Safety Suggestions and Hazard Reporting

Safety & Health Manual – Table of Contents

Reporting Policy

It is the policy of the University of Tennessee, to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all of its employees. It is therefore incumbent upon the employees of the Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) to report any and all unsafe conditions and safety concerns related to UTIA activities to the proper authorities. There shall not be any reprisal toward any person who reports any safety hazard or expresses safety concerns.

Definitions:

Any Immediate Danger (condition or activity that is immediately dangerous to life and health) must be reported without delay. Examples include, smoke or fire, bomb threats, or criminal actions.
Unsafe Conditions or Activities (those which pose a threat to the UTIA community) are to be reported to the Safety Office or to the Director of Services as soon as is possible.

Reporting Situations

Immediate Danger : Any employee who detects an emergency will IMMEDIATELY contact the Knoxville 911 Center by dialing 911, by using a blue phone or the UT Police by dialing 4-3114. The employee will notify his/her supervisor when doing so is safe. If the supervisor is not available, call the designee.

The caller should provide the following information:

Facility name
Exact location (building and room number)
Caller’s name
Type of emergency
Nature of the emergency
Number of persons or animals affected
Name of hazardous materials involved, if known
Action taken to control the incident

The dispatcher may ask for additional details, and the appropriate emergency agencies will be notified and routed to the incident. ALWAYS LET THE DISPATCHER HANG UP FIRST. (Refer to the UTIA Emergency Response Plan for more information.)

Unsafe Conditions: These should be reported promptly to the Safety Office or to the Director of Services. Reports may be made confidentially, however, it should be noted that no retribution to the employee/student will be made when such a report is submitted.

Reports of unsafe conditions may be made through several methods. Either through a phone call, email, interoffice mail (please realize that this may be the slowest method), or from the UTIA Safety Office Home Page.

Safety Suggestions

All suggestions regarding the safety of our employees, students may be made through a phone call, email, interoffice mail (please realize that this may be the slowest method), or from the UTIA Safety Office Home Page. All suggestions will be reviewed by the Safety Officer and any other necessary parties and put into place if possible.