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Minutes 05-12-03MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, 100 EAST BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MAY 12, 2003 AT 10:00 A.M. Present Tom Balfe, Chairman Parks Charlie Crawford for John Bebensee, Vice Chair Recreation Mark Bobich Utilities Susan Collins (for Barbara Madden, Secretary) City Clerk Bill Coup Library Glenda Hall Public Works Dorothy Mack Human Resources Chuck Magazine Risk Management Glendon Morgan ITS Mike Rumpf Development Barbara Scott Police Tim Valentine Fire/EMS Eric Falstand Golf Course Carisse Weise City Manager Absent Brenda Levant Communications Dorothy Mack Human Resources I. Call to Order Chairman Balfe called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. II. Roll Call The Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. Motion III. Acceptance of Minutes of April 14, 2003 Regular Meeting Mr. Magazine commented that on page 2 under "Proud to be a Safe Worker Awards," Boat Club should be changed to Oceanfront and in the list of attendees, Ms. Collins' name should be followed by (for Barbara Madden, Secretary). Ms. Madden's name should be removed from the Absent section. On page 3, second paragraph, the word "entities" should be changed to "visitors." Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2003 Motion Mr. Coup moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Weise seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program Not addressed. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills There were no fire drills during the last month. B. "Proud to be a Safe Worker Awards" Mr. Bobich gave a Safe Worker Award to Mr. Jim Burt of the Utilities Department for his action in stopping to investigate a man who was lying in the roadway on Federal Highway. Mr. Burt telephoned the Utilities Department and asked that someone call 911. The man on the ground stated that he was waiting for a bus and offered no explanation about his condition, including a bloody shoulder. Another motorist who had stopped to assist flagged down a bus, which the man boarded. Mr. Burt again telephoned Utilities to cancel the 911 call. C. Departmental Inspections and Safety Meetings (C. Magazine) Mr. Magazine distributed a log of safety meetings that had been held in the City, which showed that a number of departments had not held any meetings. Chairman Balfe commented that the statistics were not good and asked the Safety Committee members to think of ways to increase departmental participation. This topic will be put on the agenda for the June meeting. D. Defensive Driver Course (C. Magazine) Mr. Magazine reported that this program was temporarily suspended due to difficulties with the current software. Mr. Magazine found an alternative to the current program and stated that the new software would be installed and operational in the next 30 to 60 days, at which time the program would resume. E. Incident Review Board Referrals (C. Magazine) Mr. Magazine reported that there had not been any referrals. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2003 VI. New Business A. Departmental Safety Issues No one raised any issues for discussion. B. Other Discussion of New Gloves Mr. Bobich stated that some of the heavy equipment operators and mechanics had expressed a need for gloves that would protect their hands but allow greater dexterity and tactile ability than the basic leather gloves currently available in the warehouse. The point was made that when gloves do not provide enough tactile sense in certain operations, people tend to take the gloves off. Mr. Bobich displayed some gloves with padded knuckles that were durable, would provide protection for hands, and would allow more flexibility and dexterity than the current gloves. The gloves were expensive at $37.00 each retail, but not everyone would need them. Mr. Bobich had prepared a list of the job descriptions where he thought the glove would be applicable and offered to share it. He thought that the gloves could be made available through a supervisor's approval only. Mr. DeMauro thought that the glove vendors should present some samples for evaluation and offered to arrange for a vendor presentation at the Safety Committee meeting in June. He did not believe that employees should be able to order any glove they wished, regardless of what type of work they would be doing. On the other hand, he felt that if a particular glove could enhance hand safety, it should be stocked. Mr. Magazine noted that an individual would not be able to go out and purchase the gloves, but would have to obtain them through the Warehouse. Mr. Magazine suggested looking at the job descriptions listed in the Safety Manual and adding certain job descriptions to it so that it would be a matter of record, and not at the discretion of management. Ms. Hall remarked that at the present time, none of the gloves that are available in the Warehouse meet the requirements for people operating the wood chipper. She also commented that gloves should be available for hands of different sizes for true hand safety. Mr. Valentine discussed the utility of the gloves Mr. Bobich presented, saying that they would be very useful for the driver/engineers in the Fire Department because they offered so much more flexibility than the current Fire gloves. He acknowledged that they did not have a fire rating. 3 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2003 C. Discussion of Safety Eyewear Chairman Balfe stated that the Committee had to make a determination about whether workers would be allowed to continue wearing previously -issued safety eyewear until that eyewear needed replacement or be required to turn in all eyewear that did not meet the current standard. Chair Balfe believed that many departments had already turned in the old style safety eyewear and he had been telling everyone to turn the old style eyewear in for credit at the Warehouse. Ms. Weise confirmed that the new style was an improvement over the old style in terms of impact. Although the old style met ANSI standards also, the new style offered more protection and better safety features. She asked about liability issues if a person were to be injured while using the old style. Mr. Magazine stated that there would not necessarily be any liability since Workman's Compensation was a "no fault" system. Since the old style met ANSI standards, Ms. Weise did not understand why people could not continue to use the old style until they needed replacement. Mr. Magazine clarified that the old style met the ANSI standards for impact but that the new style provided better eye protection and were anti -fog. The old style glasses still meet the ANSI standard but not the standard set by the Safety Committee. There was consensus on the point that safety should not be compromised. Mr. DeMauro felt that consistency was important and that since the Safety Committee had issued its recommendation on new safety eyewear, that people should be required to purchase it. He also stated that people had to budget for new safety glasses every year anyway. He did not feel that the new style glasses cost that much more than the old ones. Ms. Hall stated that many departments would have to wait until the next budget cycle to purchase the new eyewear. Some felt that budget transfers could be made to handle this but Ms. Hall stated that her safety budget had been cut way down and that if she had to offer the new gloves, for example, she might not be able to do it this year with the reduced budget. With purchasing the new style glasses and goggles, her safety budget was down to just a few dollars. After considerable discussion, it was felt that the Building Department's reluctance to make a change was an issue and Mr. Rumpf offered to look into the matter. He also asked for another month so that he could look at the different glasses and make a determination about them. There was at least some consensus on the Committee to defer mandating using the new eyewear until November, so that departments could use money from the new budget. 0 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2003 Ms. Hall commented that the workers were getting more dust and dirt coming up from underneath their glasses with the new style than they did with the previous ones. Mr. Magazine thought that they might need goggles instead of safety glasses. The safety glass item was tabled until the next meeting. Chairman Balfe requested that a deadline be set at the next meeting for the use of the new eyewear. VII. Announcements On Friday, May 16, 2003 at The Links on Jog Road, a Family Fun Night will be held. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, June 9, 2003 at 10:00 a.m. IX. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Committee, the meeting was duly adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (051203) 5