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Minutes 02-12-01MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2001 @ 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Chuck Magazine, Chairman Curlene Baker Mark Bobich Bob Borden Eric Falstad Steve Lulkin Dorothy Mack Barbara Madden Larry Quinn Eugene Rufolo Mike Rumpf Sharon Tierney Carisse Weise, Vice Chairperson Risk Management Communications Utilities Admin/EWTP Fire Golf Course Recreation Human Resources City Clerk's Office Public Works Utilities/WWTP Planning ITS City Manager ABSENT Tom Balfe Wendy Danysh Dominic Demauro Phyllis Dixon A.D. Henehan, Jr. Parks Police Finance/Warehouse Communications Library I. Call to Order Chairman Magazine 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 January 8, 2001 Regular Meeting Motion Mr. Lulkin moved to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Bobich and unanimously carried. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2001 IV. Safety Committee Education and Traininq Program Chairman Magazine stated that today the Committee would be discussing evacuation planning and asked Vice Chair Weise to present the issue. Vice Chair Weise stated she has been working with Randy Northrop of the City's ITS Department to come up with a notification system. The City is unable to use the current existing fire alarm system because that is not permitted under law. A ring- down system was also looked at, but it was determined that this would be ineffective if a person was not at their desk or on the telephone at the time when the ring-down took place. Currently Mr. Northrop is exploring a possible software PA notification system that could be attached to the phone system, which would permit dispatch to make a general announcement utilizing the microphones in the City's telephones. Vice Chair Weise said she would have more to report, as well as a cost breakdown, at the next meeting. It was noted that not ail facilities are on the City's line and Vice Chairman Magazine stated that the PA system would only be for the City Hall Complex, including City Hall, the West Wing, East Wing, Police and Fire Administration. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden inquired if the Police Department had been consulted on this and Vice Chair Weise stated that she is trying to schedule a meeting with Assistant Fire Marshal Borden and Wendy Danysh from the Police Department. Vice Chair Weise said she has received and reviewed the Fire and Police SOG's. Chairman Magazine stated that Public Works and Utilities might also want to utilize the same system. Mr. Bobich pointed out that Utilities is on the City's phone system. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden suggested that it would be beneficial to utilize a code system in order to avoid any type of panic. Mr. Bobich inquired if this would be incorporated into the APM and Vice Chair Weise stated that it would. Chairman Magazine suggested that a section could be added to the APM that could be called emergency response to include a section on fire drills, bomb threats and violence in the workplace. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills Assistant Fire Marshal Borden had none to report. Chairman Magazine suggested that he and Assistant Fire Marshal Borden speak with the Fire Marshal regarding fire drills. B, "Proud to be a Safe Worker" Awards Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2001 Mr. Bobich noted that Safe Worker Awards were presented to Kerry Isom, Tina Smith and Marvin Razz. On February 7, 2001 at approximately 9:30 a.m. a soda truck lost part of its load at the visitor entrance to the building, which ended up in the two eastbound lanes of Woolbright Avenue. The three employees cleaned up the mess and removed the glass from the traffic lanes. The driver returned 10 minutes later and thanked the employees for their quick action (a copy of the award is attached to the original minutes). C. Departmental Inspections.and Safety Meetings Chairman Magazine distributed copies of the safety meetings and inspections for the year 2000. Also distributed to members was the Safety Committee Attendance Record for the year by departments. Chairman Magazine stated that he has figured the percentages of attendance of meetings and this information will be furnished to the City Manager and the EXCL Team. He noted that some departments do not have regular attendance at the meetings and this needs to be improved. If any member has any corrections, please furnish them to the Chairman as soon as possible. Chairman Magazine reviewed his memorandum of February 12, 2001 as follows: The number of OSHA recordable incidents have been constant, but because of the increase in personnel and the number of hours worked, the percentage is actually dropping. With regard to vehicle safety, the number of vehicles has increased, but over the past two years the number of preventable collisions has remained constant. The overall incident rate'has been dropping steadily. Chairman Magazine noted that being a Safety Coordinator for your department is an additional assignment and focus needs to be geared more at the department level. Chairman Magazine said he would be including in next year's budget a Safety Officer for the City. Boca Raton and Delray Beach already have a Safety Officer. West Palm Beach has a safety department under Risk Management. This is necessary because it appears that a plateau has been reached under the current efforts. In order to break through the plateau, the focus must be placed upon the department, which could be accomplished by utilizing a Safety Officer to work with the Safety Coordinators. The Safety Officer would be a resource for safety meetings and inspections. The person that would be hired would have a background with OSHA. The Safety Officer would not be utilized to replace the Safety Coordinators, but to work with the departments to conduct training and to be a resource to the departments. Chairman Magazine noted that the City has Meeting Minutes ~ Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2001 come a long way and that in order for the City to do even better, the next step must be taken, i.e. hiring a Safety Officer. D. Defensive Driver Course There will be at least one to two classes offered in March and two to three in April. Chairman Magazine requested that the Safety Coordinators check with their department personnel to determine who needs to take the course again. The certificates are only good for three years for insurance purposes. The course is mandatory for any employee driving a City vehicle or their personal vehicle on City business. E. Safety Belt Use Project Team Chairman Magazine reported that the State Legislature is considering a Bill that will enable the police to pull drivers over for not wearing their seat belts or having a child in child restraints and for no other reason. Under current law, this is not permissible. If passed, this would be changed to allow an officer to pull a driver over simply for not wearing their seatbelts. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden reported that there are two personnel from the Fire Department that are trained in child safety seat installation. Anyone who wishes to have their existing car seat inspected can telephone his office to make an appointment to have a technician check the existing car seat to determine if it is properly installed. Also, there are a great deal of car seats that have been recalled. