Labs and Studios - July 2025
Labs and Studios Minutes – July 19, 2025 AC 147 and zoom
Present: B. Huska, S. Girvin, M. Moore, S. Azarhazin, H. Staple, M. Sorokopud, T. Moore
TIME Commenced: 11:10 am hybrid by zoom
Agenda : MOTION M.M. SECOND S.G. Carried.
June 2025 Minutes: MOTION M.M. SECOND H.S. Carried.
Injuries/Incidents
None
Inspections -
Completed
LUEL completed report outstanding M.Sorokopud
Outstanding
Geology – J.Sylvestre
Electrical engineering – M.Moore upcoming
BAF/LUACF
Biology
ATRC
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
KINESIOLOGY
Old Business
J. Gao - Leaking nitrogen regulator on wall in gas room in CASES building. Steve will look into this
Update May 21, 2025 need to check on this
Update June 18, 2025 Steve looking into this to see if resolved
Resolved
Nominations for secretary – no nominations were received. Committee is OK with health and safety continuing to take minutes. The vacancy for the secretary will remain open as a standing item on every agenda. In case worker members feel differently in future.
New Business
Emergency shower testing reminder – health and safety will create a recurring event in Google calendar that can be shared with everyone who has been tasked with testing the emergency showers.
Laboratory decommissioning policy – additional comments to be received by health and safety no later than Friday, July 18 so the draft can go forward to the executive team. Background – the policy has been clarified, so it is more obvious that it includes when anyone in labs leaves. There are some responsibilities for ensuring any hazardous materials are appropriately cared for and documented. This includes when graduate students complete their studies, technical staff when leaving and anyone else.
Management member – after a long service Francis Appoh has decided to move on from the committee. The committee thanks Francis for his service. We will need a new management member. If any members of the committee have any suggestions please forward them to Brenda.
Lab safety training update – some changes will be coming with the university’s current emphasis on digitization. Luckily, this will lead to enhancements for the safety training tracking. Tiffany is unable to say what these changes will look like at this time and will likely require optimization of our mycourse link training site. She is hopeful that this will allow employees and supervisors to have easier access to training completion records.
Other Business
PPE – bill 229 has changed some requirements regarding PPE. Employers now must ensure that PPE fits all workers and conduct risk assessments prior to issuing. This may not affect our PPE in labs as often it is prescribed by the manufacturer’s SDS.
Braun shutdown – fridges and freezers are powered. We are still on track for a mid August reopening. Currently the building is controlled access, administered through security.
Roadways and parking lots – members of the RPSS committee conducted inspections of the roadways and parking lots in May and made a recommendation to the university for repair and renewal. The the university has reviewed the recommendation and has begun work on roadway repair. Some parking lot repair may occur as well this season, but is likely not going to be scheduled before the end of summer.
Veterinary school – tenders are closing for the first round of work (CASES labs) this week. An additional tender will be closing, which will include the animal housing with that building anticipated to have start construction in fall and opening September 2026.
Adjournment: 12:04
INSPECTIONS: July 23 at 10:30 meet in HR