Trent University's Health & Safety Training and Competency program has been established to implement, monitor, and maintain a process for health and safety training and to establish worker competency. This program is intended to provide for legislative compliance and protection of the health and safety of all workers, students, volunteers, and others in Trent University workplaces. It applies to all persons doing work on behalf of Trent University, including any full-time, part-time, sessional, or casual workers, and third-party vendors.
Click to view Trent University's Health & Safety Training and Competency procedure.
Online Training for Employees
All Mandatory Employee Training can be accessed through the “MyTraining” tab in the Employee Portal in VIP .
User guides for using the training module in VIP are available for Employees and Managers under the VIP section on the Human Resources website.
All new employees will receive a welcome email from Human Resources to ensure you are aware of the Human Resources, Health & Safety, and Risk Management-related legislation, policies, and procedures applicable to your position. Please email humanresources@trentu.ca if you did not receive the email (Subject: Welcome to Trent University from Human Resources and Campus Safety).
Mandatory Training for All Employees
All new employees are required to complete the following mandatory courses on their first day of employment, including:
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act - Customer Service
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act - Working Together - The Code
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act - Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation
- Ministry of Labour Health & Safety Awareness - Worker (or Supervisor) (5 year certification)
- Health and Safety Orientation for Trent University (5 year certification)
- Privacy Protection at Trent University
- Cybersecurity at Trent University
- Workplace Violence and Harassment (5 year certification)
Please note that all supervisors (positions that oversee the work of others and/or have direct reports) must complete the Ministry of Labour Health & Safety Awareness - Supervisor module.
Additional Training
Additional job-specific training may also be required. Training needs should be regularly evaluated and determined in collaboration with your supervisor.
Supervisors can use the Trent Health & Safety Training Record to document job-specific safety training provided by the Supervisor or a competent third party, and request healthandsafety@trentu.ca to upload the training record to an employee's profile in VIP.
To view a list of available Health & Safety course offerings through VIP and other commonly required mandatory training, please refer to the Trent University Training Matrix. This tool should be reviewed with your supervisor at the beginning of your work and annual during performance reviews.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of training that may be required for your position. If further assistance is required to determine training needs, contact healthandsafety@trentu.ca.
Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, WHMIS (Globally Harmonized System, GHS)
All employees who work with or around hazardous materials that are labeled with any of the symbols below are required to complete WHMIS 2015 training before work commences.
The purpose of this training is to provide workers with the information that they need to protect themselves, and other, when working with hazardous chemicals.
Science Safety Program
Specific training tailored to Science Safety is available through VIP. To learn more, visit the Science Safety Program.
Student Information
Students who perform experiential learning activities (unpaid placements, internships, co-ops, etc.) should refer to the Unpaid Placements and Internships page for further instruction.
For instructions on completing mandatory training through Blackboard, visit the Training Instructions for Experiential Leaning page.
Non-Employee / Unpaid Appointments or Volunteers
Non-Employee / Unpaid Appointments are for individuals who are not already affiliated with the university as a paid employee or a student of the university (i.e. board members, volunteers, interns, temporary visitors, adjunct faculty, professor emeritus, postdoctoral fellow, visiting scholars, Fleming / George Brown / Ontario Tech paid faculty who teach at Trent, etc.) may require access to VIP to complete mandatory training.
Visit the Non-Employee / Unpaid Appointments page for further instruction.
If you are involved in the recruitment and/or supervision of unpaid visiting scholars or volunteers at Trent, you should have them sign an Informed Consent Waiver. By signing the waiver, volunteers and visiting scholars are identifying that they understand the benefits and risks associated with the tasks they will be undertaking at Trent. The waiver is available on the Managing Risk page on the Risk Management website, under the header for Volunteer and Visiting Scholar Waiver.