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Minutes 03-13-00MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, MARCH '13, 2000 AT '10:00 A.M. PRESENT Chuck Magazine Chairman Bob Borden Mark Bobich Phyllis Dixon Richard Fiege Susan Collins Eugene Ruffolo Jeanette Taylor Wally Majors Tom Egnaczyk Mike Rumpf Risk Management Fire Rescue Utilities Adm/EWTP Communications Public Works City Clerk's Office Utilities WWTP Human Resources Recreation Golf Course Planning & Development ABSENT A.D. Henahan, Vice Chairman Carisse Weise Dominic DeMauro Sharon Tierney Norm Turner Wendy Danysh Library City Manager Finance/Warehouse ITS Parks Police 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 FEBRUARY 14, 2000 REGULAR MEETING It was moved to accept minutes of the February 14, 2000 meeting. Motion was seconded and unanimously carried. IV. SAFETY COMMITTEE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM Safety Council Safety Award MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA March 13, 2000 Chairman Magazine reported that there were four safety awards given out by the Palm Beach County Safety Council this year. The four municipalities receiving awards were Palm Beach, Wellington, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach. Also, three Community Service Awards were made: 1) Florida Department Environmental Protection, S.E. District, 2) Risk Management Society of Palm Beach County, and 3) to Mr. Magazine, himself. The Awards will be posted in the display case in the Lobby of City Hall and will be presented at the next City Commission meeting. Chairman Magazine noted that this was the third year in a row in which the City of Boynton Beach had gotten awards. Chairman Magazine called on each of the departments to focus on their safety issues so improvement could be demonstrated and further awards eamed. Chairman Magazine further reported on the Third Annual Safety Awards Luncheon and commented that three members of the Commission were present: Mayor Broening, Mayor Pro-Tem Sherman, and Commissioner Weiland. A fashion show put on by the vadous municipalities and our Mayor Broening modeled agricultural worker safety gear donated by the Safety Equipment Company. Chairman Magazine stated that a good time was had by all. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal Bob Borden was not at the meeting at the time for this report. B. Safety Newsletter Chairman Magazine reported that the Safety Newsletter is still going strong and solicited stories or letters to the editor for publication in the Newsletter. Chairman Magazine commented that Code Compliance and Animal Control had come forward concerning safety belts. Chairman Magazine asked if anyone saw anyone from those departments driving a City vehicle and not wearing a seat belt, to call Scott Blasie who would give them a dollar. Chairman Magazine asked if any other departments had employees who drive City vehicles would like to join this program, to let him know. This item will be put in the Newsletter also. MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA March 13, 2000 Also, said Chairman Magazine, the new City Manager, Kurt Bressner, takes safety very seriously and related the following story to him concerning an experience he had in Illinois before coming to this City. Mr. Bressner saw an employee driving a City vehicle and not wearing a seat belt. Mr. Bressner waved the vehicle to the side of the road, took the keys to the vehicle, called the employee's supervisor, and asked that the supervisor pick up the vehicle and the employee. C. Proud to be a Safe Worker Awards Mr. Bobich of Utilities announced that a "Proud to be a Safe Worker" award was given in February to Skip Milor, a Utilities employee who saw a piece of rebar laying in the roadway and removed it, thereby averting an accident. Chairman Magazine asked Mr. Bobich to supply him with copies of the last awards given so he could put them in the Newsletter. D. Departmental Inspections and Safety Meetings Chairman Magazine reported that these were in the process of being updated and that he would e-mail to everyone this week. E. Defensive Driving Course Chairman Magazine asked for a count of the number of employees requiring this course. The response was "at least twenty". Chairman Magazine reminded everyone that the course was mandatory for anyone either ddving a City vehicle or driving his or her own vehicle on City business. Chairman Magazine said he would schedule two or three classes for April and asked for assistance in getting the employees signed up for the classes. The certificate issued upon course completion is valid for a three-year period but some people may need an annual refresher course according to Chairman Magazine. F. Safety Belt Use Project Team Mr. Bobich reported that in a recent survey at the Seacrest gate to the Utilities plant, 35 vehicles were screened. Thirty-two (32) of the drivers were wearing seatbelts and three were not, representing 91% usage contrasted to the usual 70%. Chairman Magazine asked if the three individuals who were not weadng safety belts were written u p and the answer was affirmative. MEETING MINUTES- SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA March 13, 2000 FIRE DRILLS (out of order in the agenda) At this point Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal Borden spoke on fire drills. He specifically noted the fire drill that occurred this morning at 10:00 a.m. Ms. Dixon said that this happened because something in the toaster oven in Dispatch burned, causing smoke to set off the