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden noted that during the grand opening of the Wal-kMart Store the Fire Department was present to make inspections and installations of car seats which were donated by Wal-kMart. This should take place again in the near future. Ms. Weise stated that she would have Mr. Wayne Segal contact Assistant Fire Marshal Borden in order to publicize this. F. Incident Review Board Referrals None G. Infection Control Policy Mr. Bobich reported that it is almost complete and he would e-mail it to Chairman Magazine. H. Safety Policies Review Vice Chair Weise thanked those people who got back to her promptly with regard to the different sections of the policy each was asked to review. Mr. Bob Lee submitted very comprehensive review notes, as well as Mr. Fiege in Facilities. 4 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2001 She stated that she is still awaiting comments from a few other departments and requested those persons contact her so that she can complete the Safety Manual as soon. as possible. Ms. Tierney announced that ITS reviewed their section and had no changes. Chairman Magazine stated that when the Safety Manual is complete, a copy will be furnished to every employee. Mr. Bobich inquired if there was a section devoted to first aid in the manual, and Vice Chair Weise stated there is a section on accident, injury and incident reporting and on-the-job injury procedures, but there are no specifics on the types of first aid that should be given. Vice Chair Weise stated that in every first aid kit in the departments, there is an emergency manual that instructs a person on how to administer basic procedures. Chairman Magazine also reported that it would be appropriate to include Tylenol, which are available at the warehouse, to the first aid kits. Vice Chair Weise noted that it was intended that in every department there should be a person who has basic lifesaver training. The Fire Department offers a basic lifesaver course at no charge. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden noted that anyone desiring to take this course should call 742-6336. Vice Chair Weise noted that the course is held in the evening and generally runs around two hours. Also consideration is being given to having defibrillators in various buildings as in all police and fire vehicles. Chairman Magazine said that it would be necessary to have people trained in order to use the defibrillators. Mr. Lulkin reported that there was no defibrillator in the Senior Center. Chairman Magazine said that every department should include in their budget for next year the cost of purchasing a defibrillator. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden explained to the members how the defibrillators work and that a monitoring device is placed on the person and the machine adjusts itself. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said that he would speak with Deputy Chief Ness on this issue. Mr. Rumpf inquired if the City Manager should first be consulted before every department starts purchasing defibrillators? Vice Chair Weise said she would bring this up at their next staff meeting. It was suggested that a safety-training course be offered to all the Safety Coordinators and Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that a course would take approximately two hours. Chairman Magazine requested that Vice Chair Weise consult with Ms. Spoerri to determine if she could arrange for a first aid class that would be available to everyone which would include first aid, CPR and defibrillators. Ms. Tierney questioned if the employee would be held responsible in the event first aid was administered. Vice Chair Weise pointed out that a regular citizen would not be held legally or morally responsible for administering 5 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January8,2001 first aid. Chairman Magazine also noted that the State has the Good Samaritan Law and a person would not be held responsible. Ms. Baker noted that there is a chart of instructions in Communications that is used when someone calls in for assistance. I. Safety Shoe Program Chairman Magazine reported that safety shoes can now be purchased at the new Wal-kMart Store and new vouchers should be available shortly. The contract for the Blue Collar Union states that the City will look at a shoe truck and a local vendor. After checking with a shoe truck and compared to the prices at Wal-kMart, the City will be staying with Wal-kMart because of the price. Also, the quality of the shoe is very good. If an employee cannot find a pair of shoes at Wal-kMart, they can go elsewhere and will be reimbursed a maximum of $75.00. An employee is allowed two pairs of shoes per year. Also, there is a one-year guarantee for normal wear. Purchases must be made at the service desk; not at the cash registers. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Other Ms. Mack inquired if the Safety Committee Meetings could be held on a quarterly basis as opposed to monthly? Chairman Magazine said that the Committee is bound by State Statute to meet monthly. Also, Chairman Magazine pointed out that more speakers will be brought in for future trainings. Mr. Bobich also felt that the Committee should review the accident investigation procedures and that he has a video on this, Vice Chair Weise announced that Pam Webb was going to be trained in Operation Lifesaver, but because of her pending surgery, the City was unable to send a representative to the training. When the next training is offered, Vice Chair Weise and Ms. Webb will be attending to become certified in Operation Lifesaver. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chairman Magazine distributed the latest workshops being offered by the Palm Beach County Safety Council, Chairman Weise inquired if the City still has to pay for the courses and was informed that they did. Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL January8,2001 Chairman Magazine announced that a Conflict Resolution Workshop will be taking place on February 27th and is being sponsored by the Florida Partnership for Safety and Health, of which the City is a charter member. This means that any employee of the City can take the class for free. Anyone wishing to take the course should contact the Florida League of Cities to register. Paul Viollis, who also gave the City's training course and spoke to the Safety Committee previously, is conducting the workshop. A Motor Vehicle Investigation Workshop will be conducted on March 27th and when Chairman Magazine receives the flyers, he will distribute them to the members. Dan Marble, who sometimes consults for the City on motor vehicle accidents, will conduct the workShop. There is no charge to employees of the City. Chairman Magazine stated that he would like to schedule one workshop per month on safety and related topics. Ergonomic classes are also being scheduled. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, March 12, 200'1 @ 10:00 a.m., location t/b/a IX. ADJOURNMENT Motion Mr. Bobich moved to adjourn, which was seconded by Vice Chair Weise. The meeting properly adjourned at 11:20 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes)