Loading...
Minutes 09-11-06 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 AT 10:00 A.M., IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Mark Bobich, Chair Chuck Magazine, Vice Chair Catherine Cherry-Guberman Chris Mitchell Tim Calhoun Rodney Vicki Dorothy Mack Glendon Morgan Barbara Scott John Bebensee Karen Abramson Eric Falstad Leslie Rogers Utilities Risk Management City Clerk Development Public Works Finance/Warehouse Human Resources ITS Police/Code Compliance Recreation and Parks Library Golf Course Communications Absent: Mike Landress Carisse Lejeune Fire Rescue City Manager I. Call to Order Chair Bobich called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. III. Acceptance of Minutes of 08-14-06 Regular Meeting Motion A motion was made by Vice Chair Magazine to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Calhoun seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program - "Fire Drill Training" There was no report given. v. Unfinished Business Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL September 11, 2006 A. Fire Drills Vice Chair Magazine reported Mr. Ray Altman of Fire/Safety will be the Safety Coordinator, with Mike Landress as the Alternate. Mr. Altman would also conduct the training sessions, but was unable to attend today's meeting. Accordingly, there was no report given. B. Proud to be a Safe Worker Awards Chair Bobich announced he had two employees who should be recognized. He left the Safe Worker awards at the Utilities Department, but would recognize the employees at the next meeting. C. Departmental Inspections &. Safety Meetings Vice Chair Magazine requested sending him the dates of when each department conducts their inspections and safety meetings so he could attend. The forms for the reports/inspections are on the shared drive. D. Defensive Driver Course Vice Chair Magazine announced the Defensive Driver Course still has dates open for employees needing to take the course. Passing the course was mandatory for all employees using City vehicles or their personal vehicles for City business. The course needs to be taken once every three years and is available in English. It is the department's responsibility to send an interpreter for those employees speaking Creole or Spanish who need assistance with translation. E. Incident Review Board Referrals There were no incidents reported. F. Lightning Detection Policy Vice Chair Magazine announced he would be meeting with the golf course personnel regarding their Lightning Detection Policy and had already met with the beach. It was requested the golf course forward the final version of the policy to him for review at the next meeting. G. Safety Footwear Review for Fire and Life Safety employees. Vice Chair Magazine announced the fire and life/safety employees do not receive safety footwear as part of their uniform. If they are members of the blue or white-collar union, they will receive the union allowance; otherwise they would receive reimbursement of up to $90 per pair of shoe. At the last meeting, the issue of how new employees who begin work after the allowance would be given was discussed. The Finance Department would be working with the Human Resource Department to prorate the amount. 2 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL September 11,2006 The blue and white-collar position list would be updated for the upcoming 06/07 fiscal years. Safety Coordinators would be receiving the forms again to complete, indicating the employee and their position. Individuals not in the union must bring in the receipts for their shoe purchases in order to receive the reimbursement. A checklist, which is contained on the shared drive, would be distributed to the Safety Committee to determine whether the shoes meet the criteria for safety footwear. In the past, Vice Chair Magazine had received reports of employees purchasing tennis shoes as opposed to steel-toed footwear. If the employee required to wear safety shoes does not wear the approved safety footwear, their wage replacement could be reduced by 25% according to State Law. Vice Chair Magazine urged the Committee to make sure the affected employees purchased the appropriate shoes. Mr. Falstad asked whether new employees would have to wait until the Safety Coordinator notified the Committee they had new employees and they need safety shoes. Vice Chair Magazine clarified blue-collar and white-collar workers would get an allowance but it would be a prorated allowance based upon how long it would be until they received the next allowance. For example, if the new employee begins six months before, it would be prorated in half. If the employee was not a union member, when they make their purchase they need to bring in the receipt and then they will get reimbursed without any prorating. Mr. Calhoun indicated he has three new blue-collar employees starting on Monday. Vice Chair Magazine indicated they would receive prorated monies. He referred Mr. Falstad to Mr. Bobby Jenkins, from Finance. Chair Bobich reported Finance was working on a policy for this issue, and they requested a copy of the employees Employee Activity Report's (EAR's) showing their start dates so they could appropriately prorate. Forms and more information should be available by the next meeting. Vice Chair Magazine reminded the members to only put the blue and white-collar employees and more importantly, their job title/description on the list. Union employees that were not affected do not need to be placed on the list. VI. New Business A. Safety Manual Review Vice Chair Magazine distributed the Safety Manual. Each Safety Committee