>I went on the university's website and read all their EH&S stuff - which you can do in 40 minutes, since there is so little.  They only have a Chemical Hygiene Plan and nothing at all for the art department.

Another element that might not be obvious in this conversation is that web pages on a campus web site can be misleading in terms of the "ground truth" of a safety program. I was on the ground floor of sharing chemical safety information electronically (before it was called the Web) and have rebooted several relevant web sites over the years. Keeping them up to date and useful for all potential users of the information is a significant challenge.

Also, in that time, I have observed that the managers of institutional web sites have become uninterested in (and sometimes hostile to) supporting operational information such as safety policies and procedures over the last decade. The campus web presence is seen as a recruiting tool and administrative procedures (particularly those not related to money) are less and less well supported on line. I'm still trying to figure out what that means for the EHS professional or department with more good ideas than resources when it comes to maintaining electronic information.

The point of this is remind those of us trying to support safe work on campus that many people look to web pages when trying to assess our work. I'm fortunate to have inherited a good on line collection of policies from my predecessor who spent 10 years organizing appropriate information. Not everyone has that advantage.

So while the web pages described above raise some red flags, they should not be considered definitive evidence of the strength of a program.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu