Report 2017-119 Recommendation 36 Responses

Report 2017-119: California State University: It Has Not Provided Adequate Oversight of the Safety of Employees and Students Who Work With Hazardous Materials (Release Date: April 2018)

Recommendation #36 To: Channel Islands, California State University

To ensure the health and safety of employees working with hazardous materials, Channel Islands should, by December 2018, make the required trainings available to employees and establish procedures for ensuring that the employees have received all required trainings.

1-Year Agency Response

All required trainings, except the CSU Chemical Hygiene training module, are available through the online campus training portal. Formal announcements about training requirements and training availability were sent by email on August 23rd and October 19th to all affected faculty and staff, and presented to appropriate departmental chairs during meetings on September 5th and September 13th, 2018. Additionally, the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) department has provided in-person Chemical Hygiene trainings for the appropriate faculty and staff; six in fall 2018, and 21 additional sessions between January and April 2019.

Finally, both Academic Affairs and Facilities Services have finalized procedures to ensure that the employees have received all required trainings for their respective areas.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Channel Islands provided evidence demonstrating that it made the required trainings available to employees and established procedures for ensuring that the employees have received all required trainings.

6-Month Agency Response

All required trainings, except the CSU Chemical Hygiene training module, are currently available through the online campus training portal. Formal announcements about training requirements and training availability were presented to appropriate department chairs during meetings on September 5th and September 13th, 2018. The campus Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) unit has scheduled multiple dates to offer the Chemical Hygiene training to the appropriate faculty and staff before December 2018. In addition, both Academic Affairs and Facilities Services have developed draft procedures to enforce the training requirements for their respective areas, which are being reviewed with the appropriate unions. We expect the procedures will be finalized by December 2018.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

By December 2018, Channel Islands will ensure that all required training will be made available to those employees that require training. In addition, procedures will be developed to ensure employees complete necessary trainings. The two units with employees requiring these trainings, Academic Affairs and Facilities Services, have identified all employees currently falling into the categories identified.

With changes to faculty/courses, it is anticipated that some faculty will be added or removed later in the summer.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2017-119

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.