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UM Compliance Officer
Job Description

Introduction

The University of Maryland's Environmental, Safety and Health Management Policy (E,S&HMP) calls for the University to be a model of quality in environmental, safety and health practices. A critical linkage in the development of this level of quality is the College or Department Compliance Officer (CO). The CO, by virtue of their special training and relationship to the Department of Environmental Safety, serves as the coordinator of those activities which support the E,S&HMP and the activities of the Policy and Operations Committees. The CO is appointed by the Dean, Chair or Department Head to represent the college or department in the coordination of environmental, safety and health activities. This includes the responsibility to notify the DES Director of instances, as perceived by the CO, that pose a hazard to the safety of faculty, staff, students and visitors, a threat to the environment and/or to university assets. The number of COs per college or department will be determined by the Dean, Chair or Department Head based on the size and complexity of the facility and operations. It may be necessary to assign CO duties to more than one individual based on criteria such as number of laboratories, number of faculty and staff or number of buildings that the department occupies.

Applicable Documents

University of Maryland Environmental, Safety and Health Management Policy (Policy VI-21.00(A)

Compliance Officer Qualifications

  1. The individual must be closely aligned with the operations/research of the department. If the department operates laboratories, the CO should have knowledge of and experience with laboratory practices.
  2. The individual should commit to and be provided time in their schedule to devote to CO duties. It is strongly recommended that the CO duties be incorporated into the individual's faculty review or performance evaluation (PRD).
  3. Department COs should have a clear line of reporting and have access to the Chair or Department Head to provide briefings on the status of compliance with environmental, safety and health requirements and overall safe practices. College COs should have a clear reporting line and access to the Dean for that purpose.

Compliance Officer Duties

  1. Attend scheduled CO training conducted by DES.
  2. Facilitate distribution of information between their department and DES.
  3. Serve as a contact person for DES initiatives (hazardous waste minimization, laboratory labeling, safety training, environmental and safety audits, etc.).
  4. Notify the DES Director and the Dean, Chair or Department Head of unresolved compliance issues and situations involving potential safety hazards, exposures, accidents, injuries, illnesses, spills, releases or other regulatory or environmental issues.
  5. Work with DES, to represent their college or department during regulatory agency interactions.
  6. Work with DES to investigate and resolve E,S&H issues in the CO's department.
  7. Request an annual meeting with the Dean, Chair or Department Head to discuss E,S&H initiatives in the department.

School/College Compliance Officer Additional Duties

  1. Serve on UM E,S&H Operations Committee to represent the college.
  2. Carry out special assignments as requested by the DES Director, in order to identify, evaluate and facilitate E,S&H compliance activities at UM.
  3. Meet annually with the COs from the college's departments.

DES Role and Responsibilities

  1. Maintain a list of all UM COs and establish routine communications.
  2. Maintain and update the CO link on DES web site. Provide e-mail notifications when information is updated.
  3. Develop and update Program Fact Sheets on the DES web site.
  4. Conduct orientation training for all new COs at least annually.
  5. Conduct two meetings per year for all COs to provide program updates.
  6. Notify and copy COs on correspondence of all DES activities impacting their organizations.
  7. Appoint one DES professional staff member as a liaison to each CO.
Last Updated 8/27/07
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