As required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers must furnish to employees a workplace that is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious harm to employees; likewise, employees must comply with all OSHA health standards, rules, regulations and orders issued under the Act that apply to their own actions and conduct on their jobs.
At Quincy College, job safety and health protection are important and the company strives to provide a safe workplace for each employee. In return, Quincy College requests that each employee be attentive to his/her work environment and take action to correct any hazardous situation.
Since our facilities are limited to office environments and since we have limited hazardous substances, maintaining a hazardous free workplace requires each employee and management to be more attentive to obstacles that could harm others such as electrical wires, boxes or items in walkways, or equipment that is properly secured or in good working order. If an employee observes what appears to be a hazardous situation he/she shall report it immediately to the department manager. All employees should be aware that as he/she enters a facility of one of our clients and/or potential customers, he/she may be asked to wear personal protective equipment, to adhere to certain safety precautions, or to avoid certain areas due to hazardous chemicals or other unsafe conditions. Employees must abide by the requests of our clients and potential customers regarding their safety procedures.
If an employee thinks he/she has been exposed to a hazardous substance, he/she is encouraged to immediately seek assistance. Contact your supervisor or Office Of Campus Services or if at a client site, contact the safety officer or other appropriate representative for that site.
The Right to Know:
The Massachusetts Right-to-Know Law went into effect September 26, 1984. The law requires that all employers label hazardous substances and obtain Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on those substances and that all employees who handle hazardous substances receive right-to-know training.
An employee has the right to request a copy of the MSDS on those substances used in the performance of his/her duties. The MSDS lists the ingredients of the substance, potential hazards, physical characteristics and necessary precautions in using the substance. MSDSs may be obtained from the Environmental Health & Safety Office.
Employees who must use materials that are potentially hazardous should learn what precautions to take before handling the material. This information can be found on MSDSs which may be obtained from the Environmental Health & Safety Office.
Original: June 2006