Middlebury Handbook

Report all accidents or injuries occurring at Middlebury College, or while traveling on College business, as soon as possible.  Report accidents occurring in the course of employment to Human Resources; Public Safety should be notified of accidents involving students, guests, and visitors.

Please remember, it is important that employees report immediately any hazardous or unsafe conditions on campus so that we may take prompt action to remedy them.

Environmental Health and Safety Office

The establishment and maintenance of a safe work environment is the shared responsibility of the College and all its employees. The College attempts to protect employees against hardship and suffering from injuries and illnesses resulting from accidents or work conditions and to protect the College from potential losses, damages, and costs caused by such accidents and conditions. Therefore, the College strives to comply fully with the intent of all federal, state, and local laws governing the safety of the College community.

The Environmental Health and Safety Office is a resource for the entire College community. The Environmental Health and Safety Officer is a safety professional who assists employees in addressing their safety concerns, and may be reached through the Business Services Office.

All employees of the College are expected to follow all government safety regulations and College safety policies, to take an active part in protecting themselves and their coworkers from accident and injury, and to report promptly to their supervisors any hazardous conditions and practices. Both supervisors and employees at all levels of the College are expected to report and try to correct unsafe conditions as promptly as possible.

Blood-Borne Pathogens

OSHA's standard pertaining to employee exposure to blood-borne pathogens, such as HIV and Hepatitis B (HBV) viruses, is designed to educate and protect all employees in jobs in which exposure to blood or other potentially infected bodily fluids can be "reasonably anticipated."

Employees in covered positions are required to attend blood-borne pathogen training at the beginning of employment, as well as retraining, provided annually. Middlebury College maintains an exposure control plan that is available through the Environmental Health and Safety Office. If employees believe their position is one in which such exposure might occur and they have not received a copy of the plan or notice of the potential of such exposure, they should contact the Environmental Health and Safety Office immediately.

Ergonomics

The goal of our ergonomics program is to reduce the opportunity for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), help lessen muscle fatigue and increase productivity. Risk factors can be controlled by adjusting a workstation, varying work positions, reducing continuous or repetitious actions, and periodically stretching throughout the day. The EHS Office can conduct an ergonomic assessment on your work area (office workstation or other areas) or on a specific task you perform as part of your job and recommend improvements.

Further information concerning the ergonomics program can be accessed at: https://www.middlebury.edu/office/environmental-health-safety/workplace-safety#ergonomics

Workers' Compensation

In compliance with state laws, the College provides comprehensive workers' compensation (WC) insurance coverage at no cost to employees. WC provides medical and/or partial income replacement when an injury or illness is sustained in the course of employment. See Workers Compensation on the HR website for details.

Return to Work Transitional Duty Program

Middlebury College supports a Return to Work Transitional Duty Program (RTWTDP) to assist employees after the onset of both work-related and non-work-related injuries or illnesses. The RTWTDP is designed to provide a temporary work assignment allowing the employee to transition back into the position held prior to the onset of the injury or illness. The transitional position will be carefully designed to be appropriate for the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of the recovering employee so that the work can be accomplished safely. The RTWTDP is limited to employees with temporary illnesses or injuries. Transitional duty positions, when available, are always temporary and are assigned for a period of time usually not to exceed 12 weeks. In addition, employees participating in the program must have appropriate documentation from a medical care professional that evaluates their capability to work. It is the College’s responsibility to identify transitional work for the employee. Middlebury College has the sole discretion to determine whether or not there are transitional duty positions available considering the workload needs of the company.

Controlled Substance/Alcohol Testing for Employees with a Work-required CDL

All employees who hold a commercial driver’s license as part of their position responsibilities for travel within the state are required to participate in controlled substance/alcohol testing. This includes testing for pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and return to duty testing.
see: Controlled Substance/Alcohol Testing Procedure