Environmental Health and Safety Mission Statement

"All spheres of life -- marriage and family, work and worship, school and state, our play and art -- bear the wounds of our rebellion. Sin is present everywhere -- in pride of race, in arrogance of nations, in abuse of the weak and helpless, in disregard for water, air, and soil, in destruction of living creatures, in slavery, deceit, terror, and war, in worship of false gods, and frantic escape from reality. We have become victims of our own sin."

(Paragraph 17, Our World Belongs to God, CRC Publications, 1988)

A manifestation of the fall in the sphere of work are dangers found in our workplace. The hazards we face range from physical to chemical; from the ordinary (slip and fall) to the uncommon (radiation); and from the natural (fire) to the manmade (synthetic chemicals).

Calvin College recognizes these hazards and has created an Environmental Health and Safety Program to address them. The goals of the program include:

1. Provide a workplace free of recognizable and preventable hazards.

"We serve Christ by thankfully receiving our life as a gift from his hand. We protest and resist all abuse and harm of this gift by abortion, pollution, gluttony, addiction, and all foolish risks."

(Paragraph 46, Our World Belongs to God, CRC Publications, 1988)

2. Provide faculty, staff and students with health and safety skills and habits they can use in the lab or on campus, and take with them if they leave. These are provided by instruction and by example.

"To perform all our tasks as a caring and diverse educational community We undertake our tasks in response to a divine calling. Together we challenge ourselves to excellence as we acquire knowledge, cultivate aspirations, and practice lives of service. We seek to gather diverse people and gifts around a common pledge and purpose; pursue justice, compassion, and discipline; and provide a training ground for the life of Christian virtue."
(The Mission of Calvin College, Calvin College)

3. Maintain compliance with federal, state and local health and safety regulations.

"Since God establishes the powers that rule, we are called to respect them, unless they trample his Word. We are to obey God in politics, pray for our rulers, and help governments to know his will for public life."

(Paragraph 53, Our World Belongs to God, CRC Publications, 1988)

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Last updated by Brian K. Dokter on December 19, 1997.