fire alarm. Ms. Dixon stated that the sensors were extremely sensitive. She then said that they silenced the alarm and the Fire Department responded. Ms. Dixon commented that in the thirteen years she had been with the City there had been two previous fire-type incidents, both caused by electric wires smoking in the cabinets where the dispatchers work. She further stated that when the power was shut off the UPS units put the power back on. It was stated that the UPS units were merely back-up battery units and that they came on to allow people to power down the equipment and that the reom electricity would still be off. When it was reiterated that the fire/smoke was in the equipment itself and not in the regular reom electricity, Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal Borden said they would discuss this at a meeting in the Fire Department. Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal Borden responded to a question of the deadline for the fire alarm system at the Civic Center by saying that it was April 15. He further stated that the fire alarm system in the new Senior Center was a model that the Civic Center should emulate. The idea of having a public address system installed in the Civic Center was mentioned. The minimum staffing problem was brought up and the comment was made that if a real fire had occurred there the results could have been disastrous as the staff did not know how to proceed. Mr. Majors said he would take care of this. Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal Borden said that more unannounced fire drills were planned. G. Incident Review Board Referral Oceanfront Park Boardwalk Slip and Fall Risks Chairman Magazine asked for status on this project. The latest "fix" which was to have lasted five years lasted about five weeks. The boardwalk needs to be re- stripped and painted with non-slip paint and a solution has not been found to date. Chairman Magazine said that George Evans needed to follow through with this item. 4 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA March 13, 2000 H. Safety Manual Chairman Magazine said that he would send out a copy of the manual to everyone before the next meeting for any-changes and after final approval, send it up to the City Manager for signature. Chairman Magazine stated that when complete, the Safety Manual would be put on the "S" drive, the network, and the Internet. Also, he said that everyone would get a copy with their paychecks and that new employees would get a copy when they came to work for the City. VI. NEW BUSINESS Safety Shoes Several representatives were present from the Development Division, Field Inspectors Department, to discuss safety shoes. One of the representatives, Marshall Souther, said that he is in a group of six field inspectors who believes the current safety shoe requirements to be inappropriate for their group. Their jobs call for a lot of climbing on ladders and walking on roofs, tasks for which steel-toed boots are inappropriate and even dangerous. Their jobs are more administrative than physically involved with the building process. This group asked the Safety Committee to consider deleting the requirement for steel-toed boots for the field inspectors and also the freedom of choice as to supplier, assuming the chosen footwear met with Safety and Supervisory approval. Some expressions of concern with quality were voiced about the City's current supplier, Wal-Mart. Chairman Magazine said that a vote on the record by the Committee excluding the field inspectors from the steel-toe requirement would suffice. As to the freedom of choice of supplier issue, it was decided to form a sub-committee to discuss the alternatives and come back to the Safety Committee with a recommendation. The members who agreed to serve on the sub-committee were Chairman Magazine, Mark Bobich, Richard Fiege, and Tom Egnaczyk. Chairman Magazine asked Mr. Bobich for the ANSI safety boot requirements, which Mr. Bobich agreed to provide. Chairman Magazine said he would set up a meeting for the sub-committee after the G.A.L.A. Ms. Taylor moved that the field inspectors not be required to wear steel-toed shoes, seconded by Mr. Bobich, and carried unanimously. 5 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA March 13, 2000 2) Introduction of Tina Smith Ms. Tina Smith was introduced as the alternate to the Safety Committee from the East Utilities Department. She will also be the Utilities Department representative to the Incident Review Board. 3) Numbered stickers on City vehicles The fact that several City vehicles are on the road without identifying stickers was discussed. This lack of identification impedes the ability of the public to report on the driving skills of the City drivers. Chairman Magazine said that any vehicles not so marked should be identified and put in the Shop immediately to have the sticker affixed. 4) Incident Reports Regardless of Severity of Accidents The importance of calling the police and doing incident reports on all accidents, regardless of severity, was reiterated and emphasized by Chairman Magazine. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chairman Magazine said he would send out the Safety Council training class list to members. VIII. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be on Monday, April 10, 2000, at 10:00 a.m. in the Fire/Police Training Room. IX. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Taylor moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:05 a.m. Mr. Bobich seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) 6