19 Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management in Research

​In this section

19.1 ​Meet the SHERM Team 
19.2What are Laurier’s laboratory safety policies and procedures? 
19.3 What is Laurier’s biosafety program? 
19.4 What is Laurier’s radiation safety program? 
19.5 What SHERM training is available?
19.6 What environmental protection measures exist at Laurier?
19.7 What supports does SHERM provide for Off-Campus research activities or field work?
19.8 What insurance do I require if I am going work outside of Ontario?
19.9 What is my responsibility for health and safety as a supervisor?
19.10 What personal protective equipment do I require for my research program? 
19.11 What are Joint Health and Safety Committees and what is their role?
19.12 What is Laurier’s working along policy?
19.13​​ How do I report an accident? 19.14 How does the university issue alert notifications?

If you are unable to find the answer you are looking for in this section, please contact us here.

19.1 ​Meet the SHERM Team 

SHERM’s mission is to support the university’s values, vision and mission by integrating and fostering a health and safety oriented culture of leadership, responsibility, legislative accountability and environmental stewardship. Their goal is to manage risks and seek opportunities for continuous improvement by providing expert advice and delivering services that enable the Laurier community to safely achieve the university’s priorities. You can reach out to the SHERM team here.

19.2 What are Laurier’s laboratory safety policies and procedures? 

​​Refer to SHERM’s General Laboratory Safety page for more information.​

19.3 What is Laurier’s biosafety program? 

​​Refer to SHERM’s Biosafety Program​ page for more information.​

19.4 What is Laurier’s radiation safety program? 

​​Refer to SHERM’s Radiation Safety Program​​ page for more information.​

19.5 What SHERM training is available?

​​Refer to SHERM’s Training​​​ page for more information.​

19.6 What environmental protection measures exist at Laurier?

​​Refer to SHERM’s Evironmental Protection​ page for more information.

19.7 What supports does SHERM provide for off-campus research activities or field work? 

Refer to SHERM’s Off-Campus Activities page for more information.

19.8 What insurance do I require if I am going work outside of Ontario?

Refer to SHERM’s WSIB Out-of-Province Coverage page for more information.

19.9 What is my responsibility for health and safety as a supervisor?

Refer to SHERM’s Supervisory Responsibilities​ page for more information.

19.10 What personal protective equipment do I require for my research program? 

Refer to SHERM’s Personal Protective Equipment​ page for more information.

19.11 What are Joint Health and Safety Committees and what is their role? 

Refer to SHERM’s Joint Health and Safety Committees​ ​page for more information. 

19.12 What is Laurier’s working along policy?

Circumstances sometimes necessitate the need for an employee to work alone.  For some it’s a rare situation possibly for a short period of time, while for other it’s a regular occurrence with a much longer duration.  While working alone is not always hazardous, it can be when other risks are present.  To ensure the identification of hazards, evaluation of risk and implementation of measures to eliminate or control those risks associated with working alone, Laurier’s Working Alone Policy (7.15) was created. SHERM can assist departments and faculties in completing a risk assessment for positions working alone as well as with the identification of possible corrective actions, or more information can be found in our Working Alone Risk Assessment Guide

19.13 How do I report an accident?

Refer to SHERM’s Accident Reporting​ page for more information.

19.14 How does the university issue alert notifications?

Refer to the Alert Notification System page for more information.