PI Space Introduction

MIT uses the web-based Environment, Health and Safety Management System (EHS-MS) to identify and define the duties, roles, responsibilities, and authorities of the faculty, researchers and personnel in departments, labs, and centers (DLC’s) who are responsible for implementing and sustaining MIT’s regulatory compliance.

At MIT, PI/Supervisor is the pivotal role upon which the success and sustainability of the EHS-MS rests, and is the primary point where information converges. The EHS the system associates PI/Supervisors with the types of potential hazards with which they work, thereby enabling effective planning for appropriate EHS operations support and emergency response. (Note: If you need help using PI Space, you can either call the EHS office 252-3477 or send email to environment@mit.edu.)

The PI Space Registration and SARA Reporting component is used to record EHS information about the following:
DLC master data - The master data information includes DLC committee, department head, EHS lead contact, EHS coordinator and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, PIs/Supervisors and their DLC affiliations. To maintain roles and responsibilities of the EHS-MS, PIs/Supervisors are registered in the PI Space Registration system. The information registered for each PI/Supervisor includes roomsets, rooms, and potential hazards and emergency information. For reporting purposes, PIs/Supervisors are organized by their DLC affiliation.
Roomset - A collection of rooms under one PI for a DLC. Twice a year a single inspection and inspection report needs to be prepared for each PI/Supervisor roomset. The exception to this is the Department of Facilities and in the Division of Student Life.
Rooms - Rooms that have potential hazards must be registered. Administrative rooms can optionally be registered. A room can belong to a roomset. A room may contain many subrooms.
Shared Room - Shared rooms have one primary PI. They can have one or more secondary PIs.
Subroom - A subroom is contained within a room. Each space (subroom) is registered in the system along with its contacts and hazards and must be inspected separately.
Potential Hazards - The potential hazards categories include Core Hazard Types, Chemicals, Chemical Wastes, Biological, Radiation Sources, Non-Ionizing Radiation Sources, Other Hazards and Safety Equipment.
Emergency Information - Emergency contact information is collected for each room. This information can be printed onto “Green Cards” and posted outside the room. It can also be accessed online by authorized emergency responders. Important Note: Online information may contain private emergency contact phone numbers suppressed from the printed and publicly posted Green Card.
SARA Reporting - As part of the EPA's Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), Congress decreed that facilities that use large quantities of hazardous chemicals must inform the local community of their presence and work with local fire departments to plan for accidents and releases. These requirements to inform the Public of chemical use and storage are known by the acronym EPCRA, or Emergency Planning and Community Right to know Act. This means that once a year MIT compiles a targeted inventory of acutely toxic chemical substances and substances that are present in aggregate in greater than 10,000 lbs. This is called SARA Reporting. Compiling the SARA Reporting inventory is supported by the SARA Reporting Web application. A person is designated as having the role of SARA Reporter for the PI or Supervisor's roomset. Upon being notified by the system, the SARA Reporter takes the information that was in the system from the prior year and updates it for the roomset.