Last Revised: September 25, 2023
University of Pennsylvania’s Accident and Illness Prevention Safety Policy Statement
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) promotes health, safety, and environmental protection in all aspects of its teaching, research, healthcare, operational, and administrative functions. Penn’s most precious resources are the people who live, study, and work at this world-renowned institution.
Penn’s Departments of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EHRS) and Fire and Emergency Services (FES) have approximately 57 highly qualified staff who provide leadership in the development, implementation and support of high-quality programs that minimize the potential for accidents, injuries, and illness within the Penn community.
EHRS and FES, along with the offices of Human Resources and Risk Management and Insurance, provide the expertise to facilitate compliance with the applicable health & safety codes, standards, and ordinances. The Penn Medicine Occupational Medicine/Employee Health Clinics and its associated providers work in close collaboration with EHRS and provide comprehensive Occupational Medicine services to the Penn community.
Penn’s safety program goals are designed to:
• Foster a productive, creative atmosphere founded on respect, trust, and forthrightness.
• Integrate individual skills and contributions stressing teamwork, open communication, and cooperation towards a common goal.
• Maintain a strong culture of safety based on positive supervisor/management role models and fostering collaborative relationships between employees, supervisors, managers, and health & safety professionals where employees are actively involved in safety and comfortable reporting hazards or unsafe conditions.
• Provide a workplace free of recognized hazards. Hazards are mitigated by following the hierarchy of safety controls that begins with Elimination of Hazards, followed by Substitution (replace the hazard), Engineering Controls (Isolate people from the hazard) Administrative Controls (Change the way people work) and finally, by use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Rapidly integrate employees into Penn’s safety programs through the onboarding process. Employees complete a survey within Penn’s Learning Management System that identifies and assigns the appropriate health and safety training based on information provided about their work location and job tasks.
Penn is committed to ensuring that our health and safety professionals complete continuing education and training in their respective areas of expertise to provide the best possible service to the Penn community.