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Minutes 12-14-98 MINUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1998 AT 10:00 A.M. PRESENT Wally Majors, Chairman Recreation Mark Bobich Utilities Administration & EWTP Bob Borden Fire Rescue Tom Fitzgerald Utilities WWTP Chris Gamble Golf Course Bob Lee Public Works Dorothy Mack Human Resources Barbara Madden City Clerk’s Office Chuck Magazine, Vice Chair Risk Management Hugh McCaffrey Communications Mike Rumpf Planning & Development Sharon Tierney ITS ABSENT David Egnor Police A. D. Henehan, Jr. Library Steve Huggins Finance/Warehouse 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 Chairman Majors asked if the members had an opportunity to review the minutes of the November 16, 1998 meeting. There being no changes, Chairman Majors called for a motion to approve the minutes. MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 Motion Vice Chair Magazine moved that the Minutes of the November 16, 1998 meeting be approved. Motion seconded by Mr. Bobich. Motion unanimously carried. IV. SAFETY COMMITTEE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM Vice Chair Magazine stated there was no video for viewing today. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Fire Drills 1. Civic Center Fire Alarm Status Chairman Majors reported that there have been at least two architectural renderings that were prepared for a new civic center. As a result, installation of a fire alarm system in the current building has been put off since there would be a new building, it would not be prudent to install a fire alarm in the old Civic Center. It now looks like the current Civic Center will be refurbished. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden inquired if Chairman Majors was in receipt of a letter from the Fire Department stating that if a minimum intercom system was not installed for fire evacuation purposes, that no more than 49 people will be allowed in the Civic Center at any one time. This will be enforced. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that this letter was forwarded to the Recreation Division recently. Chairman Majors stated he has not seen this letter and requested that a copy be forwarded to him. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden also stated if this was any other place of business and unless there were permits on file for renovations, this requirement would be enforced. Chairman Majors stated that when he attended his division meeting, he informed them that this was a major point of concern. Chairman Majors stated there is an intercom in the Civic Center which has not worked for the 13 years that he has been employed by the City. Chairman Majors felt that the letter from the Fire Department should motivate the proper staff to rectify this situation. Chairman Majors also stated that there are written procedures that identify staff responsibilities in the event of a fire. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that the intercom system must be installed and working in each room. 2 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 Vice Chair Magazine requested that a copy of the letter from the Fire Department be provided to the Recording Secretary of the Safety Committee for inclusion with the minutes of the meeting as a matter of public record. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden will check to make sure that the letter was in fact sent to Ms. Green and Mr. Wildner, since he was under the impression that the letter had already been prepared and issued. Also, Assistant Fire Marshal Borden said the letter contains a time frame for compliance. Vice Chair Magazine stated that the company that had the alarm contract for the Hester Center was taken over by another company and inquired if this had gone through. Chairman Majors stated that Mr. DeBeck requested that no payments be made, as the alarm system was not on line and not functioning. Chairman Majors will follow through on this. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that the system was on line when the last fire drill took place. B. City Hall Parking Garage & Parking Lot Vice Chair Magazine stated that the garage is completed. However, Vice Chair Magazine did not think that the lighting in the City Hall parking lot has been completed. C. Safety Newsletter Vice Chair Magazine stated that the Safety Newsletter was printed on the new printing system installed in the Utilities Department and the copies are much clearer and actually printed, as opposed to being copied. Also, the Newsletter is being sent to other cities and organizations. D. “Proud to be a Safe Worker” Awards Vice Chair Magazine informed members that several awards were given out this past month. Barbara Vickers—Utilities/Water Distribution Department. Ms. Vickers, when ? approaching I-95 from Gateway, noticed a large piece of wood with nails in it in the road. Ms. Vickers stopped her vehicle and removed the piece of wood from the roadway. Her actions prevented many automobiles for receiving flat tires. Cliff Rockey and John Wolcott came upon the scene of a serious accident, which ? involved Ms. Pam Webb, an employee of the Risk Management Department. These employees called 911, provided assistance to Ms. Webb and controlled the accident 3 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 scene until help arrived. Both employees were instrumental in securing the area and protecting the scene until the police arrived. The driver of the other vehicle was cited as a result of the accident. Vice Chair Magazine requested that the awards be placed on record with the minutes of the meeting. E. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Participants were given updates of the safety meetings and departmental inspections by Vice Chair Magazine. Vice Chair Magazine said these will be incorporated into the end of the year report that is presented to the City Manager and the Commissioners. Bob Lee requested a change in the meeting dates. The vehicle maintenance department’s meeting in December was actually the November meeting. Another meeting is scheduled for this week, which will be the December meeting. Ms. Tierney indicated that she had a correction and would speak to Vice Chair Magazine at the conclusion of the meeting. F. Safe Driver Program 1. Defensive Driver Course Vice Chair Magazine said that the Defensive Driver Course is still being offered. Over 300 people have taken the course. He is still working with the Fire Department. January’s schedule should be ready next week. Risk Management has also received the new updated version of the program. 