H&S Roles | Health and Safety Office

The cross-disciplinary nature of health and safety makes the work involved a joint responsibility. Given the wide spectrum of activities at PolyU, we need to rely on designated staff members and students to facilitate safety communication, minimize loss and damage incurred by accidents, injuries or occupational illness, and fulfil legislative requirements and important functions.

At departmental level, designated staff have specific roles to play to ensure campus-wide health and safety.

Chemical Purchasing Delegate

The procurement of hazardous chemicals shall be vetted and handled by the Dangerous Goods Management Team (DGMT) for better management of chemicals at PolyU. In considering the administrative workload of raising purchase requests, Heads of Department, Directors of Research Centre and Principal Investigators (PIs) could appoint chemical purchasing delegate(s) to raise chemical purchasing requests to DGMT on their behalf. A chemical purchasing delegate is subject to disciplinary and legal action should he or she fail to take precautions for any violations of the chemical purchasing procedures and / or undertake an illegal purchase.

Departmental Health and Safety Officer

Departmental Health and Safety officers (DHSOs) are the key safety partners of the Health and Safety Office (HSO) in working towards a sustainable safety culture for research and education. Appointed by their respective Heads of Departments, DHSOs ensure the implementation of health and safety arrangements at departmental level in accordance with the specific policies, including arrangement of safety training, administration of risk assessments and accident reporting.

Fire Warden

The University has issued the “Guideline on Fire Wardens of Departments and Offices” to appoint and train Fire Wardens so that they can help to achieve fast and complete evacuation upon hearing a fire alarm.

Head of Department

The Head of a department, school, institute, office, centre, or unit assumes overall responsibility of the health and safety management of his / her department. For the training package of the Head of Department, please click here for reference.

Lab-in-charge

According to the Laboratory Safety Management Policy (Section B400, Health and Safety Guide), Departmental Heads should designate a Lab-in-charge for each laboratory to ensure effective liaison on health and safety issues or in the case of an emergency laboratory situation. The Lab-in-charge should be a full-time staff member who is familiar with the operation of the laboratory concerned. The name and contact details of the Lab-in-charge should be clearly displayed at the entrance of each laboratory. Individual departments shall review the departmental lab-in-charge list at least annually to ensure information is up-to-date. Updated departmental Lab-in-charge list shall be forwarded to the Health and Safety Office (HSO) and the Campus Control Centre (CCC) for record purposes.

Principal Investigator

A Principal Investigator (PI) is an academic staff member responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of a research project in compliance with applicable regulations and institutional safety requirements. He or she is responsible for health and safety issues that may arise from the daily operations or research activities of his or her research team.

Radiation Protection Supervisor

Ionizing radiation is electromagnetic or corpuscular radiation capable of producing ions directly or indirectly in its passage through matter. Sources of ionizing radiation include irradiating apparatus and radioactive substances. It is a legal requirement in Hong Kong that the possession and use of such sources be licensed by the Radiation Board. The University requires user departments of irradiating apparatus and radioactive substances on campus to follow designated safety rules, meet relevant legal requirements and designate a Radiation Protection Supervisor responsible for the management of irradiating apparatus and radioactive substances respectively.

Research Personnel / Research Students

Research Personnel and Student Assistants are appointed by Principal Investigators (PIs) to perform research-related activities. The appointment of research personnel and student assistants shall be endorsed by the Departmental Research Committee or the Faculty Research Committee. Research Personnel and Student Assistants may be exposed to hazardous materials or conditions during their research activities. Before starting a research project or working in a high-risk laboratory, Research Personnel and Student Assistants shall receive proper training, including the Health and Safety Office (HSO) Online Safety Training, departmental safety briefings and laboratory-specific safety training based on the nature of their research activities.