Safety Committee

Everyone plays a role in creating a strong safety culture and a well-supported and focused Safety Committee can help advance a culture of safety.

Departments or units should establish a safety committee to assist them in implementing the UC Davis Safety Management Program (PPM 290-15).

Consider the following guidelines when forming a Safety Committee:

  1. Duties and Structure
    • Meet on a regularly scheduled basis, at least quarterly
    • Keep written records or minutes of meetings
    • Submit recommendations in response to employee safety suggestions
    • Develop strategies for implementing new safety management programs
    • Coordinate activities of DSCs, provide direction and facilitate the dissemination of safety information
       
  2. Engagement and Outreach
    • Make meeting updates/agenda/minutes available to department
    • Plan an agenda and circulate it beforehand to employees
    • Encourage submission of agenda items
       
  3. Safety Committee Topics
    • Review results of inspections (e.g. fire inspections, lab safety reviews, biosafety audits, internal inspections conducted by Departmental Safety Coordinators)
    • Review investigations of accidents and cases of injury and illness, near-misses (defined by OSHA as “an incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained, but where given a slight shift in time or positions damage and/or injury could easily have occurred).
    • Discuss a “lesson learned” from the Safety Services webpage: https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/lessons-learned
    • Invite a guest speaker from Safety Services, your Departmental Safety Coordinator, or other safety subject matter experts
       
  4. Safety Committee Membership
    A safety committee should be broadly representative and include a diversity of backgrounds, viewpoints and roles. Here are some ideas for composition:
     
    • Management Services Officer (MSO) or Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
    • 1-2 research lab personnel (if applicable)
    • Departmental Safety Coordinator
    • 1-2 faculty members
    • One member-at-large from the department or unit

The chair of the safety committee may be designated by the department/unit head or may be voted on by committee