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Minutes 06-14-99 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1999 AT 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Wally Majors, Chairman Recreation Mark Bobich Utilities Administration & EWTP Bob Borden Fire Rescue A. D. Henehan, Jr. Library Bob Lee Public Works Dorothy Mack Human Resources Barbara Madden City Clerk’s Office Chuck Magazine, Vice Chair Risk Management Mike Rumpf Planning & Development Sharon Tierney ITS ABSENT David Egnor Police Tony Frazier Finance/Warehouse Chris Gamble Golf Course Hugh McCaffrey Communications Eugene Ruffolo Utilities WWTP Norman Turner Parks I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Majors 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 MAY 10, 1999 REGULAR MEETING Chairman Majors asked if the members had an opportunity to review the minutes of the May 10, 1999 meeting. Chairman Majors called for a motion to approve the minutes. Motion Vice Chair Magazine moved to approve the minutes of the May 10, 1999 meeting. Motion seconded by Mr. Bobich. Motion unanimously carried. MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 IV. SAFETY COMMITTEE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM: “presented by Mark Bobich Safety Awareness”, Members viewed the video on Safety Awareness, which was furnished by Mr. Mark Bobich. Mr. Bobich noted that safety is everybody’s responsibility. After viewing the video, Mr. Bobich stated that the video is available to any Department that would like their staff to view it. Mr. Bobich stated that there is a great deal of videos available for viewing and the Safety Council also has videos available. Deputy Fire Chief Borden said the video just viewed was excellent and he would like to borrow it for viewing with his staff. Vice Chair Magazine said he also has lots of videos available. Vice Chair Magazine said he has purchased an ergonomics power point presentation and said he plans to give the presentation to various departments. Chairman Majors thanked Mr. Bobich for his presentation. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills Assistant Fire Marshal Borden informed members that he has been directed by the Fire Marshal that if any Department Director or Safety Coordinator wants to conduct a fire drill, they should arrange for it themselves. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that once a Department holds a fire drill, if there are any questions or problems, they should feel free to contact the Fire Department for assistance. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that upon request, they do hold unannounced fire drills. Also upon request, unannounced alarms that would initiate an emergency evacuation can be scheduled. Vice Chair Magazine noted that only the Fire Department is allowed to reset the panels. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said that if any fire drills are held in-house, a report must be sent to the Fire Department. Vice Chair Magazine requested that Assistant Fire Marshal Borden furnish him with the appropriate report that needs to be completed so that it can be made available on the share drive. Mr. Rumpf inquired if a Department holds a fire drill who would be responsible for triggering the alarm and Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that the Department could trigger the alarm from the panel or from a pull station. However, there must be 2 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 someone on site to reset the panel and the pull station. Discussion ensued on who should be in charge of arranging the fire drills. Some members were under the impression that this was always done through the Fire Department. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said that is not the case. Vice Chair Magazine said he had a copy of the memo from Deputy Chief Gale to Bill DeBeck regarding enforcement of the fire code, which resulted from the renovations that were done on the first floor in the Recreation Department and Human Resources. Vice Chair Magazine requested the Recording Secretary place the memo on record. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that the Fire Department has been ignored by City Facilities over the years. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said that the Fire Department informs residents and businesses throughout the City of existing fire code violations and tells them to correct the violations within a certain timeframe. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden noted during the renovations that took place at the Recreation Department and Human Resources, wiring was hanging out everywhere. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that at this very moment there are violations in the plans review room of the Building Department due to renovations. Mr. Rumpf pointed out that there are violations at City Hall including the dumpster, which sits out in the parking lot, which is in violation of the City code. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden also mentioned that the wrought iron fencing recently installed around City Hall was installed without the Fire Department ever seeing the plans. Mr. Henehan inquired who is responsible for making these decisions and was informed it was Facilities Management. Vice Chair Magazine said on many occasions Facilities Management will contract the work out to outside companies and the outside companies assume that the City has taken care of all the permits. However, that usually isn’t the case. Vice Chair Magazine inquired what would prevent the City from stopping the work being done in the Building Department. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that would be the safest way to go, however it would also stop the work. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden noted that people could still work in the building and only the area being renovated needs to be closed off to personnel. Chairman Majors asked Vice Chair Magazine to follow through on this and determine if there is a process that should be followed for making internal renovations. Vice Chair Magazine said that the City is supposed to follow the same procedures that any outside company has to follow. Vice Chair Magazine stated that all projects have to go through Facilities Management to initiate the plans. Vice Chair Magazine said this is an issue between Facilities, the Fire Department and the Building Department. 