Labs and Studios - April
Labs and Studios Minutes – April 15, 2026 AC 147 and zoom
Present: B. Huska, A. White, M. Sorokopud, A. Diochon, S. Azarhazin, G. Oba, H. Staple, M. Moore
TIME Commenced: 11:20 am hybrid by zoom
Agenda : MOTION M.M. SECOND A.W. Carried.
March 2026 Minutes: No Changes, MOTION S.A. SECOND A.W.
Injuries/Incidents
None
Inspections -
Completed
ORPT - No major issues, some expired extinguishers, light that has been burnt out a while, Hazard signs that need updating
Outstanding
Powerhouse (scheduled)
Anthropology
Fire Lab
Visual Arts
Student Health and Wellness (scheduled)
Old Business
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.
Management member search still ongoing, have talked to one individual who was not sure if they had interest in joining. Search ongoing. Will remain as a standing item until position is filled.
After Hours Access subcommittee had second meeting and has come to the conclusion that a procedure would be best. This will be an overarching one to allow for the specifics of each space, but will clearly lay out responsibilities of involved parties, training requirements, key sign out process, what security should be given, limit keys being assigned to undergraduates instead going through security, and use of keep in touch. Document will be created and subcommittee will edit prior to sharing with full committee. Discussion about what times constitute after hours were raised as well, but not fully settled.
Pool safety protocol review subcommittee met and went over the procedures in place at the pool. Some areas of safety concern were noted related to the lack of accessible emergency shutoff for pumps, lack of accessible eyewash and shower when adding pool chemicals, risk of adding chemicals alone, bulkhead moving concerns and update, and heating and cooling issues. Protocols have been sent over, will review and meet again to discuss report. This meeting is going to be booked shortly.
Risk assessment tool will be sent to the committee for testing and review. This tool will be available on the website to help supervisors complete risk assessments for their personnel and areas. The tool itself is a google sheets document that contains a tab for examples of risk assessments. These examples are explained fully on a separate walkthrough document. The walkthrough document goes over the decisions made and steps fully. There is also a guidance document that gives an overview of what a risk assessment is and how it is completed. All three of these items are being sent to the committee so they may test out the tool, provide feedback on any of the elements, or provide examples that may be useful that are not covered in the current examples provided. Update March 18, will give more time for committee, may need reminder email. Update April 15, no additional feedback, committee has more time to test and provide feedback as office specific examples are to be added still.
Free training for health and safety is available through WSPS has been extended to September. Can email Tiffany to be enrolled, some jHSC inspection training and investigation training for certified members may be good.
New Business
Hazardous waste pickup is was completed. All items were able to be taken and H&S is currently investigating the potential for a contract with the service provider to have more regular pickups and possibly supply containers and training. Site visit scheduled for May to discuss issues.
Hazard signs are often out of date and being manually edited. Looking for suggestions to inform everyone that these need to be kept up to date and altered through the online form since it is used for emergency contact purposes. Committee suggested sending email to Deans, Dean Admins, and Departmental Admins to send to lab users and to ensure they are aware of the issue and can discuss it with the department.
Inspections: Recently there was an incident with asbestos containing material falling from a hole in the slat ceiling in the University Centre. It is important while inspecting areas to include the ceiling in the areas being looked at. Look for holes, missing ceiling tiles, etc.
Other Business
Adjournment: 11:41am