Updated August 18, 2026.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) resides in the Research Oversight & Compliance Office (ROCO) unit within The Division of the Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI). EHS has a comprehensive portfolio with a broad mandate for all three campuses with the objective of facilitating a safe environment for all employees, students, visitors and contractors who engage in activities across our community and frequent any University  owned/operated spaces.

Through close collaboration with all members of the University community we establish and maintain health and safety systems that are widely acknowledged to be of excellent quality and that, without compromising or impeding academic freedom and freedom of research and operational objectives, while maintaining a high level of safety.

The Executive Director of Research Safety and Compliance, EHS oversees the hazardous materials regulatory/legislative landscape pertaining to research related institutional compliance within the laboratory environment and reports to the Associate Vice-President, ROCO.

EHS also has an Executive Director of Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) who oversees the Occupational Health & Safety regulatory/legislative landscape (as per the Occupational Health and Safety Act) and facilitates institutional compliance broadly across all workplace environments as well as ensuring effective general safety measures are in place for all University spaces. The Executive Director OHS reports to the Associate Vice-President, ROCO as well as the VPPFDS.

UTM and UTSC both have EHS Leads who oversee all health and safety matters in both laboratory and workplace environments at their respective campuses and report into the Director, Operations, OHS. EHS collaborates with various other units in different portfolios across the campuses in order to provide a comprehensive H&S framework designed to support specific client groups based on needs.

Mission

Our mission is to ensure that an environmentally responsible, safe and healthy work, research and study environment exists at the University of Toronto.

We do this by proactively identifying risks and emerging issues through the development and implementation of innovative, practical and sustainable processes to manage them, including training and awareness, teaching, provision of expert advice, emergency response and assurance to maintain campus compliance with applicable government regulations (OHSA, HPTA, CNSC etc.) while maintaining a healthy, sustainable environment for education, research, and daily operations. 

The main areas of our responsibilities span these core areas:

• Incident, Accident, Occupational Illness Investigation: All incidents, accidents, near misses and occupational illnesses are reported through the EHS   online reporting system and are thoroughly reviewed and investigated by our EHS team.  This includes development and assistance with implementing of applicable risk mitigation measures. 
• Laboratory & Research Safety: Managing hazardous materials, overseeing radiation protection, biosafety and chemical safety through a university permitting system based on regulatory licences. This includes promoting compliance and safety through permit-based laboratory inspections.
• Occupational Health and Hygiene: Conducting a variety of assessments, including ergonomic, indoor air quality, mould and noise assessments; and pre-placement medical evaluations, immunizations to issue medical clearance for staff working in specialized  or high-risk environments
• Emergency Management: Creating safety plans, conducting emergency drills, organizing safety shower validation and serving as the primary campus liaison with Campus Safety for emergencies related to environments such as labs, machine shops, maker spaces etc.
• Environmental Protection: Ensuring the University complies with environmental laws by monitoring emissions, EASR maintenance, fume hood certification and working in close collaboration with the Environmental Protection Services (EPS) team to ensure safe disposal of hazardous campus waste.
• Safety Training & Assurance: Delivering mandatory or specialized safety courses and performing routine workplace training and workplace safety audits.  Providing ongoing leadership and support to the Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSCs) by engaging collaboratively with the University community and coordinating inspections that promote continuous improvement within the Internal Responsibility System.

As part of the Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation, EHS is committed to equity and excellence in the pursuit of its mission because an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment enables all UofT community members to reach their full potential and contribute to original, significant, and ground-breaking research across the University. Diversity strengthens the quality and impact of the research and academic experience by bringing together multiple ideas and perspectives. For more information of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), please refer to https://research.utoronto.ca/equity-diversity-inclusion/equity-diversity-inclusion.