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Minutes 11-08-99 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN WEST WING, CONFERENCE ROOM C, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1999 AT 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Chuck Magazine, Chairman Risk Management Bob Borden Fire Rescue (arrived at 10:15) Bill Coup Library Wendy Danysh Police Department Bob Lee Public Works Barbara Madden City Clerk’s Office Wally Majors Recreation Hugh McCaffrey Communications Chris Mitchell Planning & Development Eugene Ruffolo Utilities WWTP Jeanette Taylor Human Resources Sharon Tierney ITS Norman Turner Parks ABSENT Dan Nobile Finance/Warehouse Eric Falstad Golf Course Tony Frazier Finance/Warehouse I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Magazine called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. II.ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was declared present. III. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 11, 1999 REGULAR MEETING Chairman Magazine said that Mr. Bobich requested that a change be made on Page 2, Item V of the October 11, 1999 minutes, by deleting the word “eliminate” and substituting the word “reduce” in the second sentence of the first paragraph. Motion Mr. Majors moved to accept the minutes of the October 11, 1999 meeting, as amended. Motion seconded by Ms. Taylor. Motion unanimously carried. MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program Chairman Magazine announced that there will be a training video for next month’s meeting on inspections, which he just received from the League of Cities. Chairman Magazine distributed new Safety Monthly Planners for the year 2000 to members and noted there is a great deal of information available in the planner on various safety topics. These will be very useful for Departmental Safety Meetings. Chairman Magazine said that during the next quarter, staff will be looking at three areas that need training programs, which will be based upon frequency and severity of injuries. A computer based training program will be produced for that specific department using employees of the department. This is the year of training for the City, since it has been felt that the City has reached a plateau. Unfortunately, incidents still are occurring within the City. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills It was noted that the fire alarm at City Hall went off recently and this was not a fire drill. The question was asked why no fire trucks responded to the alarm and only one medical emergency vehicle showed up. Chairman Magazine said that dispatch sends a fire truck and he will follow through on this. Chairman Magazine said that the Departments must conduct fire drills and the decision was made that the Departments, i.e. the Safety Coordinators must initiate the fire drills. The Safety Coordinator is the first in line for being responsible for safety in the Department. The Supervisors are responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintaining a safe work environment. Ms. Danysh asked how often these drills should take place and Chairman Magazine stated at least annually. The Fire Department will be able to offer you assistance. Also, it is important that dispatch be notified that a fire drill is being scheduled, so they won’t think it is a real fire. B. Safety Newsletter Chairman Magazine noted that Wendy Danysh is now the columnist from the Police Department. (At this time, Assistant Fire Marshal Bob Borden arrived at the meeting.) 2 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 Chairman Magazine asked Assistant Fire Marshal Borden if he had anything to report and he said he did not. He confirmed with Assistant Fire Marshal Borden that fire drills are to be held on an annual basis. Chairman Magazine inquired why the fire trucks did not show up at City Hall last week when the fire alarms went off. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated the only reason a rescue squad would show up without a fire engine is if they received information that it was a system malfunction and no smoke. Chairman Magazine said he was the first person to check the panel and he did not report to anyone until the rescue squad showed up. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said it was possible that when the rescue squad truck arrived and determined there was no smoke, they could have called in to cancel the truck. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden reported that the Fire Department will begin initiating drills. C. “Proud to be a Safe Worker” Awards None D. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Chairman Magazine apologized to the members for not bringing the latest reports and will email them to everyone this afternoon. He noted that a lot of departments are not having meetings or inspections. Whenever any type of staff meeting is held, a safety meeting could be held at the same time and it is not necessary to hold a separate safety meeting. Documentation of the meetings need to be forwarded to Risk Management. E. Defensive Driver Course Chairman Magazine reported that two dates have been scheduled for this month. One th is taking place at this time and the other is scheduled for Monday, November 29. It appears that afternoon classes are not very popular. Either no one signs up or no one shows up. From now on, only morning classes will be scheduled. F. Safety Belt Use Project Team The Safety Belt Use Project Team is still in existence because the goal of 80% has not been reached. More people will be disciplined and there is discussion with the Union on how employees can be disciplined. The Standard Operating Guidelines that was signed by the City Manager states: First offense - Written reprimand Second offense - Suspension 3 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 Third offense - Termination The union says that the City has to go through the process that is in the PPM, which is progressive discipline. If any one on this Board sees any City employee driving without a seatbelt, take down the vehicle I.D. number and turn it into Risk Management and notify the appropriate Department head. If we don’t get serious about this, somebody is going to get seriously hurt. It is the supervisor’s responsibility that their employees wear their seatbelts. Chairman Magazine said he would like to see it implemented that if employees are driving around without their seatbelt, this means their supervisor is doing his job, and the supervisor should receive the same disciplinary action that the employee receives. There was an incident at the entranceway to Public Works on Friday, but it was not a City vehicle. A girl was driving in and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and hit the windshield. She was taken to the hospital, although the injuries were not serious. G. Incident Review Board Referral 1. Oceanfront Park Boardwalk Slip and Fall Risks