COMITÉ FONCTIONNEL DE LA SANTÉ ET DE LA SÉCURITÉ AU LABORATOIRE

FUNCTIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE FOR LABORATORY

August30,2017;13h30;DMS 7136

Representation / Name / Initial / Email
Deans or directors from all areas (2) / Nada Nagy
Paul Middlestead / X
X /

APUO (3) / James Gomes
Vacant
Vacant / X
-
- /
N/A
N/A
APTPUO (2) / Fadi Malek
Vacant / X
- /
N/A
CUPE, local 2626 (3) / Erfan Niazi
Meg Peters
Kim Mitchell / X
X
X /


PIPSC (1) / Alain Le Hénaff / X /
OSSTF (3) / Monique Maisonneuve
Scott Dick
Vacant / -
X
- /

N/A
Non-unionized group (1) / Vacant / - / N/A
Non-voting undergraduate student (1) / Vacant / - /
Resource Persons
Office of Risk Management / Graham Nelson / X /
JHSC Inspector / Martine Bergeron / X /

Chairperson: Nada Nagy
Secretary: Martine Bergeron

Additional Distribution

  • IUOE –
  • SSUO – ;
  • PIPSC –
  • APUO – ; ;
  • APTPUO – ;
  • CUPE – ; ;
  • APNS – ;

COMITÉ FONCTIONNEL DE LA SANTÉ ET DE LA SÉCURITÉ AU LABORATOIRE

FUNCTIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE FOR LABORATORY

  1. Elections
  2. Following the departure of the previous worker co-chair, the worker committee members unanimously elected Erfan Niazi as worker co-chair.
  3. No Secretary was elected at the meeting. Martine Bergeron will take minutes of the meeting.
  1. Approval of agenda

The agenda was moved for approval by PaulMiddlestead, seconded by Alain LeHénaff; approved unanimously.

  1. Approval of the minutes fromJune 28, 2017

The minutes of June 28, 2017 were moved for approval by Alain LeHénaff,seconded byPaulMiddlestead; approved unanimously.

  1. Matters arising from the minutes ofJune 28, 2017
  2. Documentation
  3. Designated Substances Program

The document has not been received back from Language Services.

  1. Working Alone

Following initial review by the University Committee in April 2017, the amended guideline has not been presented to the University Committee. It is hopeful that it will be on the agenda for the next meeting of the University Committee on September 13, 2017.A member expressed that there is an issue at another committeeregarding working at heights and working alone.

  1. Pregnant Workers

The document has not been received back from Language Services.

  1. Lab Safety Manual / PPE in Labs

The review of the manual is currently being undertaken by a subcommittee consisting of Risk Management and the instructors of the Lab Safety training.The subcommittee is at version 3 of the manual. Graham Nelson will send the latest version to the Lab Safety Committee for review. Any and all feedback iswelcome and should be directed to Graham Nelson. Some questions about the scope of the manual and enforcement responsibilities / practices were raised by members. It was noted that the manual is intended to be a high-level document addressing Lab Safety in a general sense. Supervisors are responsible for augmenting the procedures and training on an individual basis. A recommended escalation and enforcement section is included in the manual.

G. Nelson presented a short PowerPoint presentation regarding the applicable sections in various references (including the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Regulations, standard, etc.) addressing PPE requirements. Included in the presentation were the duties of the employer, supervisor and worker, a brief summary of sections 79-86 of Regulation 851,as well as reference to Regulation 833 (Exposure to Chemical and Biological Substances) and Regulation 381 (Noise Exposure) regarding PPE. In addition, relevant sections ofthe University Policy 77 (Occupational Health and Safety), Procedure 14-1(IRS) and the PPE Guideline were included. The signage template appearing on laboratory doors was shown to members, which includes the required PPE for the laboratory. Finally, a recommended escalation procedure (from the Lab Safety Manual) was briefly discussed. A relevant case study from UCLA was briefly discussed; the case study will be sent to member after the meeting.

