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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Safety_10/08/1996 c ;�� �; VILLAGE �F T1���1�5'r'� , Post Of6ce Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive �' Tequesta, Florida 33469 �0273 � (407) 57�-F,20O � ` F�: (407) 575-b203 °- a , f ; O d 4 , �N CoUN VILLAGE OF TEQUE5TA SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 8, 1996 I. CALL TO �RDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Safety Committee held its third meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Tuesday, October 8, 1996, The meeting was called to order at 3:06 P.M. by Chairman Tom Hall, Water System Manager, Committeemembers present were: Police Chief Stephen Allison, William Allen, Archie Garrett, and Bob Pieris. Absent from the meeting were Code Enforcement Officer Dave Davis, Village Clerk Joann Mangan.iello, Joanne McCabe, Public Works Director Gary Preston, and Fzre Chief James Weinand. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Bob Pieris made a motion to accept the agenda as submitted. Motion was seconded by Bill Al1en. The vote on the motion was: Tom Hall - for William Allen - for Stephen Allison - for Archie Garrett - for Bob Pieris - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the Agenda was approved as submitted. III. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES Bob Pieris made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 27, 1996 meeting as submitted. Mation was seconded by WiZliam Allen. The vote on the motion was; Rr�rurlr�l �'�zj���, Safety Commi.ttee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 2 Tam Ha,11 - for William Allen - for Stephen Allison - for Archie Garrett - for Bob Pieris - for Th� motion was there�ore passed and adopted and the minutes were approved as submitted. IV. OLD BUSINESS A) Creation of.a Village Wide Safety Policy -{Discussionj Chairman Tom Hall reminded the Committeemeznbers that they had been given a suggested policy at a previous meeting with 18 general rules. Suggestions had been made that the policy was too lengthy and possibly not specific enough. Chairman Hall explained tha� the policy would have to be reviewed by the Village Attorney and the two unions betore final adoption; and request�d that all Committeemembers �'eview the 18 rules and think about them. Chairman Hall reported that he had learned that day that the State of Florida Department of Labor would come to the Village and do a needs assessment and also help the Committee put together a program. This would be done at no charge, and would be a great benefit to the Committee. Chairman Hall explained that the Departmen� of Labor was sending material to him which should be helpful. Bob Pieris made a motion to authorize Tom Hall to contin�e conversations with the �tate of F].orfda Department of Labor and bring �.nformatian abtained from th� Department to the next meeting. Motion was seconded by Stephen Allison. The vote on the motion was: Tom Hall - for Wi].liam Al1en - for Stephen Allison - for Safety Committee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 3 --�-------------� Archie Garrett - for Bob Pieris - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted. During further discussion, Chairman Hall explained that the Department of Labor representatives would provide samples of safety rules on a computer disk provided by the Village, with some being site specific and some being general, The information could then be changed to fit the needs of the Village. Chairman Hall c�mmented that the information, when received, would be disseminated to the Committeemembers for study. Committeemember Pieris expressed concern that if the Department of Labor advised that something was needed which would cost the Village money and it was not done because of the cost, that the Village might be responsible and placed in an unfavorable situation. Chairman Hall commented that �uch questions would be asked of a RISCORP representative and also the Depar�ment of Labor representative, Committeemember A�lison commented that the 18 rules in the suggested policy were very general and many did nat apply to specific departments, while �hings that should apply were missing. Chairman Hall indicated that �he experts woul�. be consulted. Discussion ensued regarding general ztems as opposed to those in the SQPs of specific departments. Chairman Hall requested that each Contimitteemember review the list to determine the appropriateness of each item before the next meeting. B} Drug-Free Workplace - (Update) Chairman Ha11 explained that 1�ISCORP had provided a sample Drug-Free Workplace policy which had been forwarded to the Village Labor Attorney for review, and that the attorney was currently in the process of making additions and changes. When completed and approved by the attorney, copies would be forwarded to each of the two unions advising them �hat the policy was to be implemented and requesting their comments. Chairman Ha11 explained that to successfully im.plement a Drug-FrEe Workplace Palicy, the Village was required to have a Medical Review Officer--a physician trained in treating Safety Committee Meeting Minutes �ataber 8, 1996 Page 4 drug abuse, administering drug policies, and drug testing. The services of a certified testing lab must also be obtained. The names of the doctor and the laboratory must be listed in the policy. Chairman Hal1 sta�ed that the attorney's review of the policy was expected to be completed in approximately a week. Committeemember Pieris commented that many companies had implemented the dr�g-free workplace policy to get a break on insurance premium rates, and questioned whether there would be a significant reduction in rates for the Village since employees were already tested during annual physicals. Chairman Hall responded that d�partments other than the firefighters did not conduct annual physicals for their workers. Chairman Hall explained that the policy would be applicable only at time af hiring and if there was a reasonable suspicion that an employee was under the influence of drugs, and that a specified procedure must be followed, so that no employee cauld be singled out without reasonable suspicion. C. Discussion of O5HA Form 200 Chairman Hall explained that clarification from RTSCORP had been received regarding the discussion at the last meeting about whether paramedics being exposed to blood would have to be listed on OSHA form 2Q0 and posted. RISCORP had advised that would not need to be listed unless it resulted in injury or fatality of an employee. Fo� other employees, any injury must be reparted and logged. V. NEW BUSINESS A) Discuss duties and functions of the Safety Com�na.ttee and its organization per F.S. 442.012 Chairman Hall reminded the Committee that at the last meeting the Committee had proposed that discussion regarding duties and functions of the Committee be held at this meeting; however, with so many members absent, Chairman Hall recommended that thi� item be delayed to Safety Comma.ttee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Pa�ge 5 the nex� meeting. Chairman Hall. read aloud for the record the four duties and functions of the Safety Committee per FZorida Statute 442.012: 1. Establish procedures for workplace safety inspections by the committee. 