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Minutes 10-08-01MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2001 at 10:00 A.M. Present Chuck Magazine, Chairman Carisse Weise, Vice Chair Jos6 Alfaro Tom Balfe Mark Bobich Bob Borden Bill Coup Gary Ezzell Eric Falstad Dorothy Mack Barbara Madden Brent Rolle Rodney Vickey Kim Williams John Yurch Risk Management City Manager Planning Parks Utilities/EWTP Fire Library Utilities/WWTP Golf Course Human Resources City Clerk's Office Recreation Finance/Warehouse Communications Engineering Also Present Pam Webb Risk Management Absent Tom McCabe Larry Quinn Sharon Tierney Police Public Works ITS I. Call to order Chairman Magazine called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and a quorum was present. III. Acceptance of Minutes of September 10, 2001 Mr. Bobich questioned why "Hurricane Preparedness Ham removed from the agenda. Chairman Magazine said the Radio Test" was item was pulled Meeting Minutes ' Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL October 8, 2001 because a report was never made to the Committee. It was noted that the item was still on the agenda. Chairman Magazine will correct thiS. Motion Mr. Coup moved to approve the minutes of September 10, 2001. Motion seconded by Deputy Fire Marshal Borden and unanimously carried. IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program' "Operation Lifesaver": Presented by Vice Chair Weise and Para Webb Vice Chair Weise and Ms. Webb stated that they would be presenting a program on Operation Lifesaver. Ms. Maggie Ferrara, the Palm Beach County representative from Operation Lifesaver, was introduced. Pins were distributed to the members, along with an informational brochure. The presentation consisted of a videotape illustrating the dangers of crossing railroad tracks in a vehicle or on foot. Vice Chair Weise and Ms. Webb then gave a very informative PowerPoint presentation. Any department that would like to schedule the presentation should contact Vice Chair Weise or Ms. Webb. Ms. Ferrara thanked Chairman Magazine and the City for their support of Operation Lifesaver. Last year Chairman Magazine arranged for the video to be shoWn at all City camps. Ms. Ferrara complimented Vice Chair Weise and Ms. Webb for a wonderful presentation. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills (Borden) Chairman Magazine announced that the Safety Officer position would not be filled until after the first of the year. If any building has not had a fire drill within the past year, someone should contact either Deputy Fire Marshal Borden or Chairman Magazine to make the necessary arrangements to schedule a fire drill. Chairman Magazine reported that a fire drill recently took place in the West Wing. B. "Proud to be a Safe Worker" Awards None C. Departmental Inspections & Safety Me'-~ngs Since there was very little to report, Chairman Magazine will have a matrix available for the next meeting. 2 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL October 8, 2001 D. Defensive Driver Course There are openings available for October. More classes will be scheduled for November. The course is mandatory for anyone who drives a City vehicle and for employees who drive their own vehicle on City business. Chairman Magazine announced that staff has been performing Motor Vehicle Record Checks of all personnel that drive for the City. Some employees with suspended licenses have been discovered. All employees who drive for the City must maintain a valid driver's license. This year all police officers will be taking the same defensive driving class that other employees take. Chief Gage has approved this. E. Incident Review Board Referrals Entering private property, i.e. fenced in backyards (Utilities and Police) Chairman Magazine is still waiting for the requested information from the Utilities and Police Department. Mr. Bobich stated that his department did not have anything in writing on this subject. Chairman Magazine will speak with Code Compliance and Police. F. Safety Policies Review (Weise) Vice Chair Weise reported that the policy is ready to be published unless Chairman Magazine had anything new he wished to add. Chairman Magazine requested Vice Chair Weise move forward with having the policy published and distributed to all employees. G. Certified Child Safety Seat Technicians a. City employees training on-duty time (Weise) Chairman Magazine stated that any employee who wants to volunteer for the training on their own time can do so. The City will only pay for the training. H. Wellness Program (Magazine) As soon as the signed contract is returned from Pinecrest, the Wellness Program will be implemented. There are bulletin boards in the City Hall lunchroom, at Public Works and Utilities that contain informational material on wellness, which are maintained by JFK Hospital. It is anticipated that a person will be available once or twice a month in the City's gym to answer questions about exercising and proper equipment use. 3 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL October 8, 2001 