  • Accident / Incident follow-up request
  • 3753 – Flood – Xpertek (uOttawa remediation contractor) was immediately notified of the situation and began remediation, as is the case for essentially all water-related events. Remediation can include a wide variety of activities; however the common elements are the recuperation of water, removal of saturated drywall, disinfection of building materials (where applicable), potential application of mould-inhibiting compound, replacement of damaged building materials (i.e. walls), etc. This particular incident included potentially dirty water from washrooms; therefore it was treated as totally dirty water. Occupants were temporarily displaced while damages were assessed and remedied. The cause has beendeterminedto be the result of external considerations (i.e.not as a result of uOttawa).
  1. 3765 - Dewer venting–an operational procedure is posted at the filling station with users trained by senior persons in labs. Science Store was met to follow-up on this situation. Stores believe this to be the result of excessive filling of smaller, 50L liquid nitrogen dewars, causing the lines to ice. Stores has posted a procedure on what to do in the event this occurs; however it was suggested to the Faculty to identify those users with the 50L dewars via dispensing records (according to Stores, there are not many) and to limit the fill times to those when Stores personnel are present to assist. There was confusion as to whether the dewar was nitrogen or carbon dioxide; Graham to confirm.
  1. 3772 – Burns from agarose heated in microwave – a student sustained burns following theheating of agarose gel in a microwave. The student was removing the gel andinadvertently struck the lip of the microwave. The heating protocol was notappropriate (heated too long) and the student was reportedly not familiar with the procedure. The PI has modified the procedure and provided instruction to the student. The student was wearing gloves, lab coat and protective eyewear at the time of the incident.
  1. Presentation by Risk Management
  2. Summary of MOL Visit – July 2017 – Accident, Incident and Near Miss Reporting
  3. In December 2016, a worker sustained fractures to both ankles in mutually exclusive events that occurred one week apart. No report was made to uOttawa for either incident. The worker eventually sought medical assistance in February 2017 and reported one incident to uOttawa in June 2017. uOttawa reported the instances to MOL.The Inspector requested a meeting with uOttawa and a committee member to discuss worker on-boarding processed. The meeting occurred in July and a summary was presented to the Committee, including the new employee kit, mandatory training, etc.No order was issued; however uOttawa will be communicating with all workers about reporting of accidents, incident and near misses. A brief demonstration of the online form was presented; the form is available on numerous websites (HR, ORM, etc.) and is directly available at
  1. Critical injury / accident / incident / occupational illness reports(Alain Le Hénaff)

No critical injuriesor major accident / incidents to report.

  1. Inspections (Martine Bergeron)
  • Update on progress
  • Laboratories: 98.65%
  • Remaining locations include two labs in CBY, three labs in MNT, RGN Anatomy Lab and the RGN CL3.
  • University: 79.4%
  1. University Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee report (Alain Le Hénaff)

No UJOHSC meeting has occurred since the last LaboratoryCommittee; the next meeting is scheduled for September 13, 2017.

  1. Upcoming training sessions (fees may apply -
  2. Compressed Gas and Cryogens
  3. Two (2) sessions are scheduled to occur (Sept 20 and Oct 4) this fall and are free to attend. The session will be presented by Linde Canada. Graham will send the Linde presentation to the members. Comments are welcome.
  4. First Aid
  5. October 17-18 (currently full)
  6. Overhead Crane Training
  7. September 7 (primarily for the Structures lab in CBY)
  8. Committee Orientation Training
  9. Training is now posted online and available at All members are encouraged to complete the training.
  1. Other / NewBusiness
  2. MySafeWork Special Event – October 19
  3. MySafeWork will be on campus to speak about healthy and safe work environments, with a target demographic of persons aged 18-25. MySafeWork was started following a workplace accident where a young worker was killed on his second day of work. MySafeWork is touring Canadian Universities and will be speaking at Morisset on October 19; registration is free and is available at Space is limited.
  • MOL occupational exposure limit (OEL) updates: some exposure limits have been lowered, some substances have been added, oxygen content has been raised which means powered ventilation could be required where it was otherwise not. The notice will be sent to the committee following the meeting.
  • WHMIS 2015 training is available for review.
  • Content –
  • Quiz –
  • PI/Lab Supervisor specific training.
  • A brief discussion ensued of potentially offering PI specific lab safety training andhealth and safety training relating duties and consequences of not enforcing policies and regulations. There is also the option of sending a communication outlining all of their responsibilities.
  1. Next meeting
  2. October 25th; Room TBD.

Signatures

Worker Co-Chair: ______Date: ______

Management Co-Chair: ______Date: ______