Environmental Health & Safety
Safety Tips - How to Avoid Slip and Falls in Snow and Ice
How do you avoid slipping and falling in the wintery weather? Check out the tips below provided by Ravneet Chhokar, our Director of Safety and Compliance.
Be aware of where hazards can be found:
- Outside walking surfaces
- Building entrances
- Parking lots
Use these tips when snow and ice are present:
- Plan ahead and give yourself extra travel time.
- Wear proper footwear. Ice/snow cleats and winter traction devices can be slipped onto/over your shoes or boots to help prevent slips and falls.
- Before getting out of your vehicle, look down to see if the pavement is snow/ice/water covered.
- Don’t walk with your hands in your pockets.
- Take short steps and walk at a slower pace. Like bullet #1, give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to go.
- Avoid non-cleared and uneven surfaces.
Motor Pool
Motor Vehicle Accidents
With the poor road conditions that can accompany the wintery weather, we wanted to share a reminder of the process for reporting motor vehicle accidents. Any university employee planning to drive a motor vehicle on university business should become familiar with Section 15.3 Motor Vehicle Accidents on the OBFS website before getting behind the wheel. The policy applies to all accidents involving motor vehicles operated by employees within the scope or course of university business.
Employees involved in a motor vehicle accident must report the incident to law enforcement while still at the scene. This applies to all vehicles, whether university owned, personal, or rental. Employees should then follow the reporting requirements that apply to the category of motor vehicle driven.
For university or commerical rental vehicles: Accidents must be reported to the employee's immediate supervisor and to the UIS Motor Pool office within 24 hour of the incident. The employee must also consult with the UIS Motor Pool to complete an Illinois Motorist Report (SR-1) within 3 days of the incident.
For personal vehicles: Accidents involving a personal vehicle while on university business must be reported by the employee to their personal insurance carrier and those carrier's instructions followed. The employee still must contact the UIS Motor Pool office to complete the Illinois Motorist Report (SR-1) within 3 days of the accident.
Please contact our office at (217) 206-6531 if you have any questions.
Scheduling News
Meeting Room Self-Scheduling
Are you looking for a small room to have a meeting or collaboration session? Then look no further than our new meeting room self-scheduling tool! There are a few meeting rooms around campus that can accommodate up to 14 people. Each room is set up in a boardroom/conference configuration. A list of those meeting rooms are in the table below:
| Brookens Library (BRK) | Human Resources Building (HRB) | Health & Sciences Building (HSB) | Public Affairs Center (PAC) | University Hall Building (UHB) |
| 334 | 18 | 308 | 3E | 2002 |
| 381 | 4C | 2010 | ||
| 2012 | ||||
| 3026 | ||||
| 4067 | ||||
| 4079 |
To use the self-scheduling tool, visit our webpage at Facilities Scheduling and click on the "I am an Employee at UIS" to launch the tool.
When you visit our webpage, you'll also notice the addition of other space reservation resources. Our goal is to compile links to those resources on a single webpage to use as a quick reference, whether you're an employee, student, or a guest.
Classroom Scheduling
For those looking to find the Spring 2023 room assignments: those will be posted on the dynamic course schedule the first week of January.
Please contact our office at (217) 206-6378 or ClassroomScheduling@uis.edu if you have any questions.
Coming in the New Year
Fire Alarm Testing
The January fire alarm testing is scheduled to take place as soon as we return to campus in 2023!
The test procedures will include the intermittent sounding of horns and activation of the strobe lights to ensure all components of the system are working properly. You should not ignore any alarms sounding outside this schedule or alarms that sound for a prolonged period of time.
The schedule is:
Tuesday, January 3
- Brookens Library
- Student Union
- Health Sciences Building (HSB)
Wednesday, January 4
- Public Affairs Center (PAC), upper floors
Thursday, January 5
- Public Affairs Center (PAC), lower floors
- Visual & Performing Arts Building (VPA)
Friday, January 6
- University Hall Building (UHB)
- Recreation Center (TRAC)
- Field Station at Lake Springfield
- Student Affairs Building (SAB)
- Campus Police Department Building
We will send out a notification if there are any changes to the schedule or if we encounter issues that require restesting of any area.
Wishing everyone a happy, safe winter break!
Contact Us
Contact F&S anytime with questions, concerns, or to report urgent issues. Our main phone line is answered by a member of F&S Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Facilities & Services
BSB 33
Phone: (217) 206-6530
facilities@uis.edu
You can also reach out directly to our units using the contact information below.
| Classrooms: (217) 206-6378, classroomscheduling@uis.edu | Construction: (217) 206-6704, jwgrice@uis.edu |
| Custodial: (217) 206-6053, pmeye2@uis.edu | Grounds: (217) 206-7202, bbeck1@uis.edu |
| Motor Pool: (217) 206-6531, cervi1@uis.edu | Moving: (217) 206-6379, ahamm5@uis.edu |
| Parking: (217) 206-8502, parking@uis.edu | Recycling: (217) 206-6379, ahamm5@uis.edu |
| Surplus: (217) 206-6379, surplus@uis.edu |