HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Safety Committee Meeting 011002•
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CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
MEMORANDUM
TO: Department Heads, Assistant Department Heads & Supervisors
DATE: January 28, 2002
FROM: Phyllis Stirparo, Risk Management
SUBJECT: Safety Committee Minutes — January 10, 2002
SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
MEETING DATE: January 10, 2002 CALLED TO ORDER: 10:00 a.m.
ADJOURNED: 10:59 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chris Brown, Fire - Vice Chair
Bud Brown, Building
Jay McKee, Public Works
Ketty Labossiere, Finance
Glenn Brown, Police
Fred Rodgers, Parks
Phyllis Stirparo, Risk Mgmt. - Chair
OLD BUSINESS
■ A review of the medical treatment and auto accident costs listed below were
discussed.
2001 -02 Dollars Spent
Medical Treatment Citywide $24,901 Days Lost 41
Auto Accidents Citywide $13,351 Light Duty 8
2000 -01 Dollars Spent
Medical Treatment Citywide $233,506 Days Lost: 415
Auto Accidents Citywide $126,567 (37) Light Duty: 506
NEW BUSINESS
• The Committee Members need to come to the February 2002 meeting with 8 topics
for the 2002 safety meetings in their respective departments.
• The Safety Mistake Contest winner was Wayne Sidey in the Police Department. The
correct answer was the computer and mouse needed to be on the same level and the
posture was not ergonomically correct.
• The 2002 Safety Slogan was reviewed and approved with the graphics that had been
added. Thank you to Melissa Prindiville, the GIS Manager for her creative genius
once again!
• The 4th Annual Safety Council Awards banquet is on March 14th this year and all
Committee members are invited to attend. The City Manager, Mayor and Council are
also invited. Risk Management is submitting statistics for an award that will be
judged, and hopefully accepted, by the Board in February. This award is based on
the overall lowering of medical treatment cases in Public Works and Parks &
Recreation in as shown in the table below.
•
Also mentioned as a special recognition award submission was the overall
reduction of Lost Workday Cases seen in 2001 — down to 13 from 17 the
previous year. This is attributed to the Police Department's implementation of
the light duty program, as well as the ongoing safety programs in the In- Service
Training.
The Defensive Driving Program will begin in the Police Department In- Service
Training in April. Chris Brown will also be bringing this program to the Fire
Department. This program is a video series of situations where the participants
must respond to the questions in a short amount of time, as you would in real
situations. The answers are run through special software and areas of
improvement are determined for those having scored low in certain areas.
Employees would then have to test on the area needing improvement. This
method has been proven to be very useful in lowering accident rates.
2000
2001
Parks & Recreation
$55,513
$23,562
# of Incidents
• Days Lost
9
285
9
0
Public Works
$21,600
$ 3,994
# of Incidents
10
10
Days Lost
105
7
•
Also mentioned as a special recognition award submission was the overall
reduction of Lost Workday Cases seen in 2001 — down to 13 from 17 the
previous year. This is attributed to the Police Department's implementation of
the light duty program, as well as the ongoing safety programs in the In- Service
Training.
The Defensive Driving Program will begin in the Police Department In- Service
Training in April. Chris Brown will also be bringing this program to the Fire
Department. This program is a video series of situations where the participants
must respond to the questions in a short amount of time, as you would in real
situations. The answers are run through special software and areas of
improvement are determined for those having scored low in certain areas.
Employees would then have to test on the area needing improvement. This
method has been proven to be very useful in lowering accident rates.
Incident #1
• A Police Department employee fell in deep sand along a sidewalk causing loss of
footing and balance. He injured his ribs and wrist while pursuing a burglary suspect.
Outcome: Unpreventable
Reasoning: Committee members agreed that due to the unpredictable nature of the
fleeing suspect, as well as the unknown terrain in chasing the suspect, that it would
have been very difficult to prevent. Employee could not have predicted which direction
suspect would take once he abandon his bicycle, and fled on foot.
Incident #2
A Police Department employee was involved in an auto accident where another vehicle
attempted to change lanes and caught the rear of the employees vehicle, rotating the
vehicle onto the median, colliding with the guardrail and flipping the vehicle on top of the
guardrail, rotating again and coming to rest upright.
Outcome: Unpreventable
Reasoning: When a vehicle is struck in the rear, as this one was, the force of the
momentum cannot be overcome by the driver. The driver of the other vehicle was
• charged in this accident with an unsafe lane change.
Incident #3
A Growth Management employee sprained her ankle when she slipped on the wet floor
in the breakroom.
Outcome: Preventable
Reasoning: Committee suggested that Public Works put mats in front of all sink areas
in the breakrooms as a preventive measure. Also, caution must be taken when walking
in areas that can potentially be wet from making coffee, washing coffee cups, etc.
Employees should clean up after themselves rather than walking away and leaving it on
the floor. Laziness also causes slips and falls and can be very injurious to you and your
coworkers.
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Incident #4
• A Police Department employee struck a sign post while backing vehicle.
Outcome: Preventable
Reasoning: When backing up a vehicle, take into account what is around the car with
a cursory inspection before backing up. Sign damage was $2,000 in this incident.
Incident #5
A Police Department employee was answering an alarm on Christmas day at a
business that was closed. Officer went inside business to investigate why the door was
open, and another vehicle backed into the unoccupied police vehicle.
Outcome: Unpreventable
Reasoning: This particular incident would have been preventable if it had been a
normal workday where you would expect traffic turning in and out and pulling up to the
pumps to get gas. Extra caution should be used at this gas station (Shell on
PGA/Military) due to several auto incidents having occurred there in the past.
Incident #6
is A Parks employee was pulling out plants and came in contact with poison ivy.
Employee then wiped his face with the gloves, which spread the poison.
•
Outcome: Preventable
Reasoning: More awareness of what types of plants you are working around. It was
suggested by the Committee that it would be helpful to have posters for plants and
snakes in the park office or shed area. Phyllis Stirparo is looking for a source to provide
the informational posters to Parks.
Incident #7
A Fire Department employee driving a pickup truck backed into a parked vehicle that
was smaller in size.
Outcome: Preventable
Reasoning: When driving or backing up any vehicle, driver should be observant to other
vehicles in immediate surroundings. No police report was done because driver of other
vehicle did not want to stay. According to statute we are obligated to do a report when it
involves a City vehicle.
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