

The level of detail included varies widely among the different topics. For some narrowly focused subjects and activities the Guide provides fully detailed procedures. However, for broad topics, the article provides an overview of the subject and refers the reader to other manuals or resources for detailed procedures. The Guide is intended to serve as an initial information resource. Any questions that are not answered by reference to the Guide should be directed to Environmental Safety Manager.

Article Format

To the extent possible, all articles use the following basic format and contain most, if not all, of the following elements:

• Introduction – provides a summary of the health and safety issue addressed by the article
• Scope and Application or Purpose – describes the specific applicability of the program or activities covered
• Procedure or Description – describes the detailed procedures to perform a specific health and safety activity or provides an overview of the topic.
• Roles and Responsibilities – establishes the roles and responsibilities of a department, supervisors, MC-ES and the individual worker. In the context of Roles and Responsibilities, the term "Department" is used to refer to upper-level managers and supervisors within a department or office. These persons may include the department chair, the department manager, shop supervisors, facilities' managers, and others, as appropriate.
• For More Information – provides a listing of additional references and resources
• Self-Audit Checklists – for certain topics and activities, self-audit checklists are included for use by a department, manager or supervisor to determine the status of compliance with recommended procedures or statutory requirements.

How to Use the Self-Audit Checklists

The Self-Audit checklists compliment the Safety Program Guide and the Safety Profile effort. Most of the checklists were designed to audit the status of a particular program or regulatory requirement. Some, such as the Office Safety, Laboratory Safety, and Hazard Communication checklists include safety concerns for particular programs and for the facility itself.

The checklists may be used by either an entire department, a section of a department, or an individual in a particular workplace. Each includes an answer key at the end of the questions. The checklists may be reached from links on our Forms page, as well as the appropriate Guide article(s). They are for internal departmental use and may be printed as needed. There is no need to send copies of completed forms to MC-ES. If assistance from MC-ES is desired, please contact the office at (240) 567-4308.

Comments and Suggestions

Questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the Guide and the Profile System are welcomed and can be sent to the Environmental Safety Manager.