Occupational Safety

The Safety Department recognizes that the students and employees of Ohio University are the university's greatest assets and the safety of these students and employees is our greatest concern. Issues that are dealt with range from, but are not limited to: Fall protection, incident investigations, vehicle safety, the locking and tagging out of energized equipment, vessels and confined spaces. No task is so urgent that we can't take time to do it safely.

Responsibilities of this department include three main areas: Occupational safety, fire & life safety, industrial hygiene and indoor air quality. The occupational safety and health programs include development and implementation of our O.S.H.A programs, asbestos, lead paint, industrial hygiene, air & noise sampling, indoor air quality, occupational safety, ergonomics, special event safety, and general campus safety. The fire and life safety programs include plan reviews, building and code compliance, fire safety, fire system testing and engineering. We administer regulations of O.S.H.A, E.P.A, C.D.C, O.E.P.A, State O.S.H.A, State Health Department., State Fire Marshall, and others. We also have extensive training and development programs for Ohio University staff and students. The Safety Department does not provide O.S.H.A. 10-hour training or O.S.H.A. construction training. If you have a question or concern regarding occupational safety and health at Ohio University, please direct your inquiries to Safety@ohio.edu.

Programs

Ohio University has two types of written O.S.H.A. programs:

  1. Campus wide Programs are for programs that are highly specialized, with major technical aspects, and relatively few employees involved. The written programs are done by the Safety Department and an Safety Department staff member is assigned as the Program Manager. The Safety Department Program Manager is responsible to implement the program campus wide and manage the program on a day to day basis. (Examples: asbestos, lead, respiratory protection, confined space.)
  2. Departmental Programs are for programs that are needed by many departments across campus, have fewer technical demands, involve different departmental needs, and involve large numbers of employees. Each department or college with a regulatory mandate is responsible to write and implement their own departmental program within their area. The Safety Department provides a "model program" for use in writing your departmental program. The Safety Department offers consultation and training in these areas as well. (Examples: Hazard Communication, Chemical Hygiene (Lab Standard), Bloodborne Pathogens, Personal Protective Equipment)

Either the Environmental Safety Coordinator or Occupational Safety Coordinator manages the following programs. Call the Safety Department at (740) 593-1666 for the proper contact.

University Wide Programs:

Departmental "Model Programs":