Skip to the content of the web site.
Health, Safety & Environment

Introduction

Campus inspections help prevent injuries and illnesses. Through critical examination of the campus, inspections identify and record hazards for corrective action, however correction of hazardous conditions should not wait for inspections. All members of the campus community as part of their daily activities are responsible for reporting or correcting hazardous conditions. Normally hazardous conditions should be reported to the supervisor. Concerns relating to grounds and common areas of buildings such as corridors and stairwells should be reported to Plant Operations.

Inspections

Inspections at UW are conducted mainly by the Joint Health and Safety Committee, and departmental inspections conducted by departmental committees or representatives. Periodically inspections may also be conducted by outside authorities such as the Waterloo Fire Rescue and the Ministry of Labour.

While inspections conducted by the Joint Health and Safety Committee and departments will differ, the principles are the same. Outlined below is a guide for conducting effective inspections.

Role of inspections

As an essential part of UW's Health, Safety & Environment Program, inspectors examine the campus to:

Hazard Recognition, Assessment and Control

Types of workplace hazards include:

Hazard Recognition:

Recognizing a workplace hazard is the first step in overcoming it. But health and safety hazards are not always obvious. Hazard recognition means:

  1. identifying potential hazards in the workplace;
  2. identifying the adverse effects that may be associated with these hazards;
  3. determining whether there is a possibility of people being exposed or affected.

If a potential hazard is recognized using these three steps, the hazard must then be assessed. Hazard assessment is a process of evaluating an identified workplace hazard. The assessment covers equipment, process and work procedures. An assessment considers which workers/students, if any, are exposed -- or likely to be exposed -- to an identified hazard and for how long.

Hazard Control:

Recognition and assessment prepare the way for control or elimination of a hazard. Where an assessment finds that a hazard is likely to adversely affect a worker/student, some form of control is needed.

The principles of hazard control are often described by the location of the control as follows:

  1. Control at the Source. The best control is the elimination of the hazard from the campus. If this is not feasible, the best alternative is substitution of a non-hazardous or less hazardous material or process. Where no acceptable substitute is available, enclosing or isolating the hazard can protect against exposure.


  2. Control Along the Path. Some processes, by their nature, cannot be enclosed or isolated. It may be possible to remove a hazardous gas or dust with a local ventilation system. Alternatively, a general ventilation system can reduce exposure by diluting the concentration of the hazardous substance in the air. These are examples of the control along the path. Other examples of control along the path are screens to prevent welding flash from reaching the eyes of nearby workers/students, and energy lock-out procedures and devices.


  3. Control at the Worker/Student. Where neither control at the source nor control along the path is effective, control at the worker/student may be necessary. Control at the worker/student often consists of special protective equipment or clothing that must be worn during certain work functions. Gloves for hand protection are the most common example. Ear muffs or plugs for noise protection and respirators for breathing protection are other examples of control at the worker/student.