Dear Colleagues:
Please see the memo below and attached from MSU Environmental Health and Safety regarding employee requests for safety reports. I appreciate your support for this process and your ongoing attention to the safety of our students, faculty, and staff.
Thank you,
Douglas A. Gage, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Innovation
MEMORANDUM
To: Deans, Directors, Chairs, All Faculty
From: Kevin Eisenbeis, Director, Environmental Health and Safety
Date: June 18, 2024
Re: Employee Requests for Safety Records
Michigan State University strives to provide a safe and healthy environment for our entire campus community. At any time, employees may make requests for safety records to ensure their working environment is safe and in compliance with applicable state and federal laws. Recently, we have learned that some university employees are not fully aware of the process that is involved in obtaining those safety records. As a reminder, Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) regulations require that employees who request records, reports, or other investigational information (detailed below) must receive them within 15 working days. If a supervisor receives such a request, they should promptly contact EHS to ensure that we can accurately provide the records within the required time frame.
Records or information covered by the MIOSHA regulation may include:
- Environmental (workplace) monitoring or measuring of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent, including personal, area, grab, wipe, or other form of sampling;
- Biological monitoring results which directly assess the absorption of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent by body systems (e.g., the level of a chemical in the blood, urine, breath, hair, fingernails, etc.)
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS) indicating that the material may pose a hazard to human health; or
- In the absence of the above, a chemical inventory or any other record which reveals where and when used and the identity (e.g., chemical, common, or trade name) of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent
For further information, please contact EHS at 517-355-0153 or ehs@msu.edu.