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Annual Report 2006

I. Departmental Mission

The Office of Risk Management/Environmental Health & Safety will protect our students, visitors, faculty and staff through training, education, hazard abatement and information dissemination. Additionally, we will assist in the preparation of our students for the future in the area of environmental health and safety. We will ensure that all activities conducted on campus meet and exceed requirements set by local, state and federal agencies, thus enhancing the overall working environment while fully supporting the education mission on campus.

Our vision is to make the University of West Georgia a forerunner in the areas of Risk Management, Environmental/Occupational Health & Safety compliance by maintaining current regulatory information, providing training and continuing our positive presence throughout the University community.

II. Departmental Statement of Goals, Process to Assess These Goals, and

Assessment Results:

The strategic goals of RM/EHS are designed to further enhance the overall mission of the University as well as support the Bread and Butter Goals specific to: Public Relations, The University Experience, Student, Faculty and Staff Morale, External Relations, and the Campus Infrastructure.

Goals and Assessment Objectives:

§ Reduce insurance loss claims in the areas of worker compensation, auto/property liability and third-party claims by 10% across the board as compared to FY 04 by providing appropriate training and information to all University personnel.

1. Develop a survey by August 05 to send out to WC clients from May – June 05 to see how the current system is working. Revise survey if needed and survey WC customer every 6 months, document results and provide information to all parties.

2. In February 2006, obtain loss run reports from DOAS for FY 05, for tracking.

3. Provide the University community with information regarding rights and responsibilities in regards to worker’s compensation, auto/property liability and reporting claims on an annual basis or as policies change.

4. Gather more data to document our insurance claim histories to determine if they are increasing or decreasing and try to benchmark with other USG institutions. Include information on the amount of the premium compared to the amount paid.

§ Inspect, at a minimum, 16 buildings each year until all buildings have been inspected. Work closely with departments to quickly correct any deficiencies within 30 days.

1. Prioritize the remaining buildings that were not inspected during FY 05.

2. Inspect an average of 1 building per month and 2 additional buildings in the fall and spring of FY 06.

3. Document inspection process and post final reports to the RM/EHS website within one week.

§ Establish a safety/environmental contact in each department and building.

1. Update list of personnel and buildings by August 05.

2. Contact Mr. Gauthier and see if we can proceed with our list of personnel and buildings in September 05.

3. Define responsibilities for building manager and coordinator, send to Gus Douvanis for approval.

4. Provide responsibilities to all building managers and coordinators and verify their participation.

5. Distribute list to all buildings and post list to RM/EHS website.

6. Provide training as needed.

§ Update emergency evacuation plans for all buildings on campus, beginning with the dorms.

1. Complete all dorms by August 05.

2. Reprioritize existing buildings by July 05.

3. Complete all large academic and administrative buildings by the end of October 05.

§ Get new chemical management software up and running, implement it campus wide in six months from date of installation.

1. Purchase program by the end of June 05.

2. Work with On-site to make specific changes needed to the program

3. Once loaded on server, enter specific departmental information.

4. Beta test program using Geosciences.

5. Announce new system to all users and provide training.

§ Remove fire hoses from all buildings and cap off outlets.

1. By the end of July 2005, identify a source for the caps.

2. Identify all buildings that still have fire hoses.

3. By the end of July 2005, verify the hose is non-asbestos material.

4. Work with Inventory Control to surplus or donate old hoses if non-asbestos.

III. Give An Example of How Your Department Used The Assessment of Goals and Outcomes to Change/Improve a Process

A draft survey was not viewed as beneficial by the BPR committee. Matt Jordan developed a process which requests the supervisor to follow-up with the injured employee to access how they are doing and if they are happy with the quality of care from the Panel Physician and report this information back to him. Physician adjustments and any other problems noted by the employee are documented and resolved as necessary. This inquiry continues until the employee’s injury file is closed. DOAS has implemented a new managed care program for the State and takes effect for UWG on May 15^th. This information was provided to the University community in the April Due Diligence publication.
The building inspection program was selected for a business process redesign with input from ITS, Public Safety and Facilities & Grounds. Adhering to the inspection schedule was a RM/EHS priority. The remaining 31 buildings were inspected. The report development was streamlined. Additional technology is being reviewed to reduce the amount of time transferring field information into a spreadsheet. The committee still is working on resolving the amount of time between initial report submission and final report posting.
Emergency evacuation plans were falling behind the projected RM/EHS schedule. A software upgrade streamlined this process. Life safety code requires evacuation plans for residence halls. All residence halls have been completed as well as all occupied buildings, which is above the life safety requirements. Fire drills for residence halls are conducted twice a year and evacuation assembly points are evaluated by RM/EHS. Plans can be easily modified as the University campus continues to grow.