Mr. Majors said that no work has begun yet on the boardwalk. Mr. George Mantel said he would be getting a piece of equipment for roads and streets, which can be used on concrete to groove them for more traction and water runoff. This same method will be tested out at the Boardwalk to see if that will work. Unfortunately, the company that guaranteed that their paint would last for five years, only lasted three months and peeled off. At the last meeting discussion took place regarding the lighting in the parking lot on the City’s Seacrest Avenue and Ocean Avenue lot, on the northeast corner. Chairman Magazine said he checked to determine if there was lighting in the lot and said a light was on and there was plenty of light. H. Safety Manual Review Chairman Magazine inquired if members had an opportunity to review the first few chapters and asked if anyone had any changes they would like to recommend? Chairman Magazine said that this needs to be updated every year. He had one additional item that he was going to add on hazardous materials. He would also like to have the Manual available for January for all City employees. Chairman Magazine requested that members review the entire manual prior to the next meeting and be prepared to make any recommendations or changes. 4 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 VII. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Coup reported an incident that occurred during Hurricane Irene when a woman who nd was driving on SE 2 Avenue after the hurricane went through, she noticed a line down that extended over several vehicles. Also, there was standing water. This woman went to City Hall to report this and approached the Clerk. The woman told the Clerk the story and informed the Clerk where the line was located. The only thing the Clerk said was o.k., we’ll call somebody. She said the Clerk did not thank her for stopping in and reporting this. Mr. Coup said this is a poor way to get cooperation from the public. Chairman Magazine said the City needs to improve its customer service and noted on many occasions it appears like an intrusion when someone calls City Hall and the Clerk has to answer the phone. He said that whenever you call the Golf Course, you always get a cheery response. Chairman Magazine said it is important that everyone take the time to thank people for calling in and reporting things. Mr. Mitchell said that the public needs to be aware of who they should contact in situations like this and that this was not something that should be reported to City Hall. Mr. Mitchell suggested that some type of booklet be prepared for use in these types of situations. Mr. Coup said that there should be someone in City Hall that can deal with these incidents as well and should know who to contact. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden noted that this lady was traveling on the road and noticed a downed power line and was trying to take care of it as soon as she could and went to a central location of the City, which seemed like the likeliest place to report the problem. The person who took the complaint should have immediately contacted dispatch to show the person who reported this that they were taking some action immediately. Ms. Danysh said it was unfortunate that this person had to deal with a non-professional, disinterested Clerk. It was suggested that the Supervisor for Customer Service should meet with the clerical help on a monthly basis and review these types of situations. The clerks should be provided with a list of phone numbers that could be called to report these incidents and should know how to handle these types of situations. Chairman Magazine said he would speak with Robin Butler about this. A. Other Mr. Bobich asked Chairman Magazine to report that there have been a number of incidents where people are trying to lift up manhole covers. Mr. Ruffolo said that they are now tacking the manhole covers down, because people are putting all kinds of debris in them. Chairman Magazine noted that there are City policies already in place regarding manhole covers, which is outlined in a September 21, 1995 memo to John A. 5 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 Guidry (a copy of which is included with the original minutes). Also included with the minutes is a copy of a memorandum from John Guidry to Bob Lee dated August 26, 1992 regarding Force Main Shut Down. Also, Chairman Magazine noted that when Incident Report Forms are completed there is commonly the notation “OJT”. This stands “for on the job training”. If this were the case, there has to be something to show that it was a training program and that person passed it. It was suggested that there be a training class to teach people how to investigate accidents. Chairman Magazine said that the person to investigate an accident is the first line supervisor who knows the most about that job. Chairman Magazine reminded members that a form was devised for this purpose (Form #105) and this committee reviewed it a couple months ago. These forms are available and they are also on the city’s network. If you follow that form, that is basically the investigation. He said that if it was necessary, he could put together a class. However, if the form is followed, it should not be necessary. Mr. Lee inquired if Risk Management planned to add staff to go out and do these investigations? Chairman Magazine said he will be going out and doing more of this himself and has no plans to hire anyone. He said basically, this is the function of the department. People who are actually doing the work know more about it than the Department Heads and the senior staff. Chairman Magazine said he would like to put together a behavioral management program this coming year. Chairman Magazine inquired if all members have gone through the sexual harassment training. Ms. Danysh said she spoke with an Attorney who does a lot of the City’s training and he stated that the in-house training the City is undertaking would not stand up in court. He will be forwarding information to her and he has scheduled classes in December, which Ms. Danysh hopes to attend. Vice Chair Magazine felt that when situations like sexual harassment are discussed, a lawyer is needed and people need to be shown that there are court cases out there. Chairman Magazine pointed out that if an employee shows a joke or cartoon from email or from a newspaper and somebody takes offense to that and says don't show me that anymore, you have been put on notice and if you do it again, it is harassment. It was noted that employees just recently completed violence in the workplace training and it is important the employees take this training seriously. VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA November 8, 1999 None X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 11:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden ________________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7