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Minutes 04-09-01MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD AT THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2001 @ 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Chuck Magazine, Chairman Tom Balfe Mark Bobich Bob Borden Eric Falstad Steve Lulkin Dorothy Mack Barbara Madden Chris Mitchell Larry Quinn Rodney Vickey Carisse Weise, Vice Chairperson Risk Management Parks Utilities Admin/EWTP Fire Golf Course Recreation Human Resources City Clerk's Office Planning Public Works Warehouse/Finance City Manager ABSENT Wendy Danysh Phyllis Dixon A.D. Henehan, Jr. Eugene Ruffolo Sharon Tierney Police Communications Library Utilities/WWTP ITS I. Call to Order Chairman Magazine called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was declared present. III. Acceptance of Minutes of March 12, 2001 Regular Meeting Deputy Fire Marshal Bob Borden pointed out that he is referred to as Assistant Fire Marshal Borden in the minutes which is incorrect. Motion Vice Chair Weise moved to accept the minutes, as amended. Motion seconded by Mr. Quinn, which unanimously carried. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 Also Deputy Fire Marshal Borden pointed out that on Page 5, paragraph the abbreviation for defibrillators is not "ABD", but "AED". no other corrections or additions to the minutes. in the last There were Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes were reopened for consideration. Motion Mr. Bobich moved to accept the minutes as further amended, which was duly seconded by Mr. Quinn and unanimously carried. IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program Chairman Magazine said that the Safety Manual would be reviewed today and requested that Vice Chair Weise lead the discussion. Mr. Bobich inquired if the Manual would be available on the share drive and Vice Chair Weise stated that it would. Chairman Magazine said it would also be on the City's web site, as well as LaserFiche. Vice Chair Weise pointed out that the document is still a draft because she has received updates for driving rules and regulations and updates for scaffolding. This will be the last opportunity to review the document and if she does not hear from anyone, she will assume that the wording in the manual is correct. She will be presenting the final draft at the next meeting. Vice Chair Weise pointed out that when the document is finalized, it would be prepared in pamphlet style. Currently, there is nothing in the manual dealing with evacuation procedures and this will be discussed when the item appears on the agenda later. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills Chairman Magazine reported that he has not yet spoken to Deputy Chief Gale. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden reported that there have been no fire drills. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden pointed out that fire drills are not mandated by Code, but are recommended. Chairman Magazine suggested that some kind of language be put into the Safety Manual under "Fire and Emergency Procedures" to require at least one fire drill annually for City facilities. Mr. Mitchell inquired that if a Department moves, should they be required to hold a fire drill within a certain period of time? Chairman Magazine felt that this was a good idea and the Board should decide if they want to have a requirement to address this. Chairman Magazine suggested a drill should be held within 90 2 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 days of any move and that some type of language would be included in the final draft of the manual. B. "Proud to be a Safe Worker" Award None C. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Chairman Magazine distributed a matrix of the current safety inspections and meetings. Mr. Quinn stated that his Department's inspection was not included and Chairman Magazine said he would check on this. D. Defensive Driver Course Chairman Magazine announced that the courses for Friday and last week were cancelled due to a problem with the software. He is looking to change to another vendor because the data from previous testing cannot be converted to their system. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden inquired if new employees are required to take the course before they are allowed to drive a City vehicle and Chairman Magazine said this is not required because this procedure is impractical. It is anticipated that courses will begin again in May. The Police Department will not be scheduled to take the course until the fall. E. Safety Belt Use Project Team Members discussed when noticing City employees not wearing their seatbelts while driving City vehicles in the course of their employment, it should be reported to him. Mr. Quinn felt that employees were doing much better with wearing their seatbelts. Chairman Magazine requested if any employees are seen not wearing their seatbelts to write down the vehicle license number, date, time, and location and submit the information to him. It was pointed out that some of the larger trucks are not equipped with shoulder belts and only have lap belts. Chairman Magazine reported that through the ITS Department, hands-free equipment for cell phones is available. This is very important for City employees that drive a great deal to utilize this equipment. Vice Chair Weise stated that in the new Safety Manual, there is a provision in Paragraph 13 under Driving Rules and Regulations that states "Operator is not to initiate calls while vehicle/equipment is moving in traffic. For cell phones, hands free use only." 3 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 F. Incident Review Board Referrals None. G. Infection Control Policy Not discussed. H. SafetY Policies Review Previously reviewed I. Evacuation Planning Vice Chair Weise reported that in her conversation with Mr. Bill DeBeck, the current alarm system in City Hall is hardwired and to upgrade the system with a voice announcement component would be prohibitive in cost to the City. Facilities is in. the process of researching other systems where voice announcements could be incorporated at the time of installment with little or no extra costs. This is included in the Facilities budget for 2002/2003 and this year they are only looking at designs and costs. The Committee needs to consider whether it wants a standardized voice system for all municipal buildings. Currently, this system is in place at the Civic Center and Deputy Fire Chief Borden noted that the Fire Code requires it because the Civic Center is a place of assembly that has a capacity of 300 or more persons. Also, the system has been installed at the Senior Center and the Hester Center. Mr. Quinn said that when a facility is being upgraded the system should be included. Motion Ms. Mack moved that this Committee support the recommendation that all future renovations of City buildings require an up-grade of the fire system to include a voice-over system.. Motion seconded by Mr. Bobich and unanimously carried. Vice Chair Weise reported that Mr. Randy Northrop and Ms. Cathy McDeavitt from ITS are meeting with representatives of Bell South to determine the feasibility and the costs associated with purchasing new software that will enable the City to utilize a ring-down system. If it is possible, the next step would be to determine how it would be paid for. However, if it proves too costly, other methods will have to be looked at. If a ring-down system were put in place, any building on the phone extension list would have the capability of being connected. 