Specialist Safety Roles

As a professor, you are responsible for ensuring that the health of your staff and students is protected and that accidents are prevented within ETH Zurich. You are obliged to designate safety officers and to inform your staff/students of the essential points on safety and intervention should an event occur.

For an overview of your health and safety responsibilities as a supervisor, download this DownloadSuva brochure (PDF, 927 KB).

Depending on the activity or research area and the use of laboratories, workshops and technical facilities, special roles must be assigned. The holders of the roles ensure that safety briefings are given and the protective measures are complied with within the organisational unit or group with the support of the superiors or professors. In addition, they hold positions required by law, such as biosafety officer and laser protection officer. The research units can either independently inform themselves on the required special roles, training and education, or use consultation services from the SSHE Department.
These safety roles must be assigned, depending on the activities of the organisational units:

Biosafety Officer (BSO)
Group Safety Representative (GSR)
Laboratory representative and workshop representative
Blaster
Forklift truck driver
Wearer of personal protective equipment to prevent falls; person who works at heights
Responsible persons and operators for cranes, lifting gear, mobile elevating working platforms

Contakt:

Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor
(Dangerous goods) Packaging Advisor
Laser Safety Officer (LSO)
Radiation Safety Officer (RSO)
Responsible person for plant and wood preservatives
Responsible person for coolants

Contakt:

The training for the safety roles shown in italics must be held by certified course providers who can issue a training certificate to participants once they have passed the relevant tests. Some of these external course providers may be invited onto the ETH campus so that the offer and administration for attending the course can be carried out via SSHE Training.
The safety role holders will also attend all of the relevant SSHE safety training for their work.
Furthermore, the specialists need regular further training and information on the ETH-internal regulations and what is considered to be current state-of-the-art technology for their work. Thus, for some special roles, additional ETH-internal further training has been set up and this is held periodically, e.g. seminars for biosafety officers.
Further information and the required training for the following roles can be found on the corresponding pages.