Emergency Situations
EHS Incident Reporting
EHS Incident Types:
- Injury, Illness, or Exposure – Any injury, any known or potential chemical or biological exposure, or work-related or lab-related illnesses.
- Near Miss – Incidents where no one was injured, but the incident caused damage and had the potential to injure someone, such as near misses, explosions, fires, property damage, equipment failure, contained lab spills, and other similar incidents.
- Environmental – Release of a material that impacts air, land, or water (including sanitary and storm sewer) or other environmental non-compliance.
- Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) – Any incident that involves motor vehicles while conducting university business.
If you are injured on campus:
IN AN EMERGENCY - IMMEDIATELY DIAL 911.
EHS’s incident reporting system is NOT intended to replace emergency service notifications which provide immediate incident response for medical, environmental, and physical emergencies. In these cases, immediately call 911 or Lipscomb Security (ext 7600, 615-966-7600). Lipscomb Security monitors all campus 911 calls and will assist emergency personnel in reaching your location.
If the incident does not require emergency response (or as soon as possible after the emergency has been managed):
- Injured Employees should contact their supervisor and begin following appropriate workplace injury procedures, including completion of an Employee’s First Report of Injury form. For more details, please refer to our Workplace Injury Procedures for guidance on reporting and managing incidents.
- Injured Students should contact the University Health Center during business hours or Lipscomb Security (ext 7600, 615-966-7600) after hours. After your injury has been addressed, please report the incident to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate care needed and to allow us to investigate potentially unsafe conditions.
- Injured Visitors should contact Lipscomb Security (ext 7600, 615-966-7600) for assistance. After your injury has been addressed, please report the incident to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate care needed and to allow us to investigate potentially unsafe conditions.
Oil and petroleum products, including edible oils, are used in various locations and in multiple types of equipment on campus. These oils and oily wastes, even non-toxic vegetable oils, pose a hazard to aquatic life when they enter natural water bodies, such as lakes and streams. The storm sewers on campus provide a means to safely channel stormwater away from campus buildings and parking lots. They discharge directly into surface streams near campus. Therefore, oil products and wastes should never be allowed to enter campus storm drains. Used motor oil should never intentionally be poured into a storm drain or grate for disposal.
Oil spills or releases of oily products anywhere on campus should be promptly cleaned up for proper disposal. Lipscomb has an oil spill control plan for all campus operations utilizing oil products, and personnel involved in oil handling are trained on the provisions of the plan. Spill kits containing absorbent materials and disposal containers are provided at several locations on campus, and campus personnel are trained in the proper usage. If you observe a spill or release of a petroleum or oil product or waste on campus, please immediately notify Facilities or Security personnel or click the button below to report the release.
For assistance with management of oil and petroleum products or to arrange for proper disposal of a waste, contact the Director of EHS.
A variety of chemicals and chemical products, both hazardous and non-toxic, are used on campus in research and academic laboratories and art studios, as well as maintenance and housekeeping operations. Lipscomb has multiple policies and procedures in place to ensure proper management and disposal of these chemicals. There are a small number of chemicals that are approved for drain or trash disposal, but the vast majority of chemicals must be properly disposed of at approved landfills. Hazardous chemical that improperly enter the sanitary or storm sewer systems can cause worker injury, damage to infrastructure and treatment facilities, and harm to aquatic life. If you are aware of improper chemical disposal or an accidental spill or release on campus, please contact the Director of EHS or Lipscomb Security or click the button below to report an incident.
For assistance with proper management or disposal of chemicals at your worksite, contact the Director of EHS.
A variety of medical and biological academic and research programs on Lipscomb’s campus use biological materials, tissues, and cell lines. If not properly handled, these materials may be infectious or have the potential to cause illness or injury. A number of policies and plans are in place at Lipscomb to ensure that employees and students have the knowledge and equipment required to properly manage the biological hazards they encounter. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), biological safety cabinets, and disinfection procedures should be provided and in place in all medical and biological laboratory areas.
Lipscomb University is committed to the safety of both students and employees in academic and research laboratories. Ultimately, the primary responsibility for laboratory safety resides with the person performing the laboratory procedure. It is each individual user’s responsibility to understand the hazards associated with the chemicals being used, the hazards associated with the actual procedure, and the proper personal protective equipment [PPE] to protect against these hazards.
Because laboratory work is physical, often involving the use of fragile apparatus under temperature-controlled conditions, minor accidents and injuries are not uncommon. These usually involve small cuts from broken glassware or minor burns (both hot and cold). Although not common, it is important that we plan in advance and develop effective protocols for dealing with injuries that are more serious or occur during times when trained medical assistance is not present on campus. Formal procedures for dealing with these incidents are available in the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) and in EHS Best Management Practices.
For assistance with training laboratory personnel or safety planning, contact the Director of EHS.