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Minutes 12-14-10 MINUTES OF THE BOYNTON BEACH SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2010 AT 9:00 A.M. IN CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM B, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Mark Bobich, Chair Ray Altman, Vice-Chair Catherine Cherry-Guberman, Secretary Chris Mitchell Mike Dauta Samantha Powers Barbara Scott Warren Bazemore Tom Balfe Chuck Magazine Pedro Escobar Safety Administrator Fire Rescue City Clerk Development FinancelWarehouse ITS/GIS Police/Code Compliance Public Works Recreation & Parks Risk Management Human Resources ABSENT: Pam Welsh/Carisse Lejeune Jeremy Davis/Eric Falstad Michael Naughton/Karen Abramson Bevis PigoWGary Ezell City Manager Golf Course Library Utilities I. Call to Order Chair Bobich called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was present. III. Acceptance of Minutes of November 9, 2010 regular meeting Motion Mr. Balfe moved to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Escobar seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Safety Committee Education & Training An excerpt of a video regarding Personal Protective Equipment was viewed. The video emphasized by using common sense, injuries could be prevented. Two ways to prevent 1 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL December 14, 2010 accidents are first, to remove the hazards that can cause injuries, and second, use guards and shields to protect oneself from hazards. Hazards could be the sun, chemicals, bacteria or others. The list of hazards is endless. Consequently, it was important for employees to know how to protect themselves. Equipment agricultural workers should wear was reviewed. If protective equipment is available from the employer, the law requires employees to use it. Baseball caps provide poor head protection. A broad rimmed hat is better and hats that protect the ears and the back of neck can be used. Workers who work in the sun should use an SPF of 15 or higher. If pesticides are used, a weatherproof rain hat or chemical resistant hood should be worn. Leather can absorb pesticides so it is best not to use them. Hard hats should be worn if objects could fall on a worker or if they could hit their head. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is an organization that tests equipment and approves it as safe. For most agricultural jobs, a Class C Type 1 hard hat was recommended. Eyes should be protected when limbs, thorns, chemicals, bright light and flying objects are present. Employers are required to provide protective eye equipment such as goggles, glasses, and face shields or special helmets with lenses should be used that are ANSI approved. When working with dust, use glasses with side shields. If the worker normally wears glasses, do not expect them to offer protection. Often they cause more damage. If a worker wears contacts, wear protective eyewear. Dust and splash- proof goggles should be used. There are fog resistant goggles available or a substance can be used to prevent them from fogging. Hearing loss is often gradual and goes unnoticed. Employees should be required to wear hearing protection when noise levels reach 90 decibels for 8 hours or 100 decibels for 2 hours. A headache is a danger sign of hearing loss. A ringing or buzzing sound are signs of hearing loss. The best defense against noise is to wear earplugs or muffs. The equipment must be labeled to show its effectiveness. The Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) will show the number of decibels the sound would be reduced by wearing the device. If the NRR number was 15, it would reduce 100 decibels to 85. Earplugs and muffs normally have an NRR of 10-35. The items that are best to reduce noise offer the best protection, have a good fit and are comfortable. Chair Bobich commented many items are available from the warehouse. Special orders for equipment could also be made. The general rule is, if you have to yell to get someone's attention, the noise level is too loud. If a department wants to view the video, it is available. V. Old Business A. Fire Drills 2 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL December 14,2010 An alarm sounded this morning in the West Wing. Chair Bobich would review the matter. The alarm may count towards holding an unannounced Fire Drill. B. Proud to be a Safe Worker Awards None. C. Departmental Inspections & Safety Meetings Chair Bobich reported he was receiving more reports electronically. D. Incident Review Board Referrals None. E. Electrical Flame Resistant Uniforms & PPE Update - TABLED 10/12/2010 Chair Bobich hoped the update would be completed early next year. F. Drug Free Policy Statement (HR - Maibet Rosado) - TABLED 10/12/2010 Mr. Escobar advised he would investigate the status of the Drug Free Policy. G. Claims Cost Analysis - TABLED 10/12/2010 This item remained on the table. VI. New Business A. Departmental Safety Issues None. B. Operating City Vehicles on grass in City Parks Mr. Balfe spoke about operating vehicles on the grass in City parks. More and more employees were driving on the grass, but doing so broke valves and created trails. Employees must use common sense before driving on the grass. Signs are posted at all the parks and while it was recognized at times there may be special circumstances, employees are not exempt from the regulation. C. Recreation & Parks Dept., Risk Management Plan Mr. Magazine explained the Recreation and Parks Department is accredited and a part of the accreditation requires a Risk Management Plan. They worked with the 3 Meeting Minutes Safety Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, FL December 14, 2010 department over the years to maintain the Plan. The Plan was a compilation of policy procedures, guidelines and forms they used. The document was on the shared drive under Safety. The plan was a city-wide Risk Management Plan and it was not specific to parks. It was a base plan for all departments to use and more specific department guidelines should be treated as an addendum to the plan. If anyone had a policy or document that may be of benefit to the City, Mr. Magazine requested it be submitted. D. Safety Committee and IRB membership Mr. Magazine reported he contacted the departments requesting a list of members from their Department to serve on the Safety Committee and Incident Review Board. If there were no changes in the department representatives, it would be helpful to receive a communication to that effect. E. Other None. VII. Announcements The members were wished a Happy Holiday. VIII. Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 9:00 a.m. IX. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 9:27 a.m. &t., - (]j' i i I .4.t1 . I}LC 4 Catherine~herry LQ.Uu_~ Recording Secretary 010311 4