IV. General Statement of Department Condition:

The efforts of the Office of Risk Management/Environmental Health and Safety scored high in the Facilities & Grounds trust survey. Facilities & Grounds is currently our largest customer.
RM/EHS created the position of Occupational Health & Safety Coordinator. Ineke Reed was hired in January 2006. She will spend 75% of their time working in the areas of occupational health & safety, laboratory safety, performing building inspections and developing/delivering safety training. This will allow the other two full time employees to concentrate on life safety issues and developing a better risk management awareness program for the campus community.
A welcomed increase in requests for advice and policy clarifications occurred in 2005-2006 from various departments comprising of faculty, staff and students, as well as peers from the USG. RM/EHS attributes this to our positive presence and willingness to share our successes and failures.

V. Departmental Achievements

Administrative

Assisted BOR Program Coordinator with a presentation offered to the Department of Labor conference
Assisted with the Energy Conservation Committee Booth in support of Earth Day Celebration
Attended over 80 meetings with various departments
Drafted “new smoking policy” and submitted to safety committee for comments.
Hosted BOR Georgia Higher Education Network Environmental Health & Safety (GHENEHS) meeting
Prepared FY 06 Facilities Safety Training Plan
Presented “Building EHS relationships” at BOR GHENEHS meeting
Presented BPR Fire Evacuation Plan
Provided facilities injuries data for CSHEMA benchmark study
Received Georgia Oglethorpe Progress Award
Received SACUBO Best Practice Award for BPR Chemical Management Program.
Submitted Consumer Product Safety Recall notices to campus community
Submitted Due Diligence newsletter to campus community
Provided UWG Slips, Trips & Falls statistics summary to URMIA

Safety

Tracked monthly fire run reports from the City of Carrollton Fire Department. These are used to analysis trends and help reduce the number of false calls to the campus. Reported results in April Due Diligence.
Designed and installed 248 fire evacuation plans in 29 campus buildings
Assisted Residence Life and Facilities with biannual residence hall fire drills
Conducted fire drills at UCC, Humanities & Biology
Determined occupancy for

§ Lower Level Z-6; send report to all concerned parties

§ Ed Center classrooms for Graduation; sent report to all concerned parties

§ HPE Building; sent report to all concerned parties

Identified several life safety issues concerning the Central High graduation at the HPE. Resolved all issues before the event on Saturday.
Assisted with event planning on:

§ NAACP fashion show

§ American Heart Association – Bike Event

§ Carroll County Schools – Use of track

Reviewed and revised food safety guidelines for Student Activities manual
Reviewed and approved 15 contractor site specific safety plans

Investigated, documented, processed, and resolved 140 safety and environmental concerns and incidents.

Chemical/Environmental Management

Collected and processed 1.9 tons of chemical waste from various laboratories on campus and obtained turn key service for the disposal of two hazardous waste shipments

Identified, responded and/or followed up on the 86 environmental concerns
Pass join inspection by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD)
Prepared and submitted generator status change form to Georgia EPD
Provided project management for GEFA on groundwater contamination and assistance on installation of 3 new ground water monitoring wells

Reduced universal waste costs from $11,000 per year to $2,000 per year by better waste segregation, contractor selection and stream lining pickup schedule

Removed vent valves from 75 propane cylinders, labeled and put in metal recycling saving UWG over $3,000 in disposal costs
Reviewed and provided comment on Robert’s Hall abatement contract specs
Revised Gas Pipeline Operation Qualification Program based on recommendations from Georgia Public Service Commission inspector
Submitted 2005 Hazardous Waste Report and 2006 Waste Reduction Plan which was approved by the EPD
Submitted recommendations for future radioactive materials program to Dean of Arts & Sciences for review
Updated and submitted hazardous materials inventories to the BOR for UWG in December 05 and June 06

