The EH&S Assistant (EHSA) platform is the safety management system supported and operated collaboratively by the Office of Research Safety (ORS) and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).  It was established in 1999 by EHS and was upgraded in 2017 and is now co-managed by EHS and the Office of Research Safety (ORS).

It is accessible via the single sign-on service with your CNet ID and password. Initially, all users only have access to the training module in EHSA (web-based training and lecture registration).  However, if you contact EHS (non-lab) or ORS (research/teaching labs) we can update your security profile based on your role.

The EHSA Overview document summarizes the 20-plus modules that are linked together to centralize safety-related data and business processes such as the following;

  • Safety training/learning management system*
  • Accident and incident investigations (UCAIR)
  • Inspections (ORS for lab-based research and teaching labs, EHS for general building inspections)
  • Chemical Inventories
  • Licenses (chemical, biological, radiological, laser, or general permits)
  • Safety equipment management
  • Fire drills
  • Laboratory placards
  • Hazardous waste pick-up requests
  • Worker registration (allows PIs to add workers to their research permits)
  • Dashboards for all modules

EHSA is integrated with multiple enterprise management systems across campus including, but not limited to:

  • Workday
  • MCDB
  • Archibus/SIMS
  • AURA IBC
  • Data warehouse
  • ARC initial injury report
  • AIMS (animal research
  • Absorb (UCM's learning management system)
  • eShipGlobal

*With the launch of the Workday learning management system (LMS) we have received a handful of inquiries as to why safety courses are not hosted in the Workday LMS.  The EHSA LMS was created roughly three years before the Workday LMS project kicked off. The EHSA system hosts safety training for Environmental Health and Safety, the Office of Research Safety, the Animal Research Center, and various high-risk research labs with lab-specific training. Almost 200 courses are housed in EHSA, but the catalog expands each year.  We evaluated the possibility of moving the EHSA safety courses to the Workday LMS by participating in the development, testing, and soft launch/deployment phases. However, the Workday LMS project team determined that many of the legally required compliance mechanisms in our existing EHSA LMS could not be replicated in the Workday LMS. Since the safety training data is tied to multiple safety modules in the EHSA system (e.g., building inspections, lab permits, safety equipment, accident reports, etc.), it was determined safety courses would remain in EHSA as decentralizing safety data posed a higher risk than efforts to centralize University training content.  

We are committed to making EH&S Assistant as user-friendly as possible while also meeting the needs of our users.  If you have feedback or would like to request a dashboard, please contact us.

If you work in a non-laboratory space, contact EHS at safety@uchicago.edu or 773.702.9999 with any questions about non-laboratory chemical waste pick-ups, training profiles/compliance with non-lab related courses, access to additional modules and dashboards based on your position or role as a supervisor, facility manager, or department/division head.

If you work in a research or teaching lab and need access to the chemical waste pick-up module, a new profile can be obtained by contacting ORS at researchsafety@uchicago.edu or 773.834.2707. Please include your name, CNet ID, department, researcher, your role in the laboratory, and location (building and room numbers) of waste pickups. Please note, relocating chemical waste from the point of generation (i.e., contiguous lab space) to area outside the lab is prohibited by federal and state regulations.  Also, never place waste or chemicals in the corridor as this also violates fire safety codes and poses an increased risk to people and property.

For existing users, please use the EHSA Hazardous Waste User Guide to enter a hazardous chemical waste pick-up.

User Guides

Inventory Module

Inspection Module

Training Module

Dashboard Module

Related Links