II. Safety Practices

Faculty, staff, and students must be informed of any recognized hazards in their workplace. It is the responsibility of supervisors to provide adequate health and safety orientation related to standard operating procedures, hazards, and personal protective equipment. This orientation shall be provided prior to working in the area.

Information given by supervisors must be presented in a manner that is understandable by all affected employees. This includes attention to literacy levels and language barriers. Appropriate signage shall be posted. Regulations and policies affecting employees and students must be made available to them.

Lead

Many buildings on-campus were built prior to 1978, and thus have the potential to contain lead. Lead can be present in older building materials such as paint, water pipes, and plumbing fixtures.

UK Environmental Management performs extensive testing and inspection of buildings in order to “map” the presence and condition of lead-based paint. Special attention is given to facilities that are, or have the potential to be, occupied by children <6 years of age, who are particularly susceptible to neurological insult from ingestion of lead. Strict control measures are required whenever construction, renovation or maintenance activities may disturb lead-based paint or other lead-containing materials on campus.

Report damage or deterioration of painted surfaces at work to your supervisor, building operator, UK Environmental Management, or UK Occupational Health & Safety. You should presume all paints and varnishes applied before 1980 contain lead, unless proven otherwise by testing.

Asbestos

Asbestos is a common name given to a group of mineral fibers that occur naturally and were incorporated into a variety of construction products such as wall and ceiling plasters, floor tile, pipe insulation and asphalt roofing. These materials pose no risk to health unless they are disturbed in such a way that asbestos fibers become airborne and are inhaled and deposited within the lungs.

Pre-1981 campus buildings have the potential to contain asbestos in building materials. However, most asbestos is not accessible to building occupants. UK Environmental Management conducts on-going building surveys to identify and safely manage previously installed asbestos-containing products. Furthermore, all renovation of campus buildings must be reviewed in advance to ensure that asbestos is not disturbed without proper safeguards. Work that requires removal or repair of asbestos is restricted to trained and qualified persons only.

All faculty, staff, and students are expected to comply with the following rules and guidelines for on-campus asbestos:

• Presume all building materials from pre-1981 buildings contain asbestos until determined otherwise by UK Environmental Management or Occupational Health & Safety offices.
• Do not remove, cut, drill, sand, grind or otherwise disturb any material that may contain asbestos.
• Do not go above ceilings, behind walls or into building spaces such as attics and crawlspaces unless these areas have been inspected and cleared.
• Do not pull cable or wiring through above-ceiling spaces with asbestos.
• Do not install screws, pins, nails or hangers into asbestos ceiling or wall plasters.
• Be careful not to damage walls, ceilings or floors when moving furniture or equipment.
• Do not brush, sweep or vacuum textured asbestos ceiling plaster or plaster debris.
• Immediately report any observed damage or deterioration of suspect building materials to your supervisor, building operator, UK Environmental Management, or UK Occupational Health & Safety.

Some employees may be required to attend in-house training sessions on such topics as bloodborne pathogens, hazard communication, hazardous waste, asbestos awareness, or laboratory safety. A number of training classes are provided by EH&S during regular work hours at no cost to you or your unit.

Many of the training classes are also available as on-line modules via the EH&S website. Supervisors of affected employees shall exercise a measure of accommodation for those needing training. Checklists to help you understand the training requirements are found on pages 19 through 21. In some cases, supervisors may conduct specialized training sessions (e.g., safety procedures for using powered equipment). Supervisors can contact appropriate EH&S departments for information or assistance in preparing training materials. Other training may have to be provided by outside vendors (e.g., forklift or bucket truck operation).

At a minimum, health and safety training for employees must include

• Recognition of health and safety hazards;
• General and job-specific health and safety practices; and
• State and federal regulations and UK’s health and safety policies applicable to the job.

Training shall occur when an employee is hired, when an employee is given a new work assignment for which training has not previously been given, and when a new hazard (chemical or physical) is introduced into the workplace.

Faculty, staff, and students may be required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while performing their jobs or in certain environments (for example, chemical laboratories). Your supervisor will inform you of the specific PPE required based upon the job/task. The following is a general guideline for selecting what may be necessary.

Eye and Face Protection

Chemical Hazards

To protect the eyes and face from splash when using or dispensing corrosive liquids, non-vented chemical goggles or safety glasses with side shields and a full-face shield offer the best protection. Safety glasses are the minimum protection recommended for all operations involving hazardous chemicals.

