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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2004-01-01 '7J C i �. 1�I�\� DISPOON DATE / #44fi TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, February 6,2004,$:00 p.m. 1. Approval of Minutes January 9,2004 (attached). 2. Review Any Accidents that Happened Since Last Meeting. 3. Update on Safety Training—What has been done so far. 4. Review Indoors Air Quality—Employee Request. 5. Review Lighting Quality—Employee Request. P14141 wsy,:so TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Minutes Public Works Facility, January 9,2004,2:00 p.m. Present: Dave Boyes,Tim Eighmey,Judy Drake,Kristie Rice,Fred Noteboom, and Creig Hebdon Meeting started at 2:10 p.m. Drug Free Workplace Policy Judy Drake passed out a revised copy of the Drug Free Workplace Policy. She said that the Personnel Committee felt that the wording on the Prescription/Over-the-Counter Drug section needed to be different. Basically,if you are on medication,you do not have to say what the drug is you are on,just that it may have side effects on the employee's behavior. There was a sentence added regarding drinking alcohol at Town functions. The topics were reordered to make better sense of the content. This will now be presented to the Town Board for their review. PERMA Evaluation of the Workplace Every year PERMA conducts an inspection on the Town's workplaces. This year,as was with last year, the Town scored a 100. There were a few suggestions made though,and Fred Noteboom said that we have abated one of them(load of upstairs rooms) and the other had to wait until the new budget year to purchase a welding curtain. Accidents To Report On since the last meeting: There were no accidents to report. Boot Allowance: The current resolution says that we will review the allowance every five years. After a discussion, the Committee recommends that we keep the monetary amount the same but change the policy to review the allowance every two years. We will request employees to keep their receipts and give them to us to review in 2005. Goals for the Committee in 2004 1. Monitor the new radio system to be implemented in 2004. 2. Continue working on identifying and repair dangerous intersection in Town. 3. Set up an inspection scheduled for fire extinguishers and the sprinkler systems. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. ghk DISPOSITION DATE /Irk TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, February 26,2004, 1:30 p.m. • 1. Approval of Minutes January 9,2004. 2. Review Any Accidents that Happened Since Last Meeting. 3. Update on Safety Training—What has been done so far. 4. Review Indoors Air Quality—Employee Request. 5. Review Lighting Quality—Em. ,, DATE %, CL, /4/ Town of Ithaca 9 Safety Committee Minutes Public Works Facility Thursday, February 26, 2004 Present: Fred Noteboom, Dave Boyes, Tim Eighmey, Judy Drake, Kristie Rice, Creig Hebdon The meeting began at: 1 :40pm 1. MINUTES: January 10, 2004 minutes approved. 2. REVIEW OF ACCIDENTS / INCIDENTS: The committee reviewed the latest accident involving an employee slipping on ice when stepping up into a truck. There were many circumstances to the event including bad weather and being a far distance from home. The committee concluded that there weren't any recommendation for engineering out the problem or creating a policy that would have mitigated the accident. 3. UPDATE ON STATUS OF SAFETY TRAINING: Fred updated the group on what has been done already in December, January and February comparatively to the recommended training schedule. The group has received all the training to date as suggested by the training schedule. The committee discussed to offered training of First Aid and Adult CPR. These are offered as an optional training. Kristie will be providing the training but needs to find out the hours required for each and the cost for the certification cards. The dates for the training are to be determined. In April the training recommended includes Violence in the Workplace, Sexual Harassment and we want to add Drug Free Workplace Reasonable Suspicion awareness. 4. REVIEW INDOOR AIR QUALITY: It was brought to the committee's attention by an employee request that there are indoor air quality issues at Town Hall. The committee reviewed the information that Lisa Carrier-Titti provided to Fred about indoor air quality. This included a free program that would assist in facility maintenance of air quality items, e.g.: filters. The group discussed the true issue being the need for a regular maintenance schedule for changing or cleaning of filters. The other issue is the heating system not working properly so that some people are comfortable and then others are freezing or way too hot. Fred will assist Joe Hulbert in developing a regular maintenance schedule for changing and or cleaning of the filters. f -, 5. REVIEW OF LIGHTING QUALITY: An employee brought up the issue at the Personnel Committee and that committee referred it to the Safety Committee for review. Town Hall is not properly lit and causes people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) especially in the winter months as there is little sunlight coming in. The other issue is that some of the lights in the main work area have not been cleaned from the construction dust. Fred will discuss these issues with Joe Hulbert to see when he could schedule time to replace the bulbs with these new bulbs that make it much brighter and to get the others cleaned. 