September 29, 2005
Health and Safety Committee Elections coming
Elections for employee representatives to the 11 Health and Safety Committees are beginning. These positions will be two-year terms, beginning Jan. 1, 2006. Staff, faculty, hourly, temporary, and student employees are eligible to participate in these elections. Watch for an announcement in your organizational unit/department calling for nominations. You may nominate yourself, the current elected representative, or a co-worker.
University Health and Safety Committees, mandated by the Department of Labor and Industries, are important in assuring that employee health and safety issues are identified and addressed throughout the University system. Committee members review and evaluate incident/accident reports, review and evaluate accident and illness prevention programs, and provide a forum for employee concerns about health and safety. The Committees work at the unit level, advising deans, vice presidents, and other administrative heads.
After the call for nominations, the ballot will be available for voting. Look for election announcements from your organizational unit/department. In many elections, these will be on the web. For areas that do not have web access, your election announcement should indicate an alternate voting method, as well as the start and closing dates of the two election phases.
After the organizational Committees are set for the next term, two representatives from each of the 11 Committees will be selected to sit on a University-wide Health and Safety Committee, which helps provide a consistent approach throughout campus. If you wish to know more about the Health and Safety Committees, go to the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) homepage, http://www.ehs.washington.edu, Safety Committees.
This is your chance to have a voice in improving the health and safety or your workplace. Be involved; vote!
