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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Safety_11/25/1996 c ' �' `�f VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA A � 7 , Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive � `' Tequesta, F7orida 33469-0273 • (407) 575-6200 ° " � � F�: (407) 575-6203 � ; o B 4 f ��H COUN VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 25, 1996 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Safety Committee held its regular meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Monday, November 25, 1996. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 P.M. by Chairman Tom Hall, Water System Manager. Committeemembers present were: William Allen, Code Enforcement Officer Dave Davis, Archie Garrett, Joanne McCabe, Public Works Director Gary Preston, and Police Chief Stephen Allison. Bob Pieris arrived at 2:07 P.M. Absent from the meeting were Village Clerk Joann Manganiello and Fire Chief James Weinand. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman Hall announced that this meeting should be concluded by 3:45 P.M. because the Village Council had a meeting beginning at 4 P.M. Chairman Hall requested addition under Any Other Matters of distribution of handouts for each member's safety manual. Joanne McCabe made a motion to accept the agenda as amended. Motion was seconded by Gary Preston. The vote on the motion was: Tom Hall - for William Allen - for Stephen Allison - for Archie Garrett - for Joanne McCabe - for Gary Preston - for Ri'nlcic'ii Pn��cr' Safety Committee Meeting Minute$ November 25, 1996 Page 2 The motion was t'herefore passsed and adopted and the Agenda was approved as amended. ZII. APPROVAL !JF PREVIOU6 MEETING MINU�'ES Stephen A11.ison made a mation to approve the minutes o£ the 4ctober S, 1996 meeting as sub�nitted. Motion was seconded b� Joanne McCabe. The vote on the motion was: Tom Hall - far Wil.liam Allen - for Stephen Allison - for ArChie Garrett - for Jaanne MeCabe -- for �a�y Pre�ton - for The motion was therefare pa�sed and adopted and the minutes were approved as submitted. Bob Pieris arrived at this point in the meeting. IV. OLD 8U5INESS A) �rug-free Workplace 5tatus Report Chairman Hall reported that a tentative selection had been made for a Medical Review Officer, Dr. House, and a labaratary, Occupational Health Center of the Gardens, who in turn would use Corning Clinical Laboratories in Tampa, Florida. This information had been forwarded to the Village Labor �lttorney for inclusion in the Drug-Free Workplace poli�y for the Village. B. 03HA Form Z00 Chairman Hall requested verificata.on from all departments that everyone had OSHA. Form 200 posted in the appropriate place. Julie Ziaja of RISCORP coznmented that the form number would be changed ta 300 in the neax future. Police and Fire Department representatives were zequested Safety Com�nittee Meeting Mi.nutes November 25, 1996 Page 3 to make sure a copy of the form was posted. V. NEW BUSTNESS A. Presentation, question and answer se�sion with Mr. Joseph Chukwu, Program Develop�nent Anaiyst, State of Florida, Department of Labor, Division of Safety. Chairman Hall announced that Mr. Chukwu had been unable to attend; therefore, this presentation would be postponed to a future meeting. B. Presentation, question and an$wer session with Ms. Julie Ziaja, Senior Loss Prevention Speciali�st, RISCORP. Ms. Ziaja explained that her job was primarily to visit RISCORP accountholders in northern Palm Beach Coun.ty; and that RISCORP was the Village`s Workers �ompensation carrier, whose mazn corporate offices were in Sarasota, with claims offices in Ft. Lauderdale an.d Orlando. Ms. Ziaja commented that she assisted accountholders with safety issues, helped to establish safety programs, and gave pr�sentations from. the RISCORP video library. The video library included selections targeted for administration, selections to provide employees with information on safety issues and law upda�kes, and athers which addressed how to prevent accidents. The other part of Ms. Ziaja's job was to attend seminars to keep current with safety issues and to bring t�iat in�orm.ation to the accountholders; and to review injuries and lr�sses by creating an iricident report and to address corrective measures. Ms. Ziaja reparted that 85� of acciden�s were due to unsafe actions by an employee, usually due to lack of tr�.ining. Chairman Ha11 �ommented that he had sent Ms. Ziaja a copy of a draft of a safety policy, which he understood was ta be a s�atement from the Vil.lage Manager to all employees ta give a clear understanding of management's commitment to provide and maintain a safe work environment. Mr. Chukwu had reviewed and approved the policy statement. Ms. Ziaja agreed that the statement Safety Committee Meeting Minutes November 25, 1996 Page 4 met the criteria of coming from top ma�.agemen.t, providing ' a clear statement of �he goals and philosophy of safety, and providing a safe workplace. Ms. Ziaja commented that employees had a responsibility to work in a safe manner ar�d to abide by the safety rules, which had also been addressed. Ms. �iaja commented that this policy statement in.et the criteria for RISCORP and verified with Chairman Hal1 that the statement would be given to al]. existing and new employees. Ms. Ziaja questianed