The University of Tennessee has launched a yearlong safety campaign with the theme “UT Safety Begins With You” though there has not been any significant rise in accidents on UT’s Knoxville campus in recent years, according to the head of the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, John Shanks.
“It’s (number of accidents) somewhat higher than last year,” Shanks said. “But, when compared to the last few years, it’s essentially the same.”
He said there were no particular incidents or trends that started the campaign.
“We have a relatively low average (of accidents) compared to other universities,” he said.
UT President John W. Shumaker said he wants suggestions from UT faculty, staff and student employees to make work areas and student sites safer.
The campaign will include a contest for best on-campus safety ideas.
To enter the contest, students should go to the safety link from the UT homepage and print an entry form.
Each campus has a safety officer that will accept suggestions and will select a committee to judge the entries. One winner from each campus will receive a prize of $100. The contest will run until Sept. 30.
“This important effort takes the cooperation of many people throughout the university community,” Shumaker said in a campus-wide e-mail.
He said one duty as UT president is “promoting and ensuring the safety of those who work and study” on campuses across the state.
“As part of this campaign, I am asking all UT faculty, staff and student employees to share their thoughts on how to make their work environment even safer,” Shumaker said.
Charles Primm, a spokesperson for UT, said there has been individual safety campaigns in specific departments, such as the Department of Chemistry, and for students at dorms but no real campus-wide safety campaign for some time.
“It’s been about 15 years since there’s been a safety campaign,” Primm said.
Primm said Sara Phillips, former Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, thought UT should bring back a campus-wide safety program and essentially got the campaign started.
Phillips could not be reached for comment.
Shanks, the Knoxville campus safety officer, said the campus has already had four entries of ideas to improve safety.
Posters displaying the current theme will be placed in prominent locations on all UT campuses.
Periodically, new posters will be placed to highlight specific areas of change, according to the safety link found on the UT home page, such as “working with laboratory equipment, vehicle safety, office ergonomics and avoiding slips, trips and falls.”
“Our goal is to increase safety and safety awareness throughout the university, and I invite you to join me in this effort,” Shumaker said in his e-mail.