Physical Hazards

When using high-pressure cleaning or spray equipment, safety glasses with side shields and a full-face shield

are recommended.

Those work activities that produce chips or dust—such as grinding/drilling, power fastening, or power tools—require safety glasses with side shields as a minimum protection level and in some instances may also require the use of a full face shield.

Welding

Welding operations require a full welding hood with the appropriate tinted vision screen. Safety glasses with side shields are also required to be worn under the hood. When doing acetylene-oxygen torch soldering, brazing, or cutting, appropriately tinted safety glasses with side shields or tinted goggles are the appropriate PPE.

Lasers

When using lasers or when in an area with a working laser, appropriate safety eyewear may be required. Different lasers require different types of eye protection. Consult the Radiation Safety Office for appropriate protective eyewear.

Hand/Arm and Body Protection

When using hazardous chemicals, specialized gloves offering protection for specific chemical families, a laboratory coat, and at times a splash apron are the appropriate PPE. Insulated gloves and arm sleeve covers are recommended when handling hot or cold materials. To reduce cut or abrasion injuries, use puncture or abrasion resistant gloves, arm sleeve covers, and at times an apron, to lessen this exposure.

Head and Foot Protection

Occasions may develop during a work shift or job duty when the use of a hard hat or other head protection

and foot protection is necessary. All hard hats or safety shoes must meet the requirements for protection outlined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Hearing Protection

If your work areas or specific job tasks have been designated as requiring hearing protection, you must wear approved protective equipment. Personal stereos or Walkmans are not approved hearing protection. Supervisors are responsible for identifying hearing protection areas and generally provide training on the use of hearing protection equipment. Certain work areas or tasks may be designated as requiring additional

protective measures. If you have questions about high noise levels in your work area, ask your supervisor or contact the Occupational Health and Safety Department for more information.

Respiratory Protection

Some employees are required to wear respirators for specific job duties. Respirators include dust masks, air-purifying negative-pressure respirators, self-contained breathing apparatus, supplied-air respirators, and other such devices. If you wear one of these respirators, you must have a physical exam and you must be “fit

tested” and trained before using it on your job. Departments with employees wearing respirators must have a written Respiratory Protection Program. Please contact the Occupational Health and Safety Department for more information.

Miscellaneous Personal Protective Equipment

Some employees may be required to wear other types of PPE not mentioned in the above paragraphs. If you have questions about any type of personal protective equipment, please contact your supervisor or the Occupational Health and Safety Department for assistance.

In order to identify hazardous conditions, it is necessary for faculty and staff to conduct routine inspections of their work areas. EH&S departments are available to assist in inspection activities and may conduct independent compliance inspections upon request, or as they deem necessary.

Imminent hazards must be corrected immediately. If the means of correction are not readily apparent or available, the condition must be reported immediately to your supervisor. If your supervisor is unavailable, report the condition to your department head or to the appropriate physical plant division (PPD), management and operations unit, or EH&S. Supervisors must also inform any faculty, staff, or students who may be affected by the condition.

Faculty, staff, and/or students must not be discriminated against for reporting health or safety hazard to their supervisors or to EH&S. Supervisors are to encourage their staff to report all workplace hazards.

Supervisors are responsible for maintaining written copies of safety programs and employee training documentation. This documentation is a requirement of most regulatory standards. EH&S staff may occasionally request these records to evaluate the degree and frequency of training provided to departmental staff. Regulatory agencies may ask to see these documents during an inspection.

The establishment of well thought out emergency plans is one of the cornerstones of an effective safety program. Evaluating potential emergency situations, developing emergency procedures, and conducting practice exercises can help save lives.

You should become familiar with the posted evacuation plan for your building. In the absence of a posted evacuation plan or specific duties for your job function, follow the General University Evacuation Plan:

When the fire alarm sounds

It is University policy that a building be evacuated when the fire alarm sounds. Leave the building immediately via the nearest exit, closing the doors behind you. Do not try to locate or fight the fire when the alarm sounds. Do not reenter the building until the "all clear" signal is given by fire officials.

If you discover a fire

Leave the building immediately, pulling the fire alarm on your way out, then call 911 from a safe location to report the fire. The UK Police Department provides a 24-hour emergency number and first aid assistance on

Lexington campus. Again, it is University policy that a building be evacuated when the fire alarm sounds. The policy can be reviewed here.

