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Minutes 04-08-02MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2002 at 10:00 A.M. Present Carisse Weise, Chairperson Gina Barthelemy John Bebensee Bill Coup Gary Ezzell Eric Falstad Barbara Madden Chuck Magazine Tom McCabe Mike Rumpf Tina Smith Sharon Tierney Norm Turner Rod ney Vickey Kim Williams City Manager Human Resources Recreation Library UtilitiesANWTP Golf Course City Clerk's Office Risk Management Police Develop ment Utilities/EWTP ITS Public Works/Parks Finance/Warehouse Communications Absent Ron Rudy Fire I. Call to Order Chairperson Weise called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. II1. Acceptance of Minutes of March 11, 2002 Regular Meeting Motion Mr. Coup moved to accept the minutes of the March 11, 2002 meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Magazine and unanimously carried. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 8, 2002 IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program: Short Program: How to Write a Safety Policy (Magazine) Chairperson Weise announced that Mr. Magazine has put together a template to assist the Safety Coordinators in preparing their own departmental safety manuals. It is anticipated that each department will have their own safety manual in addition to the City's Safety Manual. The template is on the Shrdata Drive as noted on the bottom of page 2 of the form. Mr. Magazine reviewed the form and explained how to complete it. With regard to "References," if a department already utilizes other manuals and books for references, these should be listed on the form. With regard to "Procedures," Mr. Magazine stated that he used the Safety Manual table of contents. If you cannot think of a particular item that might be applicable to a procedure, you could simply state"reference City Safety Manual." The form that Mr. Magazine drafted is not mandatory and if a department wishes to utilize their own form, they may do so. The Departmental-Safety Policy must be dated and signed by the Department Director. Mr. Falstad inquired if it was necessary to list all the equipment and safety gear that a department is required to use. Chairperson Weise answered that if this is not stated already in your Departmental SOPs, then it must be listed. If this information is listed elsewhere in your department and is updated on a regular basis, it could be referenced. Chairperson Weise suggested that the Safety Coordinators consult with their Department Directors while preparing the safety manual. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills - No report B. "Proud to be a Safe Worker" Awards - None C. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings (Magazine) Mr. Magazine is in the process of updating the reports. D. Defensive Driver Course (Magazine) Mr. Magazine distributed the new schedule. If you want to determine if anyone in your department needs to take the course, please contact Risk Management. Risk Management maintains a list of employees and the dates that they took the course. The course is mandatory for City employees who either drive a City vehicle or their own personal vehicle on City business. The course must be taken Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 8, 2002 every three years. It is the Department's responsibility to make certain that their employees keep up-to-date with the City's driving requirements. E. Incident Review Board Referrals (Magazine) - None F. Wellness Program (Magazine) Mr. Magazine reported that the details are being finalized. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Policy Utilities Department (Smith) Chairperson Weise pointed out that this item had been discussed at previous meetings and Ms. Smith was requesting that the Board review it again. Ms. Smith said that she and her fellow employees don't feel it is necessary to wear hard hats when driving heavy equipment between job sites. Ms. Smith acknowledged that hard hats must be worn on the job, but not when driving equipment on the street. The heavy equipment that they operate cannot go any faster than 25 mph. Chairperson Weise asked Ms. Smith if she had an opportunity to look at other hard hats and she stated that she did. However, she couldn't find any other hard hat that would make much difference. She and her fellow employees decided to continue to wear what they have been wearing. Ms. Smith stated that they are required to wear hard hats on every job and they are always kept inside the equipment. Mr. Magazine inquired if the equipment had seat belts and Ms. Smith stated that all equipment had seat belts except for the Libear. Chairperson Weise pointed out that this topic has been the subject of several discussions and everyone present is familiar with the facts. She stated further that whatever action this Committee takes, it can always be overruled by the City Manager. Mr. Magazine pointed out that since the Libear has no seat belt, he felt that persons driving that equipment should be required to wear a hard hat. Ms. Smith pointed out that operators of the equipment have never worn hard hats while driving and only learned that it was required by attending the Safety Committee meetings. There have never been any incidents or accidents reported as the result of not wearing a hard hat in the cab. Chairperson Weise called for a vote to change the City's policy to make it non- mandatory to wear hard hats while driving heavy equipment between job sites, with the stipulation that a hard hat must be worn while driving the Libear. Chairperson Weise called for a show of hands. The motion carried 8-7. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 8, 2002 Mr. Magazine requested that the change in policy be included in the Utilities' Safety Policy to state that hard hats are required on the job site, but are not required while transporting the vehicle between job sites. Mr. Magazine will provide Ms. Smith with a copy of the original policy in order to make the necessary revisions. Chairperson Weise requested that the change in policy be approved by the Department Manager and then sent to Mr. Bressner and Mr. Magazine. Ms. Smith will follow through on this. Chairperson Weise reported that the Code Compliance Division had spoken to the City Manager and requested that safety shoes be a mandatory part of the Code Compliance Officers' uniforms. Mr. Bressner agreed to this. In order for the Code Compliance Officers to be reimbursed for their safety shoes, they must adhere to the requirements in the policy for safety shoes. Chairperson Weise called for a show of hands that the PPE Policy be changed to require that safety shoes become a part of the Code Compliance Officers' Uniforms. All members were in favor of this change. H. Departmental Safety Standard Operational Procedures (Weise) Addressed earlier. I. City Hall Evacuation Notification System (Weise) The policy and procedure have been prepared and are awaiting approval by Mr. Wilfred Hawkins. As soon as it is approved, Chairperson Weise will e-mail a copy to all Safety Committee members. When you receive it, please review the document. If you see something that affects your department, please contact Chairperson Weise. A final draft will be presented at the next Safety Committee meeting. The system is in place and is ready to be implemented. It is anticipated that a drill will be scheduled once the policy and procedure have been approved. J. Safety Committee Meeting Date - Proposed Change (Discussion) The Safety Coordinator for the Library has requested that the Committee consider changing the meeting date. At the prior meeting members were asked to check their schedules to determine if there are any other dates that the meeting could be held. Chairperson Weise inquired if there were any other members that wished to change the meeting date and there were none. Mr. Coup stated that the reason the Library requested the change was that Monday was the busiest morning of the week at the Library. Discussion ensued regarding other possible dates, but it was determined that Monday mornings were still the best. Chairperson Weise will report the Committee's action to Mr. Hawkins and request that he speak with Ms. Farace. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL April 8, 2002 VI. New Business VII. A. Departmental Safety Issues - None B. Other- None Announce ments Mr. Magazine announced the wo Council for the month of April. A scheduled for today and tomor conducted by the Florida Partne~ County Safety Council is also sp( and if anyone is interested in att~ Mr. Magazine stated if the maintel he would make arrangements to more employees could attend. Mr. Rumpf reported that Don Jol · kshops scheduled by the Palm Beach Safety workshop on maintenance of traffic training is row in Palm Beach Gardens and is being ship of Safety and Health. The Palm Beach ~nsoring a similar program on May 9th and 10th ~nding, they should contact Risk Management. lance of traffic training course were successful, ~ave the course conducted in the City so that nson would like to have his inspectors attend the dog bite prevention worksho ), but his crew is unable to attend the training during working hours. Mr. Rum )f inquired if the course could be offered during the lunch hour. Mr. Magazine stated that the workshop is four hours long and currently, the only class scheduled is on April 30th from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Chairperson Weise announced that if any member completes their departmental safety procedure manual, to feel free to bring it to a meeting to be reviewed by the members. She reiterated that it should first be reviewed by the department head. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, May 13, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) (April 11, 2002)