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Safety committees

A safety committee structure supports and guides programs at SFU. The committees are comprised of:

  • A Central University Health and Safety Committee (CUHSC)
  • Local Joint Health and Safety committees (LJHSC)
  • Research-related safety committees (Radiation, Biosafety and Diving).

A variation has been issued by WorkSafeBC for the safety committee structure at the Burnaby, Vancouver and Surrey campuses.  

Local Joint Health and Safety Committees

The Local Joint Health and Safety Committees (LJHSC) report to department heads. They assist in monitoring departmental safety programs, safety concerns raised by employees and students, make recommendations to department heads and promote safety communication.

Terms of reference

The Local Joint Health and Safety Committees are established by their terms of reference.

Inspections

The LJHSC are responsible for conducting inspections of their areas of responsibility.  

New Inspections Management Module

EHS is currently piloting a the new Inspections Management module with 4 LJHSCs.  The Inspections Management module is a tool for safety committees, Lab Managers, EHS staff and other SFU employees who are responsible for performing inspections of their workplaces. 

Safety committee members participating in the pilot may access the system to view or perform inspections at: https://safety.sfu.ca/

User Manuals are available for Inspectors.

Central University Health and Safety Committee

The Central University Health and Safety Committee (CUHSC) reports to the Chief Safety Officer and addresses safety policies and safety issues arising in public areas.  It also promotes communication and information sharing among local joint health and safety committees.  

Terms of reference

The Central University Health and Safety Committee (CUHSC) is established by its terms of reference.

Membership & meeting minutes

Review the current CUHSC list of voting members and meeting minutes.

Additional resources for safety committee members are available on the safety committee SharePoint site

Safety inspections

The objective of inspections is to identify safety hazards in order for them to be mitigated/eliminated. All inspections should be documented. Use the templates below to assist with documentation and reporting. These templates can be modified to meet your needs.

General safety inspections

  • General safety inspection checklist
    • Use this checklist to record findings when completing annual site inspections of an area. 
    • Once completed, use findings and notes from the checklist to fill out Inspection Summary Report.  
  • Inspection summary report template
    • After the inspection is complete, safety committee members will fill out the Safety Inspection Summary and send to the department head/administrator of the area that was inspected. 
    • The safety committee members who completed the inspection will follow up on any recommended actions to ensure the department has addressed the deficiency.
    • The Safety Inspection Summary will also be forwarded to the safety committee for discussion at the next meeting and EHS for recordkeeping purposes. 
  • Inspection guidance document

Lab inspections

Some SFU safety committees will participate in laboratory inspections being conducted by the lab owners. The following resources are available to familiarize onself with laboratory inspections.

Safety committee member guidance document

A guidance document is available for safety committee members that outlines the mandate of safety committees, the roles and responsibilities of committee members, communication between CUHSC and the LJHSCs, and how safety concerns/issues are raised from the LJHSCs to CUHSC.

WorkSafeBC inspection reports