Monday, February 26, 2018

New training available for handling hazardous materials

"The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is changing to adopt new international standards for classifying hazardous materials and providing information on labels and safety data sheets (SDS)," says a memo from Safety Office Director Kate Windsor circulated to campus on February 8. "This transition will affect all employees at the University of Waterloo and especially those working with chemicals and in labs."

The University must meet the following criteria by December 1, 2018, to comply with the new WHMIS standards:

• All WHMIS training must be current to the new WHMIS 2015 standard.
• All chemicals require WHMIS 2015 safety data sheets and supplier labels. Any chemicals you wish to keep that do not have WHMIS 2015 labelling/signage will require updated labelling by the December 1, 2018 deadline.

Failure to comply may result in penalties from the Ministry of Labour including work stoppages and fines.

"The Safety Office is working to support all Faculties and Departments through this transition," says Windsor's memo. "At this stage, it is important that supervisors complete the following actions:"

• Ensure all employees in your area have completed the WHMIS 2015 online training module.
• Complete a chemical inventory either in erPortal or on an Excel spreadsheet by April 30, 2018. If you use Excel, the Safety Office will load this information into erPortal. The erPortal user manual and an Excel template are available on the WHMIS 2015 transition webpage.
• Dispose of all chemicals no longer needed or that have expired. Review the Hazardous Waste Standard for proper procedures. 
• Contact suppliers to obtain WHMIS 2015 safety data sheets if a new product is received with WHMIS 2015 labels.
• When purchasing new chemicals, purchase from suppliers already using WHMIS 2015 safety data sheets, if possible.

Visit the WHMIS 2015 transition webpage for more details on this transition.

Take the Big Ideas Challenge

Do you know of a student who’s looking to take their research or capstone project into action and make a social impact?  We are looking to hear from individuals and teams that want to launch a social venture or have started a business and could use some help.

GreenHouse, UWaterloo’s social impact incubator, is once again hosting a Big Ideas Challenge, which allows the founders of five social ventures to become GreenHouse Fellows this summer. The Fellowship provides free co-working space, and gives Fellows access of up to $10,000 in funding and specialized training in sales, government relations, financial literacy, building teams, and more.

The Big Ideas Challenge started three years ago, and has had students as diverse as Richard Yim of Landmine Boys (now Demine Robotics), Rachel Thompson of Marlena Books, and Zied Etleb of Curiato as Fellows.

“The Fellowships give students the opportunity to devote their summer to getting their ventures off the ground,” said Tania Del Matto, director of GreenHouse. “It’s the starting point for making your big idea a reality.”

The Big Ideas Challenge is made possible through the financial support of Libro Credit Union. 

The application form can be found at bigideaschallengew18.eventbrite.ca. Students have until March 15 to apply.

Call for nominations: Faculty Representatives to Senate

Nominations are requested for the following seats on Senate:

Faculty Representatives - Nomination Form (pdf)

• One faculty member to be elected by/from the members of faculty of each Faculty of the University (six total), terms 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2021.

Faculty-at-Large Representatives - Nomination Form (pdf)

• Eight faculty members to be elected by/from the members of faculty of the University, terms 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2021.

Faculty senators whose terms expire as of 30 April 2018: Jennifer Clapp* (environment, resources and sustainability), Eric Croiset* (chemical engineering), David DeVidi* (philosophy), Bernard Duncker (biology), Fraser Easton* (English language & literature), Rob Gorbet* (knowledge integration), Karim Karim* (electrical & computer engineering), Greta Kroeker* (history), Barb Moffatt* (biology), David Porreca* (classical studies), Bruce Richter (combinatorics & optimization), Richard Staines* (kinesiology), Gordon Stubley* (mechanical & mechatronics engineering), Johanna Wandel* (geography and environmental management)

Graduate Students to Senate

Nominations are requested for the following seats on Senate:

Graduate Student Representatives - Nomination Form (pdf)

• Two graduate students to be elected by/from the full- and part-time graduate students of the University, terms 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2020.

Graduate students whose terms expire as of 30 April 2018: Samantha Hossack* (history), Samantha Shortall (pharmacy)

Undergraduate Student to Senate

Nominations are requested for the following seat on Senate:

Undergraduate Student Representative from the Faculty of Environment - Nomination Form (pdf)

• One undergraduate student to be elected by/from the full-time undergraduate students from the Faculty of Environment, term 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2020.

Environment undergraduate student whose term expires as of 30 April 2018: Alexander J. Wray (planning)

*Eligible for re-election. After two consecutive terms on Senate, a former senator becomes eligible for re-election following the expiration of one year after the second consecutive term.

Completed Nomination Forms

Completed nomination forms should be submitted to the Chief Returning Officer, Secretariat, Needles Hall, room 3060, no later than 4:00 p.m. on Thursday 15 March 2018.

If required, elections will be held beginning Monday 19 March 2018, and will be open for one week.

Please refer to the UW Act and Senate Bylaw 3 for more information on nominations and elections. Any questions relating to the above may be directed to Emily Schroeder, extension 32749. Also, contact Emily to request copies of the nomination forms, if needed.

Senate meets today and other notes

The University's Senate will have its February meeting today at 3:30 p.m. in NH 3407. Among the agenda items:

• A call for nominations for Honorary Degrees by President and Vice-Chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur.  These achievements, whether academic or through service to society, are celebrated at Convocation where they inspire those in attendance and, in particular, newly graduating students;
• Recognition and Commendation for three people with strong links to the University of Waterloo who were among the newest appointees to the Order of Canada including: Raymond Laflamme, founding executive director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada; Keith Hipel of systems design engineering was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and has a global reputation for pioneering contributions to environmental systems engineering; Douglas Stenton, an adjunct professor of anthropology who serves as heritage director in Nunavut, was named a Member of the Order of Canada.
• A Research Presentation by Blair Feltmate, Head, Impact Centre on Climate Adaptation, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, Faculty of Environment.

Your T2202A tuition tax receipt for terms in 2017 is now available on Quest.  Go to Student Centre, click on Finances, then on Tax Receipts.  Your charitable donations receipt for endowment fund contributions made in 2017 is also available on Quest, if you did not request refunds for those feed during the year.

University of Waterloo Central Stores would appreciate your help by completing the following Customer Service/Satisfaction Survey. The survey will only take a couple of minutes of your time and it is anonymous.

Human Resources is reporting that the following employees retired as of March 1, 2018:

• Kevin Luscott, who started working at the University on October 6, 1986, retires as Lab Instructor/Hardware Specialist of Electrical and Computer Engineering;
• Wayne Sutton joined the University January 2, 2011 and retires as  Custodian I of Plant Operations;
• M. Peggy Jarvie, who began working at the University August 15, 2005, retires as Associate Provost of Co-operative and Experiential Education;
• Professor Richard Helmes-Hayes started his career with the University on August 1, 1989.  Richard retires as Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies.

Congratulations to all!