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Minutes 05-10-99 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, MAY 10, 1999 AT 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Wally Majors, Chairman Recreation Mark Bobich Utilities Administration & EWTP Bob Borden Fire Rescue David Egnor Police Tony Frazier Finance/Warehouse Chris Gamble Golf Course A. D. Henehan, Jr. Library Bob Lee Public Works Barbara Madden City Clerk’s Office Chuck Magazine, Vice Chair Risk Management Hugh McCaffrey Communications Eugene Ruffolo Utilities WWTP Norman Turner Parks ABSENT Dorothy Mack Human Resources Mike Rumpf Planning & Development Sharon Tierney ITS I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Majors called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. II.ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was declared present. III. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF APRIL 12, 1999 REGULAR MEETING Chairman Majors asked if the members had an opportunity to review the minutes of the April 12, 1999 meeting. Chairman Majors called for a motion to approve the minutes. MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 Motion Mr. McCaffrey moved that the Minutes of the April 12, 1999 meeting be approved. Motion seconded by Mr. Ruffolo. Motion unanimously carried. IV. SAFETY COMMITTEE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM. Vice Chair Magazine said there were posters available to members for display. Vice Chair Magazine requested that members pick up the posters at the conclusion of the meeting and stated that the Florida League of Cities distributed the posters at no cost. Vice Chair Magazine reminded members that the posters had to go in a frame or on a bulletin board; they could not be posted on the walls. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said there have been no fire drills held since the last meeting. Vice Chair Magazine asked if there would be any unannounced fire drills, since the Safety Coordinators have not requested that any fire drills be held. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said he would follow through with this. B. Safety Newsletter Vice Chair Magazine said he continues to look for articles for inclusion in the Safety Newsletter. Vice Chair thanked Bob Lee, Assistant Fire Marshal Borden and David Egnor for regularly providing information for the Newsletter. Mr. Lee asked if there was a cut off date for submission of articles. Vice Chair Magazine said the newsletter is distributed with the paychecks on the first Friday of the month. C. “Proud to be a Safe Worker” Awards None D. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Vice Chair Magazine distributed an up-dated matrix of the inspections and meetings. Vice Chair Magazine said that a great many departments have had no meetings or inspections. Vice Chair Magazine reviewed the various departments that have held no meetings. Vice Chair Magazine said that when departments hold business area team 2 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 meetings or leadership team meetings, safety meetings could be held at the same meeting. Vice Chair Magazine said that during fiscal year 1999/2000, Risk Management will put together all the figures and costs of the claims that have been filed with the City. Staff will be reviewing these numbers and will be developing a formula to be provided to the department heads. Each department will be billed back an insurance premium based upon the department’s history of claims. What this means is that each department will be buying insurance from Risk Management and Risk Management will set the premium based upon each department’s claims. Therefore, the department that has the most motor vehicle accidents and worker comp claims will be paying the largest portions of the insurance. Vice Chair Magazine said this procedure would be instituted in fiscal year 2000/2001. Vice Chair Magazine said departments need to start good safety practices and programs to begin reducing claims. During the next fiscal year all departments will be given an opportunity to reduce their claims. There will be a presentation before the end of the year for the department heads. Vice Chair Magazine, using the Police Department as an example, said that the Police Department has a great many worker comp claims for minor injuries. Most of these injuries do not result in lost time, but do result in medical expenses when police officers are taking down a suspect. Sgt. Egnor said that there is absolutely no way to determine how to take down a suspect and it is not possible to predict how everyone would move. Vice Chair Magazine stated that the Palm Beach Post had an article yesterday that ranked Boynton Beach third in the area, whereas the Cities of Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach were lower than Boynton Beach. Also, Vice Chair Magazine said that the rate of accidents in the Sanitation Department is getting better, but there are still quite a few accidents. Mr. Ruffolo inquired about the method that Departments would have to pay for the insurance. Vice Chair Magazine said the funds are in the City budget and it is directly allocated to Risk Management at the present time. However, it is intended that the money would be allocated to the Departments, and the allocation will be determined by the City Manager’s Office. Vice Chair Magazine said the money would come out of his Department and would go into the General Fund. Mr. Lee said that his new fleet system requires charge backs and part of the charge backs will include the cost of insurance per vehicle. If there is an increase against a vehicle of a particular department, Mr. Lee requested that he be kept informed. Vice Chair Magazine said that this wouldn’t take place during the next fiscal year. Mr. Lee said he is going to be charging back each department for insurance during the next 3 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 fiscal year and Mr. Lee said that the insurance information is going in now. Vice Chair Magazine said that insurance premiums would not change for next year because the City received a two-year rate. Therefore, Vice Chair Magazine stated the safety meetings and inspections would have a much greater impact upon the departments over the next two years. Mr. Bobich noted that under inspections for Customer Service, his inspection of the vault was not noted. Mr. Bobich said he was informed at the last meeting that there was a problem with the vault and that immediately after the last meeting, he inspected the vault and determined that the previous problems had been corrected and