4 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 Chairman Magazine noted that an engineering consultant has been hired to design the system and this will be included in the 2001/2002 budget. In budget year 2002/2003 it is anticipated that an RFP would go out to actually install the system selected. Ms. Mack inquired if the current fire alarm system could be used and Vice Chair Weise stated that the fire alarm system can only be used for fire evacuation. Vice Chair Weise said she would bring back any information she receives to the Committee. J. Certified Child Safety Seat Technicians (Weise) Vice Chair Weise reported that she spoke with Mr. Bressner regarding what this Committee had discussed at its last meeting about the shortage of technicians in order to keep the program going. Mr. Bressner expressed surprise that staff would request they be paid for volunteering, but Mr. Bressner made some suggestions on how to handle the situation. Mr. Bressner suggested that the Fire Department continue to administrate, coordinate and schedule the program and to look to volunteer pools, such as former fire and police graduates, to be trained as technicians. Also, Mr. Bressner suggested contacting other organizations to perform community service, such as the fire and police explorers. Deputy Fire Chief Borden said the age of this group is between 14 and 19 and Vice Chair Weise. said that anyone over the age of 18 would be eligible to participate. Mr. Bressner does not want to see the City lose this cooperative program with Wal-kMart and he would like the City to remain the facilitators of the program. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden reported that two new people would be taking the course on April 17th through April 20th at the Delray Fire Department. Chairman Magazine inquired what the cost of the course was and was told it was $50. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden said that he also would be taking the cOurse, along with the Administrative Assistant from the Fire Chief's Office. He felt that utilizing graduates from the Fire Academy would also be a good source for volunteers. Deputy Fire Marshal Borden reported that the Fire Department wants to stay involved in the program and will have four technicians available in the very near future. Vice Chair Weise requested that Deputy Fire Marshal Borden keep her apprised of the recruitment situation. Secondly, Vice Chair Weise recommended that Ms. Wendy Danysh be contacted to determine if graduates from the Police Academy could also be included. Discussion took place on how to pay for the volunteers that take the course and it might be feasible to determine if there are grants available for training. Meeting Minutes Safety COmmittee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 Defibrillators: Vice Chair Weise reported that she received a response from Jim Ness regarding grant money for AEDs. Chief Ness informed her that he has received funding for the purchase of 29 AEDs for the City and they will be distributed to the fire staff vehicles, the Library, the Senior Center, City Hall in the Mall and police cruisers. Chief Ness is continuing to seek funding sources and will keep Vice Chair Weise informed of his progress. Also, Ms. Debbie Majors, the City's Grant Coordinator, will also continue to look for funding sources. Currently there are no grant funds available to place AEDs in municipal buildings. However, if a Department wants to budget for one, this is always possible. Chairman Magazine noted that the Fire Department would be providing training and it will not be necessary to use outside instructors. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Other Mr. Quinn inquired about the boot vouchers. Chairman Magazine replied that he is waiting to get the new vouchers through the warehouse and then he will distribute them immediately. Chairman Magazine noted that one of the purposes of this Committee is to bring safety issues back to the departments. If anyone has any questions or issues with which you need assistance, please bring them to this Committee. Chairman Magazine suggested having open discussions at which time members can bring issues forward with which they need help. Vice Chair Weise said that she would like to have an ergonomic demonstration for her office and Chairman Magazine said he would follow through on this. Chairman Magazine noted that last year he did an ergonomic presentation for the Safety Coordinators and he has a presentation that he could bring to every department. Next discussed was the role of the safety coordinator within their departments. Chairman Magazine pointed out that the Department Head is responsible for the safety of all their employees and the safety coordinator reports directly to the Department Head on all safety issues. Vice Chair Weise pointed out that if there is a problem with the supervisor, they could ask the Department Head to speak with the supervisor. VII. Announcements Chairman Magazine distributed an updated flyer from the Palm Beach County Safety Council listing their April training courses. 6 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 9, 2001 Vice Chair Weise inquired when the City's Health Fair will take place and Ms. Mack said that it was scheduled for May. Chairman Magazine also noted that another safety fair that took place last year would probably be held again in June at the same place in Boca Raton. He will let everyone know in advance of the exact time and date. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, May 14, 2001 at 10:00 a.m. IX. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 11:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7