Institutional Health & Safety Council (IHSC)

CHARGE TO COMMITTEE

INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT TO EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY

To support its continued commitment to protecting the health and safety of its faculty, staff, students and visitors, as well as the environment, the Institutional Health and Safety Council (IHSC) provides the “executive-level” commitment necessary to ensure that each of Columbia University’s health & safety programs receives the appropriate support necessary for its success, as well as delineate responsibility for meeting program goals. 

On a quarterly schedule, the IHSC meets to review program quality and success through a variety of measures designed to assess compliance with regulatory obligations and University initiatives. The IHSC:

  1. Proposes and approves health and safety policies and policy changes;
  2. Reviews reports from university sub-committees (e.g., Institutional Biological Safety Committee, Laboratory Safety Committee, and Radiation Safety Committee) regarding the status of new and on-going programs and offers critical evaluations of such programs to ensure compliance and continued improvement;
  3. Discusses changes to regulations and their impact on current and future activities on each campus and determines specific actions needed to address such changes; and
  4. Designates responsible departments/individuals to address new or outstanding health & safety issues.