Policy

The following plan has been developed to minimize the severity of damage to human health and the environment in the event of an unexpected hazardous materials release.

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Scope

The Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous Materials pertains to hazardous material spills occurring on campus.   This shall also include any confirmed fire, suspected contamination and serious injuries and/or death as a direct result of a hazardous material spill.  

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Authority and Responsibility

The implementation of the Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous Materials program is the responsibility of various University Departments.

The University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) is responsible for:

  1. Notifying the “On-Call” Safety Officer from the appropriate safety office in the event of a hazardous material spill;
  2. Initiating an evacuation of an area or building by orders of the On-Call Safety Officer and securing the area to prevent access to unauthorized personnel; and
  3. Notifying additional resources to request assistance as determined by the On-Call Safety Officer.

Environmental Health and Safety is responsible for:

  1. Providing an “On-Call” Safety Officer twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond to spills in mechanical rooms, art/theatre spaces, dock areas, and the Laboratory Schools campuses.  This does not include spills related to laboratory activities (e.g., research or teaching labs);
  2. Responding with appropriate action to control and remedy the event;
  3. Responding to a reported event in a timely manner;
  4. Maintaining liaison with the local Police and Fire Departments;
  5. Notifying the Office of Research Safety if a spill enters a research or teaching laboratory or will affect normal operations; 
  6. Notifying regulatory agencies for events involving reportable injuries/fatalities or spills/releases where oil/chemicals have entered a drain or the environment as neccessary;
  7. Notifying Administration of an event and providing periodic status reports; and
  8. Reviewing and amending the Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous Materials.

Office of Research Safety is responsible for:

  1. Providing an “On-Call” Safety Officer twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond to spills related to laboratory activities (e.g., research or teaching labs);
  2. Responding with appropriate action to control and remedy the event;
  3. Responding to a reported event in a timely manner;
  4. Maintaining liaison with the local Police and Fire Departments;
  5. Notfiying EHS of events involving injuries/fatalities or releases/spills where chemicals have entered a drain or the environment;
  6. Notifiying regulatory agencies for reportable radiation exposure events, or spills/exposures to biological toxins, pathogenic or recobinant microorganisims;
  7. Notifying Administration of an event and providing periodic status reports; and
  8. Reviewing and amending the Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous Materials.

Pre-Emergency Planning and Coordination

Arrangements have been made to coordinate the University’s Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous Materials and applicable emergency services with the local Police Department, Fire Department and the Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team.

The campus-wide plans managed by Environmental Health and Safety include:

Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan: Ensures oil products in aboveground storage tanks fuel tanks (e.g., hydraulic elevators and other aboveground storage tanks) do not enter drains and impact waterways;

Contingency Plan: Emergency response plan for the Central Accumulation Areas in the Medical Center (hazardous pharmaceutical waste) and University (hazardous chemical waste) collected from the contiguous campus; and

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Tier II Report:  Inform emergency response agencies of the hazards present on campus by providing an inventory of chemicals that meet the regulatory definition of hazardous materials and extremely hazardous materials that exceed specific threshold planning quantity for each material type.

Community contacts include:

City of Chicago Police Department
District Commander
1121 South State Street
Chicago, Illinois
312-744-4000

OEMC
Deputy Director of Emergency Management
1411 West Madison
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Phone: 312.746.9111

Chicago Fire Department
Deputy Fire Commissioner, Bureau of Operations
Chicago Public Safety Headquarters
3510 South Michigan Ave Floor 2
Chicago, Illinois 60653

The Office of Research Safety manages the campus-wide Chemical Hygiene Plan and ensures each laboratory has a lab-specific Chemical Hygiene Plan which covers emergency spill response procedures for all hazard types associated with the research activities.  The Office of Research Safety also ensures that each lab keeps an up-to-date inventory of all hazardous chemicals present in each space.  The plans are not submitted to local first responders, but they must be readily available in the event of an emergency.   Environmental Health and Safety conducts periodic building tours with the Chicago Fire Department and the Office of Research Safety provides a representative to discuss building-specific  hazards for laboratory buildings (research and teaching labs).  

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Emergency Notification

Call the University of Chicago Police Department at 123 from a campus phone of 773.702.8181 for an emergency occurring on campus.

Please see the University of Chicago Accident and Incident Reporting (UCAIR) website for proper notification procedures.

Reviewed: March 2024

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