Supervisors & Managers

Resources and guidance for supervisors and managers.

Background image: UC Berkeley Supervisors

Employee and Supervisor Responsibilities

Employee Responsibilities

Employees have the responsibility to follow safety procedures, including wearing proper safety equipment and completing appropriate training. Employees must also recognize and correct hazards (when possible) or report hazards to the appropriate supervisor. 

For more information see Individual Responsibilities.

Supervisor, Manager, and Principal Investigator Responsibilities

Supervisors must ensure the safety of work assignments and workspaces, assign safety training related to hazards, provide safety procedures and equipment, correct identified hazards (where practicable), look into the causes of incidents and take action to prevent similar incidents, and discuss safety in regular meetings and performance reviews. 

For more information, see Manager Responsibilities.

Safety Training

Assigning safety training:

Workplace Safety How Do I:

Report a workplace hazard or safety concern?

Contact EH&S at 510-642-3073 (off-hours 510-642-3333) to report an accident such as a workplace injury or hazardous material spill/exposure. If there is a life-threatening emergency, please call 911. 

Make sure that any accidents or dangerous incidents are reported to your home unit.

EH&S must be notified immediately if any of the following occurs: worker fatality, inpatient hospitalization, loss of any body part (e.g., fingertip), or possible permanent disfigurement.

Find out what trainings people need?

All employees are required to take Workplace Health and Safety Program training. Use this link to take the training at the UC Learning Center:

Workplace Health and Safety Program Awareness Training

Training related to specific workplace, department and/or job tasks may also be required.

Supervisors may use the Safety Training And Records Tool (START) to create required safety training profiles for direct reports.

Use this link to access the START Program and your required training profile: Safety Training And Records Tool (START)

  • You can read more about START and access tutorials here.
  • If you do not yet have a START training profile, please ask your supervisor to complete the START assessment on your behalf.
  • You may also visit the Required Training for Supervisors website to determine what is generally required for job tasks.

Principal Investigators (PIs) may visit

Schedule an Ergonomics Workstation Evaluation?

Every campus department with faculty or staff who use a computer four hours or more a day should have a departmental computer workstation evaluator. To find out who the computer workstation evaluator is for your department, ask your supervisor, Department Safety Coordinator, or call Ergonomics @ Work at (510) 643-2540.

For workstation evaluation:

Call University Health Services at 510-643-2540 or email ergotf@uhs.berkeley.edu to schedule a workplace evaluation. You may also visit the Be Well at Work - Ergonomics Program website for more information.

You can do a self-evaluation of your workstation by using the User-Friendly Workstation diagram and Personal Workstation Checklist from the Be Well at Work - Ergonomics Program website.

Approach an Indoor Air Quality concern?

If you are experiencing a persistent, alarming, or illness-inducing odor, please contact EH&S (642-3073) for assistance. Consult University Health Services Urgent Care (642-3188) if serious symptoms arise.

Most odor complaints affect only a single room or suite. The odor source is usually in the room with the smell. Often the smell seems to be coming from the ventilation. This is because the air moving from the supply vent pulls room air along with it, giving the impression that the ventilation system is the cause or source of the odor.

For more information, view the Air Quality Fact Sheet