It's Your University; Keep it Safe Competition
The Joint Health and Safety Committee (JH&SC) is very pleased to report that we received 79 submissions for our “Keep it Safe” Health and Safety competition to promote safety awareness, and to get more people thinking about safety, more often. These submissions came from both the Symons and Oshawa campuses and from students, faculty and staff.
The submissions were very good and the judges spent hours carefully reviewing and grading each submission to find our winners. Four winners have been selected, but the judges were so impressed by the submissions that we were asked to create a new, honourable mention prize category to recognize the runner-up in each of the contest categories, and we were pleased to do that.
First the JH&SC would like to thank our sponsors:
- Aramark Canada, who provided a free cup of coffee to each person who entered the contest.
- Marsh Canada who provided a KOBO eReader
- The Peterborough Theatre Guild who provided a one-year double membership
- Trent University Bookstore (Follett Canada) who provided a $250 gift certificate
- Mark’s Work Warehouse (Peterborough / Lindsay location) who provided clothing and merchandise
- The Risk Management Department, specifically the Parking Office who provided a one-year red parking permit valued at over $500, and Campus Security who provided the gifts for the Honourable Mention prize categories.
We have prepared a short summary of each submission that you will find here.
The Health and Safety Committee is committed to working through each of these submissions and working with Risk Management and University managers to further explore and address the concerns you have brought to our attention.
We would also like to remind you that we still want to hear about your concerns. If you have a safety concern remember you can speak with your manager, a member of the health and safety committee, or someone from Risk Management.
And now, the prizes:
Honourable Mention, Office (Department) Category:
Prize: $20 Follett Gift Certificate
Summary: Hazards and measures to control hazards in the Human Resources Storage Room.
Winners: Carly Jones, Dana den Boer, Danielle Grant
Honourable Mention Laboratory Category:
Prize: $20 Follett Gift Certificate
Summary: Hazards that arise when students don’t have a safe place to store bags, coats and personal effects during labs and a suggestion to address the hazard.
Winner: Dorothy Howard
Honourable Mention, General Category:
Prize: $20 Follett Gift Certificate
Summary: Safety issues at Loading Docks and steps that can be taken to reduce the risks.
Winners: Angela Sikma
Winner, Office Category:
Prize: Marks Work Warehouse clothing and merchandise
Summary: The risks of moving heavy beds and drawers in Gzowski residence and a suggestion to reduce the risk.
Winners: Fay McFadden, Michele Venton, Carrie Wood, Jenn Matthews
Winner, Laboratory Category:
Prize: $250 Follett Gift Certificate
Summary: Concerns about general laboratory safety awareness in research labs and recommendations for a program to address those concerns.
Winners: James Johnson, Nora Casson
Winner, General Category:
Prize: KOBO eReader and a one-year double-membership to the Peterborough Theatre Guild
Summary: Concerns about the visibility of a metal bar between two doors in ESB/Science Complex, and a suggestion that would make the bar more visible.
Winner: Dorothy Howard
Overall Winner:
Prize: Red Parking Permit
Summary: Safety at the Symons Campus F lot entry/exit road and a proposed solution.
Winner: Barb Gregory
About the Competition
This Competition encourages all members of the Trent community to apply their knowledge of workplace health and safety by identifying a health or safety hazard at Trent and proposing a means of controlling that hazard to improve health and safety at Trent.
Trent community members are invited to submit entries in one or more of three categories:
- Lab safety;
- Office safety;
- General safety
Submission
**Please click here for the Submission Form**
Each submission should:
- Identify a safety concern that exists on Trent property ie. Symons, Traill, Oshawa, Oliver and Windy Pines.
- Assess the safety risk to individuals by determining:
- What workplace illness or injury could be caused by the hazard;
- How likely it is to cause illness or injury;
- The potential impact to individuals and the university in a worse case scenario.
- Propose measures to neutralize or control the risk.
- Explain how we can determine if the control measures worked and are continuing to work.
- Include a signature block with the contact information and signatures of the competitor(s) and a manager (it does not have to be the competitor’s manager), or any Trent official for students, if they support the submission. If submitting electronically please have the Manager/Trent Official send an email in support of the submission. Managerial support does not imply a commitment to fund the proposal. It is solely an indication that the manager supports the proposed risk control plan and is willing to assist in its implementation, if implementation is approved.
Entries may be submitted by individuals or by teams by February 15th, 2012. There is no limit on the number of entries an individual or team may submit. Entries are to be submitted to the Environmental Health and Safety Officer, Bill Gibson, ext 7373. Entries may be submitted electronically to bgibson@trentu.ca or in hard copy to Room 110.1, Blackburn Hall. If Bill is not in his office, they can be dropped off at the Parking Office, Blackburn Hall room 103, during business hours.
Judging and Awards
The Joint Health and Safety Committee has selected the following panel of judges:
- James Watson, TUFA
- Adele Devlin, OPSEU
- Tara Harrington, Exempt Management
- Bill Gibson, EH&SO, Ex-officio technical advisor
The remaining JH &SC members will act as resources for competitors if they wish assistance with their proposal. JH&SC members and the EH&SO may not compete. JH&SC Resource members are:
Each entry will be judged on the following criteria, weighted by the following percentages:
- Impact (25%)
- Simplicity (20%)
- Innovation (20%)
- Cost effectiveness (20%)
- Manager’s support of proposal (5%)
The following awards may be issued, depending on the entries received:
- Best overall safety submission (any category)
- Best submission in each of the three categories
Prizes Include:
- a red parking permit
- $250 Gift Certificate for the Trent University Bookstore
- a Kobo eReader
- Double Membership for one year at the Peterborough Theatre Guild
- Mark's Work Warehouse clothing & merchandise
In addition, every competitor meeting an acceptable submission will receive a cup of coffee through Scullers located in Bata Library.
Winners will be announced at the February 24, 2012 President's Open Forum. Prizes will be presented at a separate awards ceremony, date to be announced. Winner's names and a short summary of their proposal will be posted on this web page.
THANK YOU to the Following Sponsors:
Trent University Bookstore (Follett Canada)
Mark's Work Warehouse (Peterborough/Lindsay location)
Marsh Canada Limited
Peterborugh Theatre Guild
ARAMARK Canada
