Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) has a broad mandate with the objective of ensuring and facilitating a safe environment for all employees, students, visitors and contractors who engage in activities across our community and frequent any of our spaces.
EHS works closely with other units in different portfolios across the campuses in order to provide a comprehensive health and safety framework designed to support specific client groups based on their needs.
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 being proactive in identifying risks and emerging issues and by developing and implementing innovative, practical and sustainable processes to manage them, including training and awareness, teaching, provision of expert advice, emergency response and assurance.
The University of Toronto Mississauga has a local EHS office that serves as the local point of contact for addressing health and safety issues, and implementing EHS programs and activities at the campus.
For more information, please visit the Environmental Health & Safety website
Quick links
- Environmental Health & Safety website
- First Aid Resources
- Accident Reporting and Forms
- Training
- Laboratory Decommissioning Procedure
- UTM Hazardous Waste Disposal Procedures
- Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC)
- Ventilation on the UTM campus
- Water Testing
Information about training programs are offered in the box below.
Interested in what the Joint Health and Safety Committee can offer you? See below.
Health and Safety Training
EHS offers training courses (online and in-person) in a broad range of topics. These courses provide information about policies, programs, and procedures that have been developed to help everyone work safely.
Registration Details
Login to My EHS Training with your UTORid and password to register for any health and safety training.
For detailed instructions on creating an account and registering for courses, please review our guide: Completing Online EHS Courses.
Courses and Details
Refer to the EHS Training Matrices to identify which courses are required for your work at the university:
Training Matrix for Lab Personnel
Training Matrix for Administrative and Facilities Staff
The UTM Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) is an advisory body with representation from workers and management. The main functions of the JHSC are to:
- Meet regularly to discuss health and safety concerns
- Identify workplace health and safety hazards
- Conduct regular workplace inspections
- Provide recommendations on how to improve health and safety in the workplace
- Investigate serious accidents and work refusals
Additional information on Joint Health and Safety Committees can be found at: https://ehs.utoronto.ca/jhsc/
The UTM JHSC membership list and meeting minutes can be found on the various Health and Safety Boards located on campus.
The University of Toronto is committed to maintaining healthy indoor air quality across our buildings. This section explains how ventilation systems are managed on the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.
How our buildings are ventilated
On the UTM campus, ventilation levels are determined by occupancy, which is either measured in real time or predicted based on class and activity schedules.
- Demand-control ventilation uses CO2 sensors or people counters to monitor occupancy and automatically adjusts airflow to match. This ensures air quality is maintained efficiently based on real-time conditions.
- Occupancy-based schedules ensure air handling units operate during expected hours of use and reduce or pause during low-occupancy periods, such as overnight or on weekends.
Specialist spaces — including laboratories, vivariums and aquatic facilities — operate based on unique ventilation requirements.
To find out how ventilation is managed in your building or to request changes due to special events, please contact Facilities Management & Planning
Filtration standards
Filtration level is measured using the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) scale, which rates the effectiveness of air filters. Filters with higher MERV values capture a greater percentage of smaller particles from the air that passes through them.
Throughout campus, central air filtration systems are equipped with MERV 13 filters or the highest-rated filter compatible with each system. MERV 13 filters capture particles at the viral level. This investment was made during the COVID-19 pandemic and these filters continue to be maintained as standard across campus.
Infection control preparedness
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) — the international authority on HVAC and indoor air quality — has published ventilation standards for managing infectious aerosol outbreaks (ASHRAE 241-2023).
In line with these standards, the university has prepared building readiness plans for use during a critical infectious aerosol outbreak. To discuss building readiness plans, please contact U of T Environmental Health & Safety
In the event of a critical infectious aerosol outbreak, the university will follow the recommendations of ASHRAE and local public health authorities.
If you have any issue or concern about the temperature or ventilation in a room at UTM, please connect with us via the UTM Service Portal.
UTM Water Testing
As part of our water treatment services plan Facilities Management & Planning is committed to regularly testing our drinking water lead levels in all campus buildings and will make the results available to our UTM community. To view the most recent results please use the links provided below.
If you have any questions related to lead testing of our drinking water, please contact UTM Environmental Health & Safety Manager or Managing Director - Operations, Sustainability & Asset Management.
Water testing for a variety of elements occurs regularly at the UTM Campus.
Lead Testing
As part of our new water treatment services plan, Facilities Management & Planning is committed to regularly testing our drinking water for lead in all campus buildings and making the results available to our UTM community. Refer to water testing results below:
- the results of October 2025 water testing
- the results of September 2025 water testing
the results of March 2025 water testing
Legionella Testing
The University began Legionella testing as part of its return to work re-entry procedures in the summer of 2020 to ensure a safe working environment.
Click here for information on the University’s Water Maintenance Program and water testing results for Legionella at UTM. [go to: https://ehs.utoronto.ca/return-to-work-re-entry-procedures-and-water-maintenance-program/]