wh�ther ths Safety Committee was reviewing injuries at their meetings, to which Chairman Hall respon.ded that was the plan for the �uture, and verified that supervisors were filling out the Supervisor's Report of Accident. Ms. Ziaja commented that report was needed for the Committee's review, and that particularly 'those with lost time should be reviewed at Committee meetings; and explained tha� somec�ne should keep supervisors accoun�able to provide correc�ive action if necessary. Supervisors should provide as much detail as possible in their reports, including �ime of day, weather factors, type of clothing worn by the employee, personal protective equipment, etc., which might not seem critical at the time but could provide information regarding trends. Ms. Ziaja questioned whether the Committe� �as doing safety inspections or walk throughs. Chairman Ha11 explained that was the supervisor's responsibility until the Committee developed their p1an, which might possibly inelude two department heads and two regul.ar employees to do monthly walk-throughs. Ms. Ziaja commented that it was good to have a supervisor inspect departments other than his or her own beeause they might see different things. 1�olice Chief Allison questioned what should be done with Notice of �njury forms if no time had been lost and there was no medical treatment. Ms. Ziaja advised that in such cases at least an internal report should be kept. Tf the employee did n.ot seek medical atten.tion and the supervisor felt no medical attention was necessary, then the incident would be considered a first aid case, the S�fQty Cornmittee Meeting Minutes November 25, 1996 Page 5 ---------------�- � Supervisor`s Report of Injury should b� filled out and filed internally. Ms, Ziaja recommended also filiing out the repart �or near miss situations in which an accident r�as avoided at the last minu.te, for use as learn.ing tools. Also, i� the employee came back late� and reported they had really been hurt then the report was useful for tracking. Any muscular type injuries should be reported to RISCORP through First Call even though no medical attention. was given, and indication given that this report was filed for reparting purposes only. Chairman Hall questioned whether it would be better just to report everything. Ms. Ziaja explained that too man.y reports would cause a rise in premium5 even though they were done for reporting purposes only, so that discretion should be used regarding reporting first aid cases. Zf any question, it was bettex to report but to state that it was for reporting purposes on.ly. Committeeznember Preston questioned Ms. Ziaja regarding a situation in which the employee would not seek needed medicai help. Ms. Ziaja responded that the employee should be strongly urged ta get medical attention, and if they would not then. their supervisor could take them or call paramedics to come; and also to have the employee sign the Supervi�or's Report of Accident or another form that the employee had refused medical treatment. Committeemember Pieris expl.ained that if paramedics responded that they carried refusals as a part of their suppl.ies, and they must make a report to the state, which wauld provide a record of the incident. Mr. Preston sugges�ed that each department should have those forms. Mr. Preston also questioned the proper procedure if the employee refused treatment and the situation appeared to be merely a first aid injury, but later the employee reported that the injury had uaorsened. Ms. Ziaja advised that there were seven days in which ta file a repart, and in such a case it might be better to wait a day or two to see what happened instead of filing imm�diately. AIl employees should report all injuries no matter how slight, and l.et management determine whether RISCORP should b� contacted. In a situation where pain did not develop until many days later, Ms. Ziaja explained that RISCORP would sti11 pay the claim, but would ask • Safety Committee Meeting Mi.nutes November 25, 1396 Page 6 questions when the claim was submi.tted and would investigate the case. Ms. Ziaja stated that the time limit for reportin.g after which th.e claim, would not be paid, had recently been changed. She believed the time was six months, and stated that sh.e would find out if that was the �ase and would repor� bacl�. Ms. Ziaja explained that the claims department published a brochure which covered many types of situations, which she would provide to the Village. Chief Allison requested comments regarding the Medical Questionnaire and Workers Comp History, and whether they could be u�ed in selection of new employees. Ms. Ziaja explained that both xeports must be used post offer. At �he app�ication stage a copy of a job d�scription could be given which would state physical requirements of the job and the applicant could be required to siqn off that they were capable of perfarming the duties of �that job. Ms. Ziaja recommended looking at the hiring process as a 3-stage p�ocedure: {1) application; (2) offer i� made; (3) start of work. Between the offer and the start of work was the time to obtain the Medical Questionnaire and Workers Cornp History, and the offer could be verbal. The forms were used to document pre-existing conditions and for proper placement o� an employee. One percent of every premium dollar paid for