VI. New Business Chairman Magazine distributed a copy of a memorandum to him from Fire Chief Bingham dated September 10, 2001. He reported that at the Incident Review Board meeting, the members considered a request from Chief Bingham that the Fire Department wanted to review their own incidents that related to emergency response issues. The IRB, which is a sub-committee of the Safety Committee, reviewed the request and determined that the procedures should remain as they are, i.e., that the IRB would review all incidents. Members of the IRB Board are Chairman Magazine, representatives from the Fire Department, Police Department, Facilities, Utilities, Public Works and Leisure Services. Deputy Fire MarShal Borden reported that it was past practice that the Police and Fire Departments reviewed their own incidents. Because Risk Management was not receiving the reviews on a timely basis, it was determined that the IRB would review all incidents. Chief Bingham's memo addressed the fact that there is a great deal of information that the IRB would not know concerning incidents involving emergency responses. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden stated that he agreed with Chief Bingham's request and stated that when incidents occur in the Police and Fire Department, only those persons trained in that type of response could understand how a particular incident occurred. Chairman Magazine stated that the Fire and Police Department have a representative on the IRB to provide input and information. The role of the IRB is to determine if an incident is preventable or non-preventable. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden stated that fire personnel feel that this creates a black mark on their record. Many times in emergency situations incidents occur as a result of the actions of outsiders. Chairman Magazine said it is important that the supervisors proVide the IRB with a complete report in order for the Board to make a determination. Further, he pointed out that an employee has the right to appeal a decision of the IRB. In many cases decisions of the Board have been overturned when more information is presented. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden stated that even though the Fire Department would review their own emergency response incidents, the IRB would receive all the reports. He further stated that all incidents would be immediately investigated as soon as the incident occurred and that reports would be furnished to Risk Management as soon as possible. Chairman Magazine felt that the program that is now in place works and should be kept as is, keeping in mind that there is always an opportunity for an appeal of an IRB decision. 4 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL October 8, 2001 Chairman Magazine said that the Safety Committee is being asked today to make a recommendation to the City Manager regarding Chief Bingham's request. He pointed out that the IRB does not discipline employees. A decision of the IRB could, however, be used in an employee's evaluation. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that fire personnel were not fully aware of the end results of an IRB decision of a preventable incident as it pertained to an employee's personnel record. Chairman Magazine stated that a notice of a decision is sent to the Department for handling. The IRB process is a safety process to prevent an incident from reoccurring in the department. Motion Vice Chair Weise moved to leave the IRB as is. Motion seconded by Bill Coup. Motion carried 14 to 1 with Deputy Fire Marshal Borden dissenting. B. Departmental Safety Issues Mr. Alfaro noted that employees have difficulty crossing from the West Wing and City Hall to the employee parking lot across the street, since there are no crosswalks. Chairman Magazine responded that this issue was brought up at last month's meeting. Mr. Yurch said that he and Mr. Fleming have discussed putting in crosswalks along with signage. Mr. Yurch suggested that Chairman Magazine put in the work order for Public Works to perform the work. He will follow through on this with Jeff Livergood. Mr. Yurch said he has observed contractors performing work on City streets on behalf of the City without putting up the proper warning signs. Chairman Magazine stated that the department that hired the contractor should be notified immediately. Someone from that department should go out to the site and stop the work until the site is set up properly. Mr. Yurch would like to have safety lights put on the vehicles that the City uses to make inspections on road projects and has spoken to Bob Lee about this. C. Other None VII. Announcements Anyone interested in attending any of the Safety Council classes should contact Risk Management. 5 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL October 8, 2001 VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, November 19, 2001 Veteran's Day Holiday) (dUe to VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 1 1:40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) (October 10, 2001 ) 6