10.4 Occupational Health and Safety

10.4 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

Students  will frequently have a dual status in terms of occupational health and safety  law in that they will sometimes be employees (e.g. tutors or demonstrators) of  the University as well as being graduates for most of the time spent on-campus.  All students have a common law duty of care towards others. Employees of the  University have a legal responsibility to take reasonable care of their own  health and safety and for the health and safety of anyone else who may be  affected by the employee’s acts or omissions. Hence it is particularly  important that students are familiar with the emergency procedures in the  building in which they work as they may find themselves in charge of a group of  people or working alone at the time of an emergency.

Students  may be required by their department to attend occupational health and safety  courses on topics such as fire safety and, for laboratory workers, radiation  safety and biosafety. Laboratory-based students may also be required to  participate in exposure monitoring programs (e.g. radiation or noise) and  immunisation programs (e.g. hepatitis B or Q fever).

Students  should be aware that each area of the University is covered by a Zone OHS  committee. University OHS policy requires that graduate students in  laboratory faculties should be represented on these committees. Students can  raise any OHS concerns they have with this representative, the safety officer  for their department or their supervisor.

At  the Malaysian campus, each School or Administrative Unit has an OHS Committee. The  student body also has a representative at the campus-level OHSE Committee.  Students are advised to contact their representatives at either of the  committees, or the OHSE Unit, for more information and assistance. Details on Occupational Health, Safety and Environment  (OHSE) at the Malaysian campus can be found here.