Insurance Programs

Investigated, documented, and processed:
- 50 claims related to liability and property
- 4 claims that related to student liability
- 4 litigation claims
- 3 Georgia Subsequent Injury Trust Fund claims
Provided guidance on insurance concerns to over 15 different departments
Provided project management to Foundation on the University Suite 3 sprinkler head incident
Documented and followed up on 70 employee injuries; submitted and facilitated 28 workers’ compensation claims
Updated employee exposure form and submitted to DOAS. Provided feedback to DOAS concerning their new web-based form.

Occupational Health

Conducted ergonomic survey for Ingram Library
Conducted noise survey for Publications and Printing
Conducted personal air monitoring for silica exposure during custodial housekeeping operations in the Art Annex
Conducted personal air monitoring for wood dust during carpenter shop operations.
Developed Medical Surveillance Respiratory Protection Packet
Developed University Hearing Conservation Program (proposed)
Developed voluntary filter face piece information paper
Developed wood dust exposure information paper
Developed workplace monitoring plan (proposed)
Drafted Humanities Smoking Policy, outlined pilot program implementation procedures
Established a Confined Space Database – areas identified as confined space or permit required confined space will be added as they are reviewed.
Established a Respiratory Protection Program database
Established dBase to track respirator protection enrollees and associated program elements
Initiated Respiratory Protection enrollment process for Public Safety and Facilities carpenter and paint shop employees
Monitoring Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Projects (6) – 4 open; 2 closed
Provided recommendations for controlling silica exposure when conducting custodial housekeeping operation in the Art Annex.

Training

Conducted 2 classes for Chemistry on RTK and laboratory safety.
Designed and presented “Sports Event Risk Management” to 35 athletics students
Designed and presented job specific safety training to new Auxiliary Summer Camp Employees
Designed and presented 13 safety training classes to 793 Facilities employees.
On-line RTK training participation was the highest ever, thanks to upper administrative support
Provided Asbestos Awareness training to 7 ITS personnel
Provided presentation on “Home Safety” to 35 members of the Interfraternity Council (IFC)

Facility & Property Inspections

Inspected 31 buildings on campus and documented over 1500 items to correct safety and environmental discrepancies.
Conducted asbestos sampling in 12 buildings, submitting 40 samples for analysis. Coordinated and/or facilitated 9 asbestos abatement projects.

VI. Staff Productivity:

Director

Active member of the BOR Environmental Safety Advisory Council
Active member of the Georgia Higher Education Network for Environmental Health & Safety (GHENEHS)
Attended

§ 40-hour HAZWOPER training at Georgia Tech training facility.

- Asbestos Building Inspector 4 hour Refresher class in Marietta GA
- CPR training
- GHENEHS meetings 4
- NFPA Life Safety code training
- SACUBO seminar and provided presentation (3 day)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness – one day
President of the Alabama Society of Hazardous Materials Managers
Secretary of the UWG Homeland Security Committee

EHS Coordinator

Active member of the Georgia Higher Education Network for Environmental Health & Safety (GHENEHS)
Attended
- Annual URMIA conference in Charleston, South Carolina
- Asbestos Building Inspector certification refresher
- DOT/RCRA refresher training (1 day)
- Electrical Safety in the workplace training (1 day)
- Gas Safety training in Macon Georgia
- GHENEHS meetings 4
- Laboratory Safety Training 2 days
Chair of the University Safety Committee
Serves on the Information Technology Committee
Serves on the Staff Advisory Committee

OHS Coordinator

Applied for and received grant money for student research assistant program for Occupational Safety and Health Database
Attended
- Laboratory Safety Training 2 days
- Asbestos Building Inspector 4 hour Refresher class in Marietta GA
- GHENEHS meetings 1
Serves on the Energy Conservation Committee

VII. Student Achievements:

Sponsored two student internships for 9 weeks

VIII. Other Awards, Distinctions and Achievements: