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Stanford University makes all reasonable efforts to:

  • Protect the health and safety of Stanford University faculty, staff, and students
  • Provide safe workplaces (academic, research, and administrative) for faculty, staff, and students
  • Provide information to faculty, staff, and students about health and safety hazards
  • Identify and correct health and safety hazards, and encourage faculty, staff, and students to report hazards
  • Provide information and safeguards for those on campus and in the surrounding community regarding environmental hazards arising from operations at the University

Per California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3203, Stanford adopted an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), which describes specific requirements for program responsibility, compliance, communication, hazard assessment, accident and exposure investigations, hazard correction, training, and recordkeeping.

Requirements are mandated by regulation where the word “shall” is used, and are advisory where the word “should” is used.

Violence in the workplace 

Stanford's Administrative Guide provides guidelines for responding to violence or threats of violence in the workplace (see Administrative Policy 23.9). 

The situation will dictate the roles and responsibilities of employees, supervisors, Staff Affairs Officers, Employee Relations, the Help Center, and police or security personnel. There are specific procedures for responding to:

  • Threats of violence
  • Acts of violence not involving injuries or weapons
  • Acts of violence involving injuries or weapons
  • Responsibilities
  • Scheduled and Periodic Inspections
  • Reporting and Investigation
  • Hazard Correction
  • Training and Instruction

  • Stanford University shall ensure that employees comply with safe and healthy work practices. Managers and supervisors are responsible for establishing and maintaining good health and safety practices. To ensure compliance:

    • Employees are recognized for following safe and healthful work practices (e.g., oral acknowledgments at receptions, small gifts such as plaques, etc.).
    • Employees are trained and retrained, as necessary or as required.
    • Health and safety practices are integrated into new employee job descriptions and performance appraisals.
    • Disciplinary actions with employees for failure to follow safe and healthful work practices are taken when appropriate.
    • An anti-reprisal policy for employees reporting safety and health concerns is enforced.

    Program Administrator

    The ultimate responsibility for our Injury Illness and Prevention Program rests with the President of  Stanford University, Marc Tessier-Lavigne The program administrator is:

    Lawrence M. Gibbs, MPH, FAIHAAssociate Vice Provost - Environmental Health and SafetyStanford University, ESF - 480 Oak Road, Stanford CA  94305-8007(650) 723-0448

    Responsibilities include:

    • Advising senior management on safety and health issues.
    • Working with senior management to develop safety and health guidelines and policies.
    • Preparing and distributing the University's guidelines, policies and procedures on safety and health issues.
    • Maintaining current information on local, state and federal safety and health regulations.
    • Serving as liaison with governmental agencies.
    • Planning, organizing and coordinating safety trainings.
    • Developing a code of safe practices and inspection guidelines.
    • Arranging for safety and health inspections and follow up to insure necessary corrective action is completed.
    • Establishing, conducting and maintaining an injury/illness/accident report and investigation procedure.
    • Coordinating with the University's Department of Risk Management on maintaining injury and illness records (OSHA log 300).
    • Reviewing injury and illness trends.
    • Establishing a system for maintaining the records of inspection, hazard abatement and training.

    Managers

    Managers are responsible for ensuring that:

    • Individuals under their management have the authority to implement appropriate health and safety policies, practices, and programs.
    • Areas under their management have adequate funding for health and safety programs, practices, and equipment.
    • Areas under their management are in compliance with Stanford University health and safety practices, policies, and programs.

    Supervisors

    Supervisors are responsible for implementing Stanford University IIPP. This includes:

    • Ensuring that workplaces and equipment are safe, well maintained, and in compliance with external agency regulations and Stanford policies, programs, and practices.
    • Ensuring that workplace safety and health practices and procedures are clearly communicated and understood by employees through training programs.
    • Enforcing health and safety rules fairly and uniformly relating to job performance.
    • Evaluating employees on compliance with safe work practices.
    • Acknowledging employees who make a significant contribution to maintenance of a safe workplace and disciplining employees who fail to follow safe work practices.
    • Encouraging employees to report workplace hazards without fear of reprisals.
    • Ensuring that periodic, scheduled workplace inspections are conducted and that identified health and safety deficiencies are corrected in a timely fashion.
    • Ensuring that workplace incidents (injuries, exposures, or illnesses) are reported and investigated, and that corrective actions are taken promptly.  See Sections 7.1 and 7.2 regarding procedures for reporting serious and non-serious incidents.
    • Ensuring that inspections/investigations and employee health and safety records are kept for the designated period(s) of time.  

    Employees

    Employees are responsible for following the requirements of the IIPP. This involves:

    • Keeping themselves informed of conditions affecting their health and safety.
    • Participating in training programs as required.
    • Adhering to healthy and safe practices in their workplace.
    • Promptly reporting potential hazards in the workplace and workplace incidents (injuries, exposures, or illnesses) to their supervisors.

    EH&S

    EH&S is responsible for the development and administration of the IIPP. This involves:

    • Providing training and technical assistance to managers and supervisors on implementation of the IIPP.
    • Assisting supervisors in conducting workplace hazard assessments to identify, evaluate, and correct hazards.
    • Reviewing, updating and evaluating the overall effectiveness of the IIPP.
    • Evaluating the adequacy and consistency of training designed by schools, departments, etc. (i.e., Tier 2 Training - See Section 9.2).

  • Stanford University shall have procedures for identifying and evaluating workplace hazards, including scheduled periodic inspections to identify unsafe conditions and work practices. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that periodic inspections are conducted. To assist supervisors, EH&S has developed self-inspection checklists that can be adapted for local use.

    Work area inspection schedule for supervisors

    Work area inspections shall be conducted:

    • Upon initial establishment of the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)
    • In office areas, at least annually
    • In labs and shops, at least quarterly
    • When new substances, processes, procedures, or equipment, which present potential new hazards, are introduced
    • When new, previously unrecognized hazards are identified
    • When occupational injuries or illnesses occur

    EH&S and Internal Audit

    To assist supervisors in identifying and correcting potential hazards, EH&S conducts surveys (e.g. baseline occupational health and safety surveys of operating units, inspections of hazardous materials storage and disposal, and fire safety).

    Stanford’s Internal Audit Department includes a review of the unit’s compliance with health and safety issues, related to the implementation of the IIPP.

    Outside agencies

    Several outside agencies conduct regular, periodic inspections at Stanford, which assist the University in achieving some of its inspectional responsibilities. These include:

    • County of Santa Clara Fire Marshal’s Office
    • City of Palo Alto Fire Department
    • County of Santa Clara Environmental Health Department

    Recordkeeping of scheduled and periodic inspections

    The supervisor shall maintain records of scheduled and periodic inspections to identify unsafe conditions and work practices for at least one year (unless otherwise specified). These records shall include:

    • The person(s) conducting the inspection
    • Any description of the unsafe conditions and work practices
    • The actions taken to correct the identified unsafe conditions and work practices

  • Stanford University shall investigate workplace incidents (i.e. injuries, exposures, or illnesses). There are standardized procedures for reporting injuries, illnesses, and incidents.

    Reporting procedures

    Employees are to report workplace incidents to their supervisor as soon as possible.

    Serious injuries, illnesses, or fatalities

    • The supervisor must immediately contact EH&S at (650) 725-9999 to report work-related death, serious injury, or illness.
    • EH&S must immediately report any serious injury, illness, or fatality to Cal/OSHA. Other incidents may be reported on a case-by-case basis.
    • For more details, see Serious Accident/Illness Reporting Procedures. 

    Cal/OSHA defines an injury or illness as serious if it:

    • Requires inpatient hospitalization for more than 24 hours, for reasons other than medical observation
    • An employee suffers a loss of any member of the body
    • An employee suffers any serious degree of permanent disfigurement

      Standardized forms for reporting and investigating workplace incidents

      Complete the Incident Investigation Report Form within 24 hours and fax it to Risk Management at (650) 723-9456.

      To report incidents involving non-employees (students, visitors, and other third parties), complete the Non-Employee Incident Report Form.

      Investigation procedures

      Within 24 hours, supervisors must investigate any workplace incident (injury, exposure, or illness) involving their staff and follow-up with corrective measures by completing the Incident Investigation Report Form (see above).

