1.2.3 Deans, Directors, and Department Chairpersons

Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs provide leadership and oversight for laboratory safety within their colleges, schools, and departments. In accordance with Cornell Policy 8.6 – Environment, Health and Safety, they are responsible for establishing expectations, allocating resources, and ensuring that appropriate structures are in place to support safe and compliant laboratory operations.

While day-to-day laboratory activities are conducted under the authority of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors, Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs play a critical role in enabling effective implementation of University environmental health and safety programs through leadership, delegation, and accountability.

Responsibilities of Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs include:

• Demonstrating visible commitment to laboratory safety and health, and ensuring that Cornell Policy 8.6 and the requirements of the Laboratory Safety Manual are understood and supported within their units.
• Designating qualified individuals (such as Department Safety Representatives) with appropriate authority to support laboratory safety coordination and communication at the departmental level.
• Ensuring that faculty, staff, students, visiting scholars, volunteers, and other laboratory personnel are informed of applicable safety policies, procedures, and expectations.
• Ensuring that adequate resources are available to support laboratory safety, including engineering controls, training, personal protective equipment, and staffing as appropriate to the hazards present.
• Supporting Principal Investigators and supervisors in fulfilling their responsibilities for laboratory safety, including access to required training and technical assistance from Environment, Health and Safety.
• Establishing and communicating college or departmental procedures for responding to accidents, incidents, and emergency situations, in coordination with University emergency management processes.
• Ensuring that laboratory spaces within their units are appropriately registered in University safety systems and that significant changes in laboratory operations, renovations, or personnel transitions are communicated to EHS in a timely manner.
• Promoting participation in University safety review and inspection programs as a means of monitoring performance, identifying systemic issues, and supporting continuous improvement.
• Encouraging the formation and effective functioning of college or departmental safety committees to facilitate communication, engagement, and shared learning.
• Setting priorities, objectives, and expectations for laboratory safety performance within their units, and seeking guidance from EHS when needed.