Mission Statement
The mission of the Engineering Laboratory Safety Office is to establish a comprehensive guidance plan for Principal Investigators to follow, which will identify hazards, mitigate risks, ensure compliance and foster a positive culture of safety.
The Engineering Laboratory Safety Office strives to CONNECT, not inspect the labs. *CONNECT means: Check-In, Offer Help, get to kNow the labs, introduce New programs, Evaluate hazards, Correct concerns (non-punitive), Tout (identify and recognize/reward best practices). The aim is to promote managing safety using the 3 E’s: Evaluate hazards, Ensure compliance and Enhance safety culture. To do this, the focus will be on your research, processes, equipment and protocols. Contact the Engineering Laboratory Safety Office to schedule a visit to suit the needs of your lab which can include the following:
- Research a current topic of concern and present information
- Answer questions related to compliance confusions
- Do mock inspections
- Receive feedback from researchers on how to integrate safety into the research process vs. focusing on compliance
- Do a “get-to-know-you” visit
COE Health and Safety Objectives
The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering is committed to providing a safe and healthy working and learning environment for its faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
We are dedicated to continuous improvement of our health and safety performance and culture by adhering to the following objectives, which align with our Gator Engineering Attributes:
- Leadership: Develop, implement, monitor and improve safety systems, programs and policies to meet or exceed University standards.
- Integrity: Hold all accountable for contributing to the improvement of our safety culture by taking appropriate actions to remove hazards, minimize risk, and learn from incidents, accidents and near-misses.
- Professional Excellence: Establish a culture that fosters sound decision making and standardized processes in order to achieve continuous improvement in safety outcomes.
- Creativity: Identify innovative techniques that encourage everyone to develop a safety-awareness mindset, affecting motivation, behavior and attitudes in a positive way.
- Service to the Global Community: Prepare faculty and students to become safety ambassadors, possessing knowledge and skill sets that can translate into leading safety practices globally.
Contact Us:
James Fleetwood
Director of Safety
245 Weil Hall
Email: jfleetwood@eng.ufl.edu
Phone: (352) 294-7954