As with any new and uncharted territory, the time between March 2020 and today held many twists, turns, questions and decisions for nearly every person contributing the success of our UCLA campus. The developments, gains and setbacks of a “COVID-19 reality” required the collaboration and expertise of many across campus as we progressed through the CA Blueprint Tiers.
As part of this effort, members of the Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) safety and compliance unit served as COVID-19 subject matter experts for the campus community to ensure a safer return to on-site work and activities. The EH&S Resumption Plan Review Process was instituted to support these efforts, with more than 300 departmental plans submitted/reviewed to date, as we all moved from the most restrictive mitigations to the gradual expansion of activities aligned with LACDPH Health Officer Orders and industry sector protocols.
The team’s work helped navigate evolving public health rules and situations pertaining to our essential workers who continued to work on-site, academic and research activities which gradually resumed, and on-campus events, including in-person commencement, among others.
And after what was arguably one of the most tumultuous years faced by our institution, bright indicators began to emerge to signal a sense of normalcy on the horizon. To share news of the first campus partial reopening since the onset of the pandemic, UCLA Strategic Communications produced a video that allowed EH&S to announce the wonderful news.
Collaboration between EH&S and campus partners will not only continue to see us through the immediate challenge of the pandemic in UCLA history, but the increased camaraderie across campus has reminded us all how powerful we can be when working together with a singular goal in sight.