3 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 Chairman Majors stated that this Safety Committee should consider putting something on the record that the Safety Committee is concerned about the lack of compliance by the City. It was also noted that there were no illuminated exit signs in this very Conference Room, which are required in the event of a power failure. It is a requirement that there be self-illuminated exit signs by the doors. Mr. Henehan stated that this is the City Safety Committee and the Committee should go on record noting that there is a citywide problem and if this is a serious problem, the Committee needs to take a stand on it. Vice Chair Magazine suggested that the Committee could send a memo to Deputy Fire Chief Gale requesting that the Committee be advised on these issues. After discussion, it was determined that Vice Chair Magazine would prepare a memo for signature by Chairman Majors to Deputy Fire Chief Gale and Chief Bingham requesting that they keep this Committee apprised of anything that happens in this area. B. Safety Newsletter Vice Chair Magazine stated he is continually looking for articles. Vice Chair Magazine said that the most popular column in the newsletter are the recipes. C. “Proud to be a Safe Worker” Awards None D. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Chairman Majors inquired if the inspections and safety meetings have improved. Vice Chair Magazine said that there has been some improvement. Vice Chair Magazine distributed the most recent matrix of the inspections and meetings to the members. Vice Chair Magazine again stated that if a department is an administrative department, they only need to hold safety meetings and inspections on a quarterly basis and the safety meetings can be incorporated into the Department’s regular staff or team meeting. E. Safe Driver Program 1. Defensive Driver Course 4 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 Vice Chair Magazine said he will be scheduling some additional programs. Vice Chair Magazine also noted that originally it was proposed that “A Safety First City” sticker be prepared which would include the telephone number of the City’s Citizen’s Action Center on the sticker. However, Vice Chair Magazine noted that there has been a significant drop in the City’s preventable accidents based upon the defensive driver course and questioned if it was still necessary to put stickers on City vehicle bumpers. Mr. Henehan asked what a “significant drop” represented and Vice Chair Magazine said there has been a 40% drop. Mr. Henehan felt that if the stickers would help in making the drop in accidents even better, the City should incorporate the use of bumper stickers. Vice Chair Magazine said he would determine if the Citizen’s Action Center would want their telephone number on the stickers. Vice Chair Magazine said that the “how is my driving program” was a total failure. This program cost $5,000, but by not renewing it, the City saved $5,000. It was noted that the defensive driving course is available to every City employee. Vice Chair Magazine said that as soon as he schedules the program, he would notify all the Safety Coordinators of the dates. Chairman Majors inquired how often should the course be taken, and Vice Chair Magazine stated once every three years. F. Hazardous Communication Project Team Ms. Tierney reported that ITS made this into a project assignment and they are looking into the prices of purchasing the program. Mr. Bobich inquired about the disk that he had provided and Vice Chair Magazine stated it was a stand-alone copy and could not be utilized for the entire City. Ms. Tierney indicated that the new program could cost up to $2,000 and ITS will be determining who would be paying for it. Vice Chair Magazine informed members that the program is for MSDA sheets that would be available to everyone on the City’s network, which would eliminate the need for all the books and updates. G. Safety Belt Use Project Team Vice Chair Magazine stated that the City’s Standard Operating Guidelines are in effect as follows: ? First offense is a written reprimand, ? Second offense is suspension, and ? Third offense is termination. 5 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 Also, Vice Chair Magazine stated if any employee is injured while not wearing a seat belt, there will be a 25% decrease in wage-replacement benefits, which is allowable by State Statute. However, the medical would continue to be completely covered. Vice Chair Magazine said there are two exceptions to the seatbelt policy. The first is if an employee receives a statement from his doctor that says for medical reasons the employee does not have to wear a seatbelt. The second exception applies to employees who are operating residential, solid-waste or recyclable collection services vehicles. Vice Chair Magazine said that he has pens for distribution, which have inscribed on them “don’t drink and drive”, although the pens were originally supposed to be imprinted with “wear your seatbelt”. H. Incident Review Board Referral 1. Oceanfront Park Boardwalk Slip and Fall Risks Vice Chair Magazine inquired about the status of the painting and Chairman Majors indicated that Mr. Evans painted a certain portion of the boardwalk and to date it has been working fine. Chairman Majors stated he would have Mr. Evans give an update to the Committee at the next meeting. VI. NEW BUSINESS Vice Chair Magazine referred members to the information on fluid leaks in their packets. Vice Chair Magazine stated that last week he made a presentation before the Palm Beach County Chapter of RIMS (Risk Insurance Management Society) on the City’s Safety Awards and Safety Awareness Program. Vice Chair Magazine said that Boynton Beach is now known as one of the leaders of safety in the area and continues to receive calls from other municipalities. Vice Chair Magazine said he continues to include in his budget funds for handouts, which have proved to be very successful. Vice Chair Magazine said he would be going to various City locations to distribute the safety handouts. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Vice Chair Magazine referred to the list of courses that are available from the Palm Beach County Safety Council for June and July. 6 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 14, 1999 Chairman Majors announced that at the last City Commission meeting Mayor Broening proclaimed that June is “Safety: It’s a Way of Life” Month and presented the signed Proclamation to be placed in the record. Vice Chair Magazine announced that District X Local Emergency Planning Committee would be holding three workshops. VIII. NEXT MEETING DATE: MONDAY, JULY 12, 1999 AT 10:00 A.M. IX. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Majors called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion Mr. Bobich moved that the meeting adjourn. Motion seconded by Vice Chair Magazine. The meeting properly adjourned at 11:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _________________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7