2. Establish procedures to investigate all workplace acci�ents and safety-related incidents, illnesses, and deaths. 3. Evaluate acciden� prevention and illness prevention programs. 4. Prescribe guidelines for training of Safety Committee members. Chairman Hall advised that the professionals should be consulted regarding these duties and functions. Cammitteemember Pieris questioned whether a committee of three would be established to investigate each workplace and bring questions back to the Committee, to which Chairman Hall responded that was what he envisioned, but he wanted to consult with the Department of Labor representative, since they would know what procedures athers had adopted and which ones had been successful. The Department representative he had spoken to on the telephone had been very emphatic that the Department was glad to come help, and to provide knowledge to make the Committee's job easier. Committee Pieris inquired whether the Department of Labor and RISCORP representatives would meet with Chairman Hall or with the whole Committee. Chairman Hall responded that he would like them to attend a meeting with the entire Committee and answer questions from everyone. Chief ATlison expressed concern rega�ding the medical questionnaire and workers comp history searches for pre- employment requested by RISCORP, since that was contrary to what he had been instructed he could do legally, Chairman Hall reported that he had cansulted with Michael Weyland who had advised that the medical questionnaire was legal and could be completed after a conditional job Safety Committee Meetir�g Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 6 offer. Therefore, a�ter an offer had been. made, hiring would be conditioned upon successful completion of the physical, the medical questionnaire, and a drug screen. Chief Allison questioned whether if something negative showed up on the questionnaire, employment could be denied. Comnlitteemember Allen commented that information was not supposed to be used against the applicant. Chief Allison stated that the same thing applied �o the workers comp history, and therefore questioned its purpose, to which Chairman Hall responded tha� it was to be used as a baseline to know what had happened to that person in the past, but stated that he could not answer whether that could be used to deny employment. Chairman Hall recommended that question be asked of the RISCORP representative since they were the workers comp underwriters for the Village. An example was discussed of a case in which an individual had had a knee injury in the past so that he might not be able to fulfil a firefighter position, but could be hired in another capacity. It was the consensus of the committee to invite a representative to speak at the next meeting and another at the following meeting. B) Tdentify areas of concern for study by subcommittees. and C) Appoint subcommittee members. '�he Committee discussed deferring these items to the next m.eeting due to the small number of Committeemeinbers present. Bab Pieris made a motion ta defer Agenda Item V(B) and V(C) to the next meeting. Mation was secanded by Williarn Allen. The vote on the motiori was: Tom Hall - for William Allen - for Stephen Allison - for Archie Garrett - for Bob Pieris - for Safety Committee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 7 ---------------- The rnotion was therefore passed and adopted. VI. ANY OTHER MATTERS A) Date �nd Time for next meeting Committeemember Allen requested that the date and time of the next meeting be scheduled after the availability of either a Department of Labor or RISCORP representative was determined. Discussion ensued regarding the frequency of meetings, with consen.sus that meetings should be scheduled more frequently, at least in the beginning. Commit�eemember Pieris provided a copy of his work schedule to Chairman Hall for use in setting meeting dates. Chief Allison commented that the RISCORP letter regarding workers comp history searches stated the information caould nat be released unless an P,.D� �ompliance agreement was signed. Chairman Hall reported that agreement was not included in the information received from RISCORP, and requested that item be listed to be addressed at the next meeting. Chief Allison also reported that employees had questioned him, inquirinq if the facility could not pass a fire inspection whether the workplace was unsafe. Chairman Ha11 commented that he would work on abtaining answers ta those questions so that answers could be presented at the next meeting. It was the consensus of the Committee to leave the date anc3. time of next meeting open an.d that Chairman Hall would notify each Committeemember in writing of the date and time after a representative from either the Department of Labor or RISCORP was scheduled to attend. Mr. Fieris suggested that if necessary, both representatives might be scheduled for the same meeting and a lon.ger meeting he1d. Chairman Hall questioned whether anyone had received information fram Village �lerk Manganiello regarding safety procedures adopted by other cities. Chief Allison reported that he had received information regarding the Pa1m Beach County and Broward County Customer Gouncil meetings, which Chairm�n Hall stated that he had sent out. Chairman Hall Safety Committee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 8 ---------------- distributed copies of the OSHA Up-To-Date newsletter. Chairman Hall distributed notebook binders to each Committeemember in which to keep the material. collected for the safety manual. The binders in.cluded a cover page incorporating the mission statement, Chief Weinand's preface, and tabs for insertion of future materials. Chief Allison suggested that if ineetings could be set monthly at a specific date and time that it would make scheduling easier for everyone. After discussion, it was agreed to set the next meeting to accommodate the representatives from the Department of Labor and RISCORP, and after that to tentatively schedule meetings for every third Monday to accommodate both Mr. Allen's and Mr. Pieris' work schedules. VII. ADJOURNMENT William Allen made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motian was seconded by Bob Pieris. The vote on the motion was: Tom Hall - for William Allen - for Stephen A].lison - for Archie Garrett - for Bob Pieris - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meeting was adjourned at 3:46 P.M. Respectfully submitted, O Betty aur Recording Secretary Safety Committee Meeting Minutes October 8, 1996 Page 9 ---------------- ATTEST: Tom Hall Chairman DATE APPROVED: l/- z s-9