Polls open Dec. 2 for health, safety committee

Cast your vote! The Web voting polls are opening Thursday, Dec. 2 for employees to cast their votes for the 2000 workplace Health and Safety Committee representatives. Voting closes Thursday, Dec. 16. Representatives will serve for two years (Jan. 1, 2000 through Dec. 31, 2001).

University of Washington employees can access a ballot from the Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Web site, http://www.ehs.washington.edu by selecting “Safety Committee Election” and then “Election 2000 Ballot.” If you don’t have access to the Web, call 543-0463 to request an election form. All faculty, staff, hourly and temporary UW employees may vote.

Vote only for representatives in your group. This election covers groups 1, 2 (all units except Facilities Services and Publications Services), 4, 6, 9 and 11. Separate internal Health and Safety Committee elections will be held for Facilities Services/Publication Services, Student Affairs, Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Forest Resources, UW Bothell and UW Tacoma. To determine the group that represents you, review “Organizational Groups” on the EH&S home page.

The UW created 11 health and safety committees to best represent the university working community. Two members from each of these committees sit on the universitywide Health and Safety Committee. The committees help identify and address workplace health and safety issues on the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses. The state Department of Labor and Industries required the establishment of a health and safety committee and university employees have found this a valuable aid in communicating about workplace concerns.