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Prof. James Andrew Smith's Blog

Four motions for protecting faculty, staff and students

Posted on 2 November 2021

I'm submitting the following four motions to my department's monthly meeting to see if we can set ourselves up for a safer return to campus. There are four motions:

  1. A recommendation for wearing N95
  2. Funding for N95s
  3. A request for CO2 sensors
  4. A request for portable air purifiers (HEPA)

Feel free to reuse and/or adapt, in whole or in part.

Item 1: Recommendations for Masks/Respirators

I wish to put forward a hortative motion before the EECS Department.  I ask that faculty members vote on the following.  If passed, we will ask for a vote on an essentially identical hortative motion by members of Faculty Council on the following matter.

Given

  1. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  2. that an important body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (masks) are a safer, more effective defence against the spread of COVID-19 than cloth or surgical (a.k.a. medical procedure) masks;
  3. that the Ontario Human Rights Commission has clarified, in Section 16 of its “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers” webpage, that organizations can require masking and can engage in verification of “Code-related accommodations” related to masking;
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that post-secondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”); and
  5. that YUFA called for the employer to supply appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 or KN95 masks/respirators in paragraph 3 of its second motion (“Open Letter to President Rhonda Lenton on Return to Campus”), dated Sept 7, 2021.

we call for a vote at the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Faculty Council asking for the LSE’s Dean’s Office to make a public statement to all community members that the Lassonde School of Engineering recommends the use of N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (commonly referred to as masks, face masks or respirator face masks) personal protective equipment by all LSE community members (staff, students, faculty) while in indoor locations on campus.  We ask that LSE Dean’s Office make this public statement in a timely manner, before the start of the Winter 2022 semester.

References

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

  • Ontario Human Rights Commission, “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers”, March 18, 2020; updated Oct 15, 2021; https://bit.ly/3q2C3f4 [last viewed Nov 2, 2021]

Point 4

Point 5

Item 2: Funding for Masks/Respirators

I wish to put forward another hortative motion before the EECS Department.  I ask that faculty members vote on the following.  If passed, we will ask for a vote on an essentially identical hortative motion by members of Faculty Council on the following matter.

Given

  1. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  2. that an important body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (masks) are a safer, more effective defence against the spread of COVID-19 than cloth or surgical (a.k.a. medical procedure) masks;
  3. that the Ontario Human Rights Commission has clarified, in Section 16 of its “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers” webpage, that organizations can require masking and can engage in verification of “Code-related accommodations” related to masking;
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that post-secondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”); and
  5. that YUFA called for the employer to supply appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 or KN95 masks/respirators in paragraph 3 of its second motion (“Open Letter to President Rhonda Lenton on Return to Campus”), dated Sept 7, 2021.

we call for a vote at the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Faculty Council asking the LSE’s Dean’s Office to fund the distribution of N95 (or equivalent or better) masks / respirators to all community members for the Winter 2022 semester if the central administration does not do so.

References

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

  • Ontario Human Rights Commission, “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers”, March 18, 2020; updated Oct 15, 2021; https://bit.ly/3q2C3f4 [last viewed Nov 2, 2021]

Point 4

Point 5

Item 3: Portable CO2 sensors to be supplied to Lassonde faculty and staff

I wish to put forward another hortative motion before the EECS Department.  I ask that faculty members vote on the following.  If passed, we will ask for a vote on an essentially identical hortative motion by members of Faculty Council on the following matter.

Given

  1. that the state of air quality of the rooms on campus that we are expected to occupy is unknown;
  2. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  3. that NDIR-based CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) sensors can act as a relatively accurate and inexpensive solution for gathering information on air quality in indoor settings related to COVID-19; and
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that post-secondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”)

we call for a vote at the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Faculty Council asking the LSE’s Dean’s Office to fund the distribution of portable NDIR-based CO2 sensors (e.g. ARANET4, AirQ, IQAir, etc.) to all faculty and staff members for the Winter 2022 semester for use in offices, labs and classrooms if the central administration does not do so.

References

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

Point 4

Item 4: Portable air purifiers to be supplied to Lassonde faculty and staff

I wish to put forward another hortative motion before the EECS Department.  I would ask that faculty members vote on the following.  If passed, we will ask for a vote on an identical hortative motion by members of Faculty Council on the following matter.

Given

  1. that the state of air quality of the rooms on campus that we are expected to occupy is unknown;
  2. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  3. that ventilation with fresh air and purification with portable HEPA filter units is considered by experts to be an important way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in indoor settings; and
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that post-secondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”);

we call for a vote at the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Faculty Council asking the LSE’s Dean’s Office to fund the distribution of portable HEPA filtering units (e.g. HealthMate 400, Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, Honeywell HEPA Insight, etc.) to all faculty and staff members for use in offices, labs and classrooms for the Winter 2022 semester if the central administration does not do so.

References

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

Point 4

James Andrew Smith is a Professional Engineer and Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of York University's Lassonde School, with degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and McGill University.  Previously a program director in biomedical engineering, his research background spans robotics, locomotion, human birth and engineering education. While on sabbatical in 2018-19 with his wife and kids he lived in Strasbourg, France and he taught at the INSA Strasbourg and Hochschule Karlsruhe and wrote about his personal and professional perspectives.  James is a proponent of using social media to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion as well as evidence-based applications of research in the public sphere. You can find him on Twitter. Originally from Québec City, he now lives in Toronto, Canada.   

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