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Minutes 12-18-00 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM AT THE WEST WATER TREATMENT PLANT, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2000 @ 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Chuck Magazine, Chairman Mark Bobich Wendy Danysh Dorothy Mack Eric Falstad Barbara Madden Larry Quinn Eugene Ruffolo Sharon Tierney Carisse Weise, Vice Chair Risk Management Utilities Admin/EWTP Police Human Resources Golf Course City Clerk's Office Public Works Utilities/WWTP ITS City Manager's Office ABSENT Tom Balfe Bob Borden Dominic DeMauro Phyllis Dixon A.D. Henehan Steve Lulkin Chris Mitchell Parks Fire Finance/Warehouse Communications Library Recreation Planning Also Present Bob Lee, Fleet Administrator I. Call to Order Chairman Magazine called the meeting to order at 10:14 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was declared present. III. Acceptance of Minutes of November 13, 2000 Re.qular Meeting Mr. Bobich commented on Page 2 under Mr. Viollis list where he stated "employers don't have the time to look at issues until they actually happen". Mr. Meeting Minutes .t Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 Bobich said that it should also state "that employers don't make th~ time or effort to look at the issues". Motion Vice Chair Weise moved to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Ms. Danysh and unanimously carried. IV. Safety Committee Education and Training Program: "After-Market Strobe Light Systems, by Bob Lee, Fleet Administrator Chairman Magazine announced that Mr. Bob Lee, a former Safety Committee member, was present today to discuss employees putting strobe lights on City vehicles. Mr. Lee reported that several City divisions have been purchasing lighting and other accessories and then having them installed on the vehicles. The installation has been taking place outside of Fleet Maintenance. Much of this has been instituted by allowing employees to purchase a certain amount of equipment on credit cards, which does not show up until the bill is received. Mr. Lee also reported that much of the equipment is in violation of the property safety standards and does not meet Florida Statutes. Also, Mr. Lee noted that whoever has been installing the lighting, has been installing the lights to indicate the vehicles are police and/or fire rescue vehicles. Also, the location of the lighting is not safe to be working under, since the vendors are installing the strobe lights in the front headlights and in the red lens on the rear of the vehicle. This gives the impression that the vehicles are police vehicles. For fleet use, vehicles working in traffic should have an amber colored strobe light and should be mounted high enough on the vehicle to be seen above the traffic. If a light is mounted in the light bezels in the front and rear of a vehicle, an ordinary vehicle can block the light from oncoming traffic. Mr. Lee said that all lights must be amber colored and mounted on the roofs of the vehicles. Florida Statute designates red for fire vehicles and blue for police vehicles. White lights are also permitted on vehicles, such as those used on school buses. The Florida Statute cited by Mr. Lee was Chapter 316 dealing with motor vehicles. Mr. Lee requested that the supervisors of each division contact him to determine where the lights must be mounted on their vehicles. He noted that when Larry Roberts was the Director of Public Works he made a policy that accessories could be mounted by an outside source. However, the work was supposed to be coordinated through the Fleet Division and this policy is not being adhered to. Vice Chair Weise inquired if there are currently City vehicles on the road that have not adhered to the Florida Statute because of the lighting installation? Mr. 2 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 Lee stated there are three or four vehicles that he knows of and has notified the departments that are involved. Mr. Lee said he instructed these departments to either correct or remove the lighting that has been installed so that they complied with Florida Statutes. Vice Chair Weise also asked Mr. Lee if he has notified all departments of this situation so that all City vehicles would be in compliance with the law? Mr. Lee said today's meeting was the first step he was taking to address this issue. Ms. Danysh inquired if Mr. Lee approved of the policy of departments going out to private vendors without going through Fleet Maintenance? Mr. Lee said that departments are supposed to come to him whenever a change is made, which is a City Policy. Chairman Magazine suggested that the new Director of Public Works be contacted and requested to rescind the policy established by Larry Roberts. Mr. Lee inquired if the Policy Manual was currently being re-written and Vice Chair Weise said that the City Manager's Office was addressing this. Mr. Lee said that he has a great deal of changes that he would like incorporated into the Manual. Mr. Bobich inquired who would be removing the strobe lights and Mr. Lee said that his Department has been removing the lights. Mr. Bobich noted that employees are not to make modifications to City vehicles; this is a City policy. Mr. Lee also stated he is a licensed third-party examiner for the State of Florida for issuing commercial motor vehicle drivers' licenses up through Class A. If anyone has questions on licenses or the types of vehicles they drive, they can contact him. Ms. Tierney asked how often are the City loaner vehicles serviced? Mr. Lee said these vehicles are maintained through Fleet Maintenance and are routinely scheduled for maintenance every 90 days. Commercial vehicles are monitored by engine hours, which is 300 hours. Regular pick-up trucks or sedans are checked every 3,000 miles. All vehicles are fully inspected once a year. Mr. Lee noted that City vehicles in the upper left-hand corner of the windshields have a decal which gives the date of the last service, the mileage and when the next check-up is due. Mr. Lee concluded his presentation. Mr. Bobich inquired when the new APM would be ready and Vice Chair Weise stated that Ms. Costello is currently working on this and is waiting for all the departments to turn in their revisions. Vice Chair Weise said she would check with Ms. Costello. Mr. Bobich said that he has some safety-related issues that he would like included in the APM, but he has not been contacted. Mr. Bobich inquired if the new APM would be available on the City's network and Vice Chair Weise said it would be available on the City's new Laser Fiche system under the City Manager's site. Vice Chair Weise said she would notify Ms. Costello that not everyone received the notification that the APM was being updated. 