Statement of Commitment to EHS

A letter from President Gilliam explaining the university’s commitment to maintaining a healthy and safe environment for its students, faculty, staff, visitors, and neighbors and to fostering a culture of safety among users of all campus facilities

Boston University Office of the President

Melissa Gilliam
President
One Silber Way
Boston, Massachusetts 02215

Statement of Commitment to
Environmental Health and Safety

Boston University is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for all students, faculty, staff, visitors, and neighbors. We aim to foster a strong culture of safety across all university operations, especially in research and laboratory settings.

All members of the BU community are expected to comply with environmental health and safety laws, regulations, and best practices. We are also committed to continuously improving efforts to minimize environmental impacts and safety risks by:

  • Takin personal responsibility for individual and community safety.
  • Upholding the highest standards of safety and occupational health for all.
  • Reducing air and water pollution and minimizing waste generation.
  • Integrating safety into all aspects of operations, including research, facility design, and equipment use.
  • Providing targeted safety education to promote safe practices and reduce risks.
  • Encouraging a culture where concerns and errors can be reported without fear of reprisal.
  • Offering timely, transparent responses to environmental health and safety questions.
  • Investigating incidents, sharing lessons learned, and updating policies accordingly.
  • Promoting collaborating among researchers, safety staff, facilities personnel, and others to proactively address safety issues.

Boston University’s Environmental Health and Safety staff, in partnership with oversight committees, has established policies to support these commitments. Deans, directors, department heads, and supervisors are responsible for implementing them in their areas.

We ask every member of the BU community to actively support and uphold these safety commitments.

Melissa Gilliam
May  2025