Corridor use policy

The Kentucky Building Code and National Fire Protection’s Life Safety Code require that exit corridors and stairwells are kept clear and unobstructed for emergency egress. Corridors cannot be used to store office or laboratory equipment without written authorization from the University of Kentucky Fire Marshal. The entire policy can be reviewed here.

n 1998, the Michael Minger Act was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly. This law was written because of a fatal fire at Murray State University. This act requires that all "fires or threats of fire" at state colleges and universities be reported immediately to the State Fire Marshal. UK police are automatically notified of any incident on campus that involves a fire alarm or the fire department. There are three situations or THREATS OF FIRE in which individuals, faculty, staff or students, must ensure UK Police (257-1616) are notified

immediately.

• Small fires on campus that are extinguished with or without a fire extinguisher and that do not involve a fire alarm or the fire department must be reported to UK Police. For example, a beaker of alcohol that ignites in a laboratory hood, a small trash can fire, a burnt bag of popcorn in a microwave, or a mulch fire around a shrub must be reported.
• All threats of fire on campus, whether heard or observed, must be reported to UK Police.
• For properties located off-campus, the official in charge of the property is responsible for reporting all fires, false alarms and threats of fires to UK Police.

After being notified, UK Police will report these incidents to the State Fire Marshal. To review additional fire prevention and/or life safety policies see EHS Fire Marshal Portal.

Use this number when you are in classroom, research, clinical, utility and administrative buildings, residence halls, fraternities and sororities, BCTC, and sports facilities. University Hospital and some remote facilities have developed site-specific emergency first aid capabilities and procedures. If using a cell phone, contact the UK Police at 257-8573. If such procedures apply to you, you will receive information directly from your

unit.

When contacting the 911 dispatcher in any emergency:

• Give your name.
• Tell the dispatcher specifically what the emergency is.
• Give the exact location, such as the building name, the room number, the street location, and any helpful directions to quickly locate the area.
• Describe the severity of the accident.
• Stay on the line until released by the dispatcher.
• Follow-up by completing any paperwork that has been described in this handbook.

In the event of a severe weather emergency, follow these guidelines:

• Watch— means conditions are occurring that could cause a severe thunderstorm or tornado.
• Warning— means a tornado has been spotted: seek shelter immediately: The lowest floor is the safest. A windowless room (closet/bathroom) or an interior windowless corridor is considered to be a safe location.

Most accidents can be prevented. Safety is an important work practice; in fact, you should be aware that

safety is one of your job performance measures. Supervisors shall make sure that a high level of safety awareness exists in each facility and that all employees are thoroughly trained in their duty assignments, including proper safety practices. If an accident occurs, it must be reported to your supervisor as quickly as

possible. Any accident may be investigated by the EH&S Division. EH&S has the responsibility to report certain instances to Kentucky Occupational Health & Safety. Those instances or any fatal accident, any amputation, any accident requiring hospitalization, or any serious injury involving a student, visitor, or employee, report to the Occupational Health and Safety Department immediately by calling (859) 227-7499.

The following sections describe the forms and procedures used

to report accidents.

Employee Accidents

Primary Reporting Procedure

Employee accidents, injuries, or illnesses should be reported immediately to the employee's supervisor. The supervisor is required to report to UK Workers' Care by calling 1-800-440-6285. Student workers receiving pay other than scholarships, fellowships, student loans, or grants are generally considered employees.

Secondary Reporting Procedures

For internal reporting and immediate assistance to the accident, injury, or illness it should be reported using the following links:

Campus

Unsafe working conditions, near-miss accidents or accidents that did not result in a hospital visit should be reported internally using the University’s Accident-Injury Report.

UK HealthCare (Care Web)

All UK HealthCare incidents should be reported at Care Web.

Student or Visitor Accidents

Any faculty or staff member who witnesses, is involved in, or is informed of an accident with a student or visitor shall report the accident using the University’s Accident-Injury Report.

Automobile Accidents

Accidents involving UK-owned or leased vehicles occurring on the Lexington campus shall be reported immediately to the UK Police (257-8573) and the University’s Risk Manager (257-3372). Accidents occurring elsewhere shall be reported to the local police department and the University’s Risk Manager.