6. UPDATE ON STATUS OF OTHER ITEMS: a. Drug Free Workplace Policy Judy, Dave and Kristie update the group on the discussion from the Personnel Committee. The Personnel Committee voted to send the draft policy to the Town Board after removing pre-employment from the drug testing section. The committee felt that the Town Board should still consider leaving that in. The committee will put a letter together to send with the Drug Free Workplace Policy in support of leaving in the pre-employment drug testing. The rest of the suggested changes from the Personnel Committee including describing post accident and more on reasonable suspicion where agreed with. Kristie will draft letter for the group and pass it around for editing. b. Town Liability for Accidents: There was an article in the paper that day regarding the Town of Lansing plow truck hitting a parked car and the Town's insurance denied the claim. The article referred to the claimant then saying they were going to claim against the plow driver. Judy will check into this further with the Town's insurance agent. Next meeting: Friday, April 2nd at 8:00 am Meeting adjourned at: 3:00 pm DISPOSITION DATE �� to-,1 14%/* dfit TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, April 8, 2004, 8:00 a.m. 1. Approval of Minutes—February 26, 2004. 2. Discussion on Accidents/Incidents Since Last Meeting 3. Update on First Aid Trainings 4. Discussion on Tom Niederkorn's Presentation and Dangerous Intersection Tasks yt� • �:i / 4.-te DISPOSITION DATE ' TOWN OF ITHACA P � A Safety Committee Minutes 4 Public Works Facility, April 8, 2004,8:00 a.m. Present: Judy Drake,Kristie Rice,Fred Noteboom, and Creig Hebdon Meeting started at 8:20 a.m. The minutes were approved as written. The Safety Committee discussed the Town's liability while snow plowing. There have been some articles in the newspaper and one of the Town's trucks hit a parked car this winter. Fred Noteboom said there is a law in place that does not hold a Town liable for an accident while the Town is responding to an emergency—snow plowing is considered an emergency. Accidents/Incidents Since the Last Meeting The Maintenance Work got a sliver in his right arm while working in the wood shop. He had to go to the emergency room to have it removed. The Committee felt that there is no more safety precautions that could be implemented due to this accident. The Committee also discussed an incident where one of the Town's trucks hit an electric line and pulled it down. The line had wrapped around the truck. The Town employee was not injured as he stayed in his truck until help was available. The Committee, again, discussed the ways that the Town could indicate that wires are overhead. Wires can be hard to see and the driver had already dumped two loads there. We currently assign a person to watch the pavers,etc. when working on roadwork. There are no other safety precautions that could be implemented at this time. Review of Safety Trainings We conducted some safety training during March,which included CPR and first aid. Ten employees took the CPR and first aid training. There will be another training in April. We are discussing holding another CPR and first aid training in the fall. Dangerous Intersections The Committee reviewed Tom Neiderkorn's discussion on dangerous intersections and what the Transportation Committee has been looking into. This committee basically reviewed the intersections that are dangerous for large trucks. The Transportation Committee is also concerned with intersections that are dangerous for all vehicles. This Committee agreed that a lot of the intersections would "overlap" with the current inventory of them. This Committee agreed that we should continue to work on addressing the Coy Glen/Elm Street Ext. intersection. Creig will continue to work on this. • at Town Hall tsjiiii e lights have been changed at Town Hall and it is brighter in there. There are still some trouble spots but that is due to the design. The filters have not been changed yet. Miscellaneous The Committee discussed the need for "fire drill" training at the Public Works Facility. This will probably have to be done at one of the next "safety day" training. We will discuss re-arranging the safety training schedule. Fred will be talking to the Ithaca City Police to have them discuss the City's truck requirements,etc. Judy Drake said that we should be thinking about getting some safety training materials. There is a grant through PERMA that can be used to get safety training materials. We will discuss this more at the next meeting. The May meeting has been cancelled,so the next meeting will be June 4,2004, at 8:00 a.m. ghk DISPOSITION DATE -162 -- 1441 TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, June 4, 2004, 8:00 a.m. 1. Approval of Minutes—April 8, 2004. 2. Review Accidents/Incident Reports 3. Review Work Plan for Interns—Dangerous Intersections 4. Discussion on Safety Training for Interns and Seasonal Staff DISPOSITION DATE. 'OA TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee June 6, 2003, 8:00 a.m. Public Works Facility 1. Approval of Minutes 2. Review Incident/Accident Report. Isoa3. Review Information Received on Purchasing First Aid Kits. riliiirtl 4. Review Dangerous Intersection Information. i� ghk DISPOSITION DATE /74/Adr TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, September 3, 2004, 8:00 a.m. 1. Discussion on Inspections on the Buildings. 2. Discussion on Orientation Outline for New Employees. 3. Discussion on Safety Videos the Town Owns. 4. Discussion on Possible PERMA Grants. 5. Review Status on Dangerous Intersections. DISPOSITION DATE 4/14‘ TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Minutes Public Works Facility, September 3, 2004, 8:00 a.m. Present: Fred Noteboom,Tim Eighmey,Dave Boyes, Kristie Rice, and Creig Hebdon Meeting started at 8:15 a.m. The minutes were approved as written. Inspection of Buildings Fred Noteboom said that the Town should have a building inspection program whereby we check for safety hazards,including fire extinguishers, etc. Kristie Rice said that she would put together a list of items that should be checked. After we get the list, we will decide who will do the inspections and when. The Committee felt that someone from Town Hall should do the inspections at the Public Works Facility, and someone from the Public Works Facility should do the inspections at Town Hall. These duties should be rotated between people and the people should be knowledgeable of what to look for. Creig Hebdon asked if the new comfort station would be included in this. Fred said that Rich Schoch,Parks Maintenance Manager,would take care of this as he has a very good inspection program of all the parks and trails. Orientation Outline Fred said that he received a draft of a manual to be given to temporary employees. Each member was given a copy to review. We still need to work on a checklist for new hire employees (including temps.) Tim Eighmey asked how long before a temporary employee can drive Town vehicles. Sometimes the Town can't get the information for a day or two, depending on when we get the permission to review records and get a copy of the person's drivers license. Fred said that the smoking policy needs to be reviewed—there seems to be some inconsistency. Safety Videos The Committee reviewed the safety videos that we have. There are very few and most of them are outdated. Instead of buying videos,we feel that the current way we use videos for training—going through PERMA—works good. Kristie asked if we could make copies of the videos we get from PERMA. We are not sure. Fred said that he feels that we need to do more training. He suggested Dave and Tim alternate months and organize "tailgate"trainings for that month. Back injuries should be discussed often. Kristie asked if there was anyone who would come in to the Town and review the employees' work to assess potentials for back injuries—possible the Dept. of Labor or we could ask Cargill,Inc. PERMA Grant There is a grant that the Town can apply for and get PERMA to cover 50 percent of the costs of certain items,such as safety videos—maybe even the defense driving course. We will discuss this more at the next meeting when Judy Drake is here. Dangerous Intersections Creig Hebdon said that the intersection of Elm Street Ext.,West Haven Road, and Coy Glen Road has been surveyed. He is waiting for the GPS unit to be fixed so that he can get a profile map. He should have this ready for the next meeting. Miscellaneous PERMA will be conducting training in Syracuse and Fred wondered if any one would like to attend. He will get more information from Judy. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. DISPOSITION DATE 41 TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, October 1,2004,8:00 a.m. 1. Discussion on Inspections on the Buildings. 2. Discussion on Orientation Outline for New Employees. 3. Discussion on Possible PERMA Grants. 4. Discussion on Attending a PERMA Conference in Syracuse 5. Review Status on Dangerous Intersections. DISPOSITION DATE p..a.",".�...... FINAL TOWN OF ITHACA Safety Committee Agenda Public Works Facility, December 3, 2004, 8:00 a.m. Lr) 340)4 J.,. 1. Discussion on Inspections on the Buildings. t,,, 1 t. 1 •J'e' 347 , 2 D /(Disc tsipn o 'entation Outline for New Employees. I `'\.,. _ a� 1,-(;Discussion on P si a PERMA ants. 1 4. Discussion on Atte [din" a PEIWA onference in Syracuse 5. Revicvir States VI Dang r rsectons. , in 1 ee D 4110 :1:1(-- . 1 1:::) 0 itJ L . a di D1 a , vod 4 ( \ Z‘ 4 iza (040)(7‘ Final Town of Ithaca Safety Committee Notes December 3, 2004, 8-9 am Public Works Facility Attendees: Fred Noteboom, Judy Drake, Tim Eighmey, Dave Boyes, Creig Hebdon, and Kristie Rice Minutes were approved as written. Inspection on Buildings Kristie is working on developing a check off listing to be used. Judy with check with PERMA for a sample to use. Orientation for New Employees Discussed handbook for temporary employees and training needs for them. Need to review check off list being used by Highway for making sure new employees get the PPE and such that they need in the beginning. Some items may need to be added to the list (training videos). Fred will view options for overall safety training videos for new hires. PERMA Grant The Town has the option to apply to PERMA for reimbursement grant for safety training. This can be for training videos, presenters, attendees at annual conference and such. #4 PERMA Conference was dropped as the date had passed. Dangerous Intersections • Creig had the interns survey the intersection of Coy Glen and Elm Street Extension. He reported that a grade change will not improve the problem of site from a plow truck. Fred requested Creig to plot the intersection. Fred reported that he has met with Jim Salk about his hedges and have begun bringing him to wanting to work with the Town on the issue. Fred had a letter from Judge Klein that he shared with Mr. Salk about an accident on that intersection that was caused by the hedges blocking sight. Fred will continue discussion with Mr. Salk. Creig will move forward with other intersections on the listing. Others: Judy explained that Workers' Compensation Board will be imposing penalties to those who fail to report injuries within the specified period of time. Asked representatives to stress with staff to notify us if an injury occurs when it occurs. If no further doctor visit happens that is fine but we have first initial notice when it actually occurred. There is no way for the Town to know of all the dangers if employees are not letting us know when and how they are getting injured. Final Judy explained new prescription coverage for workers' compensation cases. Committee decided to add copy of prescription program to Perma Form.that goes with employee to doctors office. Nicole, Planning Intern, requested that her fiancé come with her when she works out in the Town Hall workout room after hours. This request was approved. She also requested that he be able to utilize the equipment with her. This request was denied due to the possible liability issues. Kristie explained to the Committee a training possible available to us on Clandestine Drugs. This training would inform those cleaning up parks what to do when they come upon a meth lab. Kristie will follow up with the trainer to see if they will provide us the training. Committee agreed to keep the meeting date as the first Friday of the month from 8 am to 9 am, skipping July and August. Next Meeting: Friday, January 7th