this was not noted. Also, Mr. Bobich said that Administration and the water plants, laboratory services, and customer service were inspected and Mr. Bobich said he furnished Risk Management with copies of the inspections. Also, Mr. Bobich said that City Hall in the Mall was inspected. With regard to the two water storage tanks, Mr. Bobich said those are unoccupied facilities. Mr. Bobich said he inspects these occasionally and furnishes copies of those inspections to Risk Management. Vice Chair Magazine said these types of facilities only need to be inspected quarterly. E. Safe Driver Program 1. Defensive Driver Course Vice Chair Magazine said the program is being re-instituted and it is anticipated that two to three classes per month will be held. Vice Chair Magazine said he would e-mail the registration forms to everyone and the form is also available in the safety folder on the City’s share data. 2. “A Safety First City” Stickers No report F. Hazardous Communication Project Team Mr. Bobich said he has spoken to Mike Spinka of ITS and hopefully within the next few weeks ITS would be able to make this available on the share data to all employees. G. Safety Belt Use Project Team Vice Chair Magazine said that the Standard Operating Guideline had to be held back because of information received regarding exemptions under the State law. Vice Chair Magazine said there is a meeting on this issue scheduled for today. Hopefully, before the next Safety Meeting, the Standard Operating Guideline will be issued. 4 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 Mr. Lee said that he had with him today copies of the statute in the event the Committee wished to discuss the matter further. Vice Chair Magazine said he did not think it was necessary and basically it was going to be determined whether the operators of the trash trucks and recycling trucks need to be wearing their seatbelts while on their routes. Mr. Lee requested if the general interpretation of the statute could be discussed today and Vice Chair Magazine said it should be discussed with Mr. Lee’s Department, since his Department is most affected by the statute and then it can be discussed with the project team. Mr. Bobich inquired if there was a project team meeting scheduled. Vice Chair Magazine said that once the meeting with Public Works is held, there would be a project team meeting. st Mr. Bobich informed members that he believes beginning July 1, seat belt use would become a primary offense and that a driver could be pulled over for not wearing his seat belt. Mr. Bobich suggested that some type of button or pin is available to workers who wear their seatbelt. Vice Chair Magazine said he has been checking on this. H. Incident Review Board Referral 1. Oceanfront Park Boardwalk Slip and Fall Risks Chairman Majors said that Mr. George Evans received the paint and that he would be applying the paint himself as a test. Mr. Bobich said he furnished Vice Chair Majors with some information from the Internet on slip and fall products. Chairman Majors said he would follow through on this with Mr. Evans. VI. NEW BUSINESS Vice Chair Magazine distributed an up-dated list of the Safety Committee members. Vice Chair Magazine stated that if there are recurring problems which exist during the safety inspections which cannot be remedied and need to be handled by another department, it should be brought to the Safety Committee Meeting to be followed up. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Safety Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. Vice Chair Magazine reminded members that when preparing their budget they should allocate some funds for safety. It need not be a large amount, but a small amount that could be used for training and other safety purposes. Vice Chair Magazine said his 5 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 budget is for citywide, but if a department wants to purchase buttons or stickers this should be provided for and is appropriate. Vice Chair Magazine stated the Safety Council has many good programs and would like the City to utilize them more. Some programs could be offered at the City and he has a list of programs that could be offered on-site. Vice Chair Magazine said the City would receive discounted rates because it is a member of the Safety Council. Vice Chair Magazine said his Department will be greatly emphasizing training and he would like to purchase equipment to accomplish this directly in the Departments through computers, videos, etc. Vice Chair Magazine said he would be visiting various departments over the next few months to identify each Department’s needs. Vice Chair Magazine announced that on Thursday, the Palm Beach County Chapter of Risk Insurance Management Society at its monthly program would be discussing school and workplace violence. Vice Chair Magazine said that Palm Beach County School District Police Chief Jim Kelly would be the key speaker and anyone wishing to attend is welcomed. Registration is required by Wednesday and the cost is $15 per person. Mr. Henehan inquired if there was anyone available that could come on site and address the Library staff regarding violence. Vice Chair Magazine suggested Mr. Henehan contact the Police Department. Chairman Majors stated that Andy Kalin spoke to his group and did a wonderful job. Vice Chair Magazine said he furnished a copy of the Thursday meeting notice to Ms. Farace at the Library. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden announced that there would be a very large CPR training taking place at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach. It is anticipated that approximately 1,000 people would participate. The training will run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. this Saturday. Mr. Bobich inquired if a certificate would be furnished for anyone who participates and Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said there would. Chairperson Majors inquired if the Fire Department was still offering CPR training to employees. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said the training is provided upon request. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said there was no cost for the training at the Palm Beach Atlantic College on Saturday. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, June 14, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. IX. ADJOURNMENT 6 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 10, 1999 Motion Vice Chair Magazine moved that the meeting adjourn. Motion seconded by Mr. Bobich. The meeting properly adjourned at 10:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7