      EH&S review of incidents

      • All serious accidents and overexposures to chemical, biological, radiation, and physical stressors are investigated immediately by EH&S, the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Program, or other EH&S units, as appropriate.
      • For other incidents where additional follow-up is appropriate, EH&S and the OH&S Program will review submitted information to ensure that adequate corrective actions have been identified and implemented.

    • Stanford University is committed to correcting unsafe or unhealthy work conditions in a timely manner, based on the severity of hazards.

      Schedules for correcting hazards

      Hazards shall be corrected as follows:

      • When observed or discovered
      • When an imminent hazard exists that cannot be immediately abated without endangering employee(s) and/or property, all exposed personnel will be removed from the area, except those necessary to correct the existing condition. Employees necessary to correct the hazardous condition shall be provided with necessary safeguards.

      Recordkeeping

      As corrective actions are implemented, supervisors shall document the effort and maintain such records for at least one year.

      Resources

      Unsafe conditions that cannot be corrected with resources available to the supervisor or manager must be reported to the next level of management. Resources to correct hazards include the following:

      • If the correction required is part of Facilities Operations maintenance responsibilities, Facilities Operations will address the repair without charge to the department.
      • If the repair does not fall into the category of maintenance, departmental funds may be required.
      • If departmental funds are not available, departments must seek other resources from the school or University.

    • Stanford University policy requires training of faculty, staff, and students to protect themselves from hazards in their working environment. Supervisors shall train employees and students in:

      • General health and safety practices
      • Job-specific health and safety practices and hazards
      • Recognition and assessment of health and safety risks
      • Minimization of risks through sound safety practices and the use of protective equipment
      • Regulations and statutes applicable to their work
      • Stanford University health and safety policies

      Tri-tier training program

      Stanford has organized its training system into a tri-tier program.

      Tier one: General safety training

      • General University orientation is provided by Human Resources to all new employees.
      • Orientation includes information on Stanford's health and safety policies and practices, employee health and safety rights, responsibilities, health and safety services at Stanford, and expectations for further training.

      Tier two: Hazard-specific training

      • Hazard-specific training is provided by the school, department, or building safety representatives, in conjunction with EH&S, to employees and students in labs, shops, or other workplaces where special hazards may be encountered.
      • Training topics include ergonomics, hazard communication, departmental emergency response and evacuation procedures, and forklift safety. 
      • EH&S reviews tier two trainings for adequacy and consistency.

      Tier three: Job-specific training

      • Job-specific training is provided by the supervisor for laboratory researchers and assistants, lab class students, shop and food service workers, or other employees and students, as appropriate.
      • Training consists of information specific to the hazards and equipment used by these individuals. Training is communicated by safety meetings (formal or informal), material safety data sheets, videos, pamphlets, booklets, and postings.

      Training schedule

      Training shall be provided to all employees and students:

      • When the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) is first established
      • When new employees are hired
      • When employees are given new job assignments for which training has not previously been received
      • Whenever new substances, processes, procedures, or equipment are introduced to the workplace and represent a new hazard
      • Whenever the employer is made aware of a new or previously unrecognized hazard
      • When employees become supervisors (so that they can familiarize themselves with the safety and health hazards to which employees under their immediate direction and control may be exposed)

      Training resources from EH&S

      • EH&S assists schools and departments in providing health and safety training to employees on a variety of topics. These include IIPP training, laboratory safety training, respirator training, radiological safety, and others. Training information can be accessed online through STARS.
      • Standardized forms for recordkeeping are available from EH&S.
      • EH&S has a safety video library, a collection of safety publications, and technical staff to assist supervisors and departments in implementing training programs.

      Recordkeeping

      • Documentation of health and safety training for each employee shall include:
        • Employee name or other identifier
        • Training dates 
        • Type(s) of training
        • Training providers
      • This documentation shall be maintained for one year.
      • Training records of employees who have worked less than one year for the employer need not be retained beyond the term of employment, if they are provided to the employee upon termination of employment.
      • The supervisor is responsible for maintaining these records.
      • Stanford Training and Registration System (STARS) is a computerized training database for registration and maintenance of training documentation. If you have any questions about STARS, contact EH&S’s Training and Communications Office at (650) 723-0448.

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