2. “A Safety First City” Stickers Have yet to be ordered. G. City Hall Main Entrance Accessibility Vice Chair Magazine had nothing new to report. Vice Chair Magazine stated that a few months back a person in a wheelchair visited him. This person had to wait about 15 minutes until someone could open the door for him. Vice Chair Magazine said that if the size of the door and the angle of the incline do not meet ADA requirements, the City might still be required to meet the requirements. 4 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 Assistant Fire Marshal Borden felt that the door and incline does meet ADA requirements. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden suggested from a customer service point of view, the door should be more wheelchair accessible. H. Hazardous Communication Project Team Vice Chair Magazine said he gave information to Mr. Hughes that he had received from the National Safety Council. Ms. Tierney indicated Mr. Hughes could not get to the information for about three weeks. Ms. Tierney suggested that someone else in ITS could handle the project. Mr. Bobich said that the CD has been turned over to ITS to make it accessible to employees citywide. Vice Chair Magazine suggested the matter be tabled until next month when there will be more information to report. Vice Chair Magazine said that departments that deal with chemicals on a frequent basis should keep hard copies of MSDS sheets available for their employees. I. South Florida Safety Fair A number of Safety Committee members attended the South Florida Safety Fair. Mr. Bobich stated that there was a great deal of information on safety programs that were offered. Mr. Bobich mentioned that Motorola received an award from OSHA. Vice Chair Magazine said that Motorola is one of the leaders in safety in Florida and asked the Committee if they would like him to invite their safety coordinator to come in and speak to the Committee. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Safety Award Distribution Vice Chair Magazine handed out 1999 Think Safety Monthly Planners to all members of the Committee. Also, Vice Chair Magazine distributed “Safe Worker Award” pins to members to hand out to employees in their department whose names appear on the list prepared for each department. Vice Chair Magazine said there were water bottles for these employees as well. It is the responsibility of each member of this Committee to go to the warehouse and pick up the water bottles for their employees. The water bottles will have the same insignia as the pins. Vice Chair Magazine stated that for employees to receive a pin they must be employed by the City for one year and have no preventable accidents charged to them. 5 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 B. Incident Review Board Meeting Chairman Majors requested that a new item B be added under New Business. Vice Chair Magazine stated that at the November 10, 1998 Incident Review Board meeting an issue was raised that was referred to the Safety Committee. One of the City’s drivers, while emptying a dumpster, caught the FPL wires above the dumpster and the incident was determined to be non-preventable. It was suggested that it be turned over to the Safety Committee to suggest that dumpsters not be placed around any overhead wires. Mr. Rumpf inquired at what site the incident occurred. Mr. Lee thought it was somewhere off East Industrial Avenue. Mr. Lee said that the wires had been low for a long time and that the dumpster actually wasn't under the wires. The truck had to go under the wires to get back into the area where the dumpster was located. Mr. Lee said that the driver should have refused to go into the area until the wires were repaired. Vice Chair Magazine requested that the sanitation employees should be advised that if there is a question of safety, they should not collect the container, but contact their supervisor immediately. Vice Chair Magazine said that the general public and employees must be protected. Mr. Lee stated that the driver was aware that the wires were down, as well as the supervisor. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated the report did not indicate that they were aware of the wires being down. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Fire Extinguisher Training – Fire Station #3 December 16, 1998, 2:00 p.m. Chairman Majors announced that there would be fire extinguisher training on December 16, 1998 at 2:00 p.m. at Fire Station No. 3. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden stated that the training is full and another date has been chosen to offer additional training. Assistant Fire Marshal Borden requested that anyone wanting to sign up for the additional training date should contact his office. Vice Chair Magazine handed out to members an updated list of the members of the Safety Committee. Mr. Bobich announced he is organizing a work zone traffic control course for January thst 14 and January 21 at the Hester Center. The course is a daylong course and is limited to 20 participants. The cost is $800 per class and the course is given by a trainer from DOT. If 20 participants attend each course it would cost $40 per 6 MEETING MINUTES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA DECEMBER 14, 1998 participant. Mr. Bobich stated that the trainer of the course is one of the best in the State and is active on DOT committees. Vice Chair Magazine suggested Mr. Bobich notify the Police Department about the training. Also, Mr. Bobich stated that about six years ago there was a simulated seat belt ride called a “convincer” and said he was having difficulty convincing his employees to use their seat belts. Mr. Bobich questioned if this were still available. Mr. Lee said that this was offered through the DARE Program by the Sheriff’s Department. Mr. Bobich would like to see this set up again at City Hall. Chairman Majors informed members that the GALA is expanding and this type of exhibit could be offered at the GALA. Mr. Rumpf also suggested that this could be offered at the Wellness Fair. IX. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Majors asked if there was any further business. There being none, he called for a motion to adjourn. Motion Vice Chair Magazine moved to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Bob Lee. The meeting properly adjourned at 10:45 a.m. X. NEXT MEETING DATE: MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 1999 @ 10:00 A.M. Respectfully submitted, ___________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 7