Talking Stick - September/October 2016 - 31

dismissal. Students who don't follow
the guidelines may also be dismissed
immediately if the infraction is
severe enough.
There are also several committees
in place at Purdue that meet several
times a year to ensure that everything
flows smoothly and that everyone can
be as safe as possible. For example,
Purdue has a University Residences
Safety Committee that is a crucial part
of their safety program. The members
consist of residential life staff, clerical
staff, grounds staff, REM staff, and
a chosen individual from every hall.
They meet six times a year, and at
each meeting a relevant biohazard
topic is covered. They discuss any new
information from the campus or the
REM department and any concerns
or issues.
Purdue also has an Integrated
Safety Program (ISP), which is
managed by the REM department.
The halls and departments overseen
by this program conduct self-audits
annually and submit the documents
to the REM for evaluation. The
departments and halls are also visited
annually, when the area is reviewed for
safety compliance. If the department
or hall passes inspection, they are
certified by the REM. This further
protects the campus from OSHA fines.
This program has been extremely
successful at Purdue and has been able
to take advantage of the participation
of hundreds of campus departments
and residence halls.
Since every U.S. campus is
required to keep up with policies,
procedures, and information from
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), this information is
a part of training on many campuses
as well. Every campus is required
to follow guidelines in the Hazard
Communication Handbook, which
describes an institution's policy
on how to take every reasonable
precaution to maintain a safe work
environment. It also ensures that the
institution will identify all chemical

hazards within every work area that
the employees will come in contact
with and that their information will
be made available to all employees,
in agreement with the General Duty
Clause of the OSHA Act-Public Law
91-596. This law, the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970, exists to
ensure safe and healthy conditions in
work places for employees.
Having a good plan in place is
vital for every institution, and it is
easily attainable as long as there
is a well-thought out blueprint of
procedures serving as the backbone

of your department's operations.
Providing updates and training to
employees every couple of months
helps to keep everything flowing
according to plan and enables staff to
continue to put best practices in place
before being called upon to tackle the
next biohazard. 

Johana Langova is the editorial intern for the
Talking Stick.
 Editorialintern@acuho-i.org

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