3 Meeting Minutes ..... Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 Chairman Magazine said he also would like to address bomb threat responses and noted there is no one in the Police Department that specializes in bomb threat responses. Ms. Danysh stated that the Boynton Beach Police Department does not have the capacity to respond to bomb threats and contacts the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office or the West Palm Beach Police. Chairman Magazine inquired if the Sheriff's Office had been contacted on the last bomb threat and Ms. Danysh stated they were not. Ms. Danysh also pointed out that there is no written policy on how to determine when a bomb threat is constituted a legitimate bomb threat. Ms. Danysh stated that bomb threats are treated on a case-by-case basis. Chairman Magazine noted that the =City has no plan to address bomb threats and there should be something in place. Ms. Danysh noted that there is an evacuation plan in place and it is posted in every Department. Chairman Magazine questioned if the evacuation plan for a bomb threat should be implemented in the same manner as a fire drill? Vice Chair Weise noted that since the Safety Manual is being revised this might be an appropriate time to add a section dealing with evacuations under various circumstances, such as fire drills, bomb threats, etc. Vice Chair Weise said she would coordinate this section of the Safety Manual with Ms. Danysh and Assistant Fire Marshal Bob Borden, which could become a new subject in the safety manual. Chairman Magazine suggested titling it emergency notification and evacuation. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills Not addressed B. Safety Newsletter Not addressed C. "Proud to be a Safe Worker" Awards None D. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Chairman Magazine did not bring the reports with him and said that the year-end results of the safety meetings and inspections will be reviewed at the January meeting. 4 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 E. Defensive Driver Course Risk Management is scheduling the tests and anyone wishing to take the course should contact his office. Vice Chair Weise inquired about the status of Chairman Magazine looking into automobile insurance policies for City employees and Chairman Magazine said he was still working on this. F. Safety Belt Use Project Team Nothing to report G. Incident Review Board Referrals None H. Infection Control Policy Mr. Bobich said he is still working on this. Workplace Violence Policy Chairman Magazine said that the policy still needs a few corrections. Vice Chair Weise reported that Patricia Spoerri has scheduled a Violence in the Workplace Seminar, which will be conducted by Paul Viollis. J. Safety Policies Review Vice Chair Weise reported that there are still some sections that need to be reviewed and asked Ms. Tierney if she could review the computer safety portion of the Policy. Also, Vice Chair Weise stated she needed someone to review the driving rules and regulations and Mr. Bob Lee said he could address this. Other areas that needed to be addressed are safety equipment, training, use of hard hats, accident, injury, incident reporting and on-the-job injury procedures. Chairman Magazine said he could address incident reporting and on-the-job injury procedures. With regard to safety equipment, training, use of hard hats and accident injury, this will be referred to the Utilities Department. Ms. Danysh said she could address operations in the public way and pedestrian safety. With regard to ladders and scaffolding, this will be referred to Richard Fiege in Facilities. Chairman Magazine said that a section on ergonomics needs to be added because OSHA is coming out with ergonomic standards. This will be added to Meeting Minutes SafetY Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 the section on office safety. Vice Chair Weise and Chairman Magazine will address this item. The Safety Manual Review Sub-Committee is comprised of the following persons: Vice Chair Weise Bob Lee Chairman Magazine Wendy Danysh Assistant Fire Marshal Bob Borden Sharon Tierney Richard Fiege A representative from Utilities, to be named later VI. New Business A. Other Chairman Magazine reported that Mr. Mark E]obich will be leaving the Safety Committee. Mr. Bobich is transferring to the Stormwater Division after his vacated position is filled. The new person will be assigned to the Safety Committee. Chairman Magazine announced that a replacement for Mr. Bobich would be needed for the Operation Life Safer Training being offered by Tri-Rail which is scheduled for January 24 and 25. Mr. Bobich had signed up to become a trainer. Boynton Beach will be one of the few municipalities that will have a qualified trainer to offer the program. This person will be required to go to different City departments to give the presentation and also the trainer will be asked to go outside to give the presentation at schools, clubhouses, condo associations, etc. several times a year. Mr. Lee and Mr. Quinn from Public Works said they would look the information over. VII. Announcements The Safety Council is still sponsoring a great number of classes, which can be attended at their facilities or done in-house. The Florida Partnership for Safety and Health is becoming active in this area and will be conducting monthly classes beginning in January, which will be conducted in the City's Library Program Room. A wide-range of topics will be offered. If any Department needs any specific training, there are resources available. Vice Chair Weise also announced that Palm Beach Community College through the Florida Institute of Government will be offering a series of training geared toward the safety 6 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Boynton Beach, Florida December 18, 2000 coordinators and risk managers. When the information is received, Vice Chair Weise will distribute it to the Safety Committee Members. Chairman Magazine announced that last year's safety fair was very successful. The fair was sponsored by the Florida Partnership, the Safety Council and a safety equipment company. It is anticipated that the fair will be expanded this year. Vice Chair Weise requested that Mr. "the convincer" which is scheduled Magazine requested that Mr. Bobich releases before using "the convincer". Bobich forward to her the information on for the City's Health Fair. Chairman inquire if people are requested to sign VIII. Next Meeting Date: Monday, January 8, 2001 at 10:00 a.m. Chairman Magazine will advise members of the place for the next meeting. VIII. Adjournment There being ,no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 11:05 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7