workers compensation was placed inta a second injury disability trust fund run by the state and used for recovery when a pre-existing candi�ion had been proved. Any recaver�r collected would be deducted from the amount paid on behalf of the pQlicyholder. Ms. Ziaja explained that the workers comp history search, which would cover previous claims within the State of Florida, n�ight nat be desired; and that the medical questionnaire was the more important form, since if pre- exist�n.g conditions were indicated then RISC4RP would then do the workers comp history search anyway. Even though the medical questiannaire must be kept confidential, someone should review it to make sure it wa� compl.eted and to inform the employee's. supervisor of any hidden disease which might affect job performance. Tn a situation where an employee refused to fill out the Safety Coxnmi ttee Meeting Minutes Novembe� 25, 1996 Page 7 medical questionnaire, one company had decided to keep the employee on but docu�n.ented the information in the file and then did the workers compensation history . search; and the Village should decide haw they wished to handle such situations and follow that policy consistently. Chairman Hall requested written verification that th.e draft sa�ety policy was acceptable. Ms. Ziaja explained that when applicatio�. for safety credit was made that RISCORP would send that approval; however, she would write a letter coz�firm.ing this meeting and would include confirmation that the policy was acceptable. Chairman Hall commented that general safety rules �or all employees had been discussed by �the Committee, and that there were more site specific situations for individual departments. Ms. Ziaja commented that Police and Fire departments were over regu.l.ated, but areas such as Parks and Recreation were sometimes Qverlooked and that specific personal protection and hazardous item rules should be addressed. Chairman Hall questioned whether the site specific rules should be included in the V.illage Safety Manual or only maintained in the individual departments. Ms. Ziaja stated that those should be maintained in the depaztments, and the Safety Committee must have access to those rules when doing an accident analysis. Ms. Ziaja stated that all existing and new employees must si�n that they had read the safety policy in order to comply with Flarida statute. Tf an employee refused to sign, they could be evaluated in other areas and a policy should be determ.ined how to handle such situations. A.refusal clause could be placed on the form; and a decision. should be made whether refusal would mean , termination of employment or allowing the employee to continue worl�ing for the Village. Chairman Ha11 commented that the Committee would discuss the matter and it�.ake a recommendation to the Village Manager. Chairman Hall questioned whether any Committeemembers had any problems with the General Safety Rules to be used as an umbrella for all employees. After discussion, it was determined that Chairman. Hall would submit �he General Safety Committee Meeting Minutea Nav�ber 25, 1996 Page 8 Safety Rules to the Village Manager. Mr. Pieris suggested that inspeCtion form� be develbped. Ms. Ziaja commented that RISCORP had provided an inspection. farm which could be used as a general form and that site specific farms could be developed for t�se in individual departments. Chai.zman. Hall suggested that a11 CQmmitteemembers review the form sa that it could be discussed a� the next meeting. Chief Allison questioned what the ADA compliance agreement was which must be signed when requesting a worke�s comp history, to which Nls. Ziaja responded that the compliance agreement would be faxed �rhen the workers camp history was requested, and was a statement basically agreeing that the history would not be used to di�criminate in h�.ring; would be used to document any p�e-existing conditions; and that it was being done af�ter an. offer_of employment. Ms. Ziaja offered to provide a list of training videos available for presentation, which would last approximately 10-12 minutes and cover such items as how to inve�tigate an accident, back injury prevention, and personal protective equipment. Chairman Hall thanked Ms. Ziaja fo� her participation in this meeting. VI. ANY OTHER MATTERS Chairman Hall distributed handouts �o be reviewed. Date and time of the next meeting was s�t for Monday, January 13, 1997 at 2 P.M. Ms, Ziaja was requested to provide a video presentation at that meeting which would cover accident investi�ation procedure. Coznmitteemember Pieris reported that the Fire Department had a lock out tag system which could be uti3ized in situatians such as when doing work on electrical, gas, or water �o make sure no one turned those utilities back on accidentally. Safety Commi ttee Meeting Minutes November 25, 1996 Page 9 ---------------- VTI. ADJOURNMENT Joanne McCabe made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Dave Davis. The vote nn the motion was: Tom Fiall - for William Allen - for Stephen Allison - for Archie Garrett - for Joanne McCabe - for Bob Pieris - for Gary Preston - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meeting was adjourned at 3:03 P.M. Respectfully submitted, 7L-�, � �%��--�-��.,___% Betty �aur Ftecording Secretary ATTEST: Tom Hall Chairman DATE APPROVED: � /3 9