member was assigned a section to review and update as follows: Letter from City Manager Safety Program Responsibilities How to Manage Unsafe Conditions Specific Prohibited Acts Driving Rules and Regulations Procedures for Reporting Accidents, Damage to, and/or Breakdowns of Municipal Vehicles Safety Equipment Training Vice Chair Magazine to work with Mr. Bressner Vice Chair Magazine Vice Chair Magazine Chair Bobich Dorothy Mack Tim Calhoun Gwen Johnson/Communications John Bebensee Vice Chair Magazine 3 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL September 11,2006 Use of Hard Hats Accident, Injury & Incident Reporting On-the-Job Injury Procedures Operations in the Public Way Pedestrian Office Safety Computer Safety Ladders & Scaffolding Seasonal & Part-time Employees Safety & Driving Requirements Fire and Emergency Procedures The Florida Right to Know Law Chair Bobich Barbara Scott Vice Chair Magazine Mike Rumpf Catherine Cherry-Guberman Pam Welsh Glendon Morgan Eric Falstad Rodney Vicki Ray Altman Craig Clark Updates or changes can be sent to Vice Chair Magazine electronically or via hard copy. Chair Bobich and Vice Chair Magazine would be available to work with Committee members if they had any questions on their sections. Vice Chair Magazine also announced the Florida Right to Know Law is now a federal measure and he would get with the Library Representative on the issue. He invited the Committee to research any resources to develop corrections, changes or updates to the manual. B. Safety Motivator Distribution Vice Chair Magazine distributed a mini football to the Committee with the slogan "City of Boynton Beach, Risk Management, Safety is a Team Sport, Play it Safe." The items were to be distributed to employees who exhibit safe work practices. C. Departmental Safety Issues There was an incident at City Hall on Friday involving noxious odors causing people to go to the hospital or leaving work early. If there are any employees, at this point, who were still complaining of dizziness and want to file a Workers Compensation claim, the employee needs to contact Vice Chair Magazine who can send them to an authorized physician as opposed to the Emergency Room or their personal physicians. The odor was caused by roofers working when the smell permeated the buildings. Vice Chair Magazine indicated, to his knowledge, only one employee called in sick on September 11th. There was discussion that nobody knew what procedures were in place on how to proceed. Vice Chair Magazine reported the City Manager first decides whether the department directors could send employees home or keep the department open or closed. That decision has to come from the City Manager, and the members were reminded if an employee went home, an Incident Report needs to be submitted to Vice Chair Magazine. Going forward, when situations like this occur, department supervisors should contact the City Manager. On another matter, Mr. Calhoun asked Chair Bobich if Utility employees wear hardhats all the time. Chair Bobich responded they did not and advised if employees were in the right-of-way, some of the newer supervisors want the workers to wear the hats for visibility and protection. The same policy applied to the water plant employees. Utility employees do not wear hats when they operated the protective caged forklifts, excavators, or other equipment unless there are known hazards. Hats should be available in the event those employees assist 4 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, FL September 11, 2006 other workers. Chair Bobich indicated they were in the process of writing specific policies on what the dress specific needs for different areas were. The policy also spoke about colors used for visibility. Currently the City uses green City hats although at one point they were considering the color orange. Vice Chair Magazine stressed it was important all supervisors were made aware of all the Personal Protective Equipment needed for their employees. There was an incident where an employee got something in his eye and was not aware he was supposed to be wearing safety glasses, nor was he provided with them. However, the supervisor indicated he had plenty of safety glasses in the cabinet. The supervisor's responsibility is to make sure employees have the appropriate safety equipment and the employees are supplied with the equipment. Chair Bobich stressed employees need to take responsibility for their safety. If they need safety gear, they can ask for it. Conversely if a supervisor provides it to the employee, it is the employee's responsibility to wear the equipment and the supervisor needs to monitor the employees, and discipline them if they do not use the appropriate equipment. From a different perspective, adhering to the safety guidelines provides a good opportunity to receive a higher score on performance evaluations. The performance appraisals have criteria that specifies whether use and care of safety equipment, or City equipment is given. The appraisal also seeks to determine if the employee has a concern for the safety of others and whether they take care of their own safety. No other safety issues were discussed. VII. Announcements Mr. Falstad announced the golf course has a new Alternate Member. David Bailey has replaced Jim Dougherty. VIII. Next Meeting Date: October 10, 2006 IX. Adjournment There was no further business. Motion Mr. Falstad moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Bebensee. Motion unanimously passed. Meeting adjourned at 10:37 a.m. Respectfully submitted, /11 Catherine C erry-Guberman Recording Secretary 091106 5