October 1, 2008
Posted by Kim Ferguson (nkfergus) on [PUBL_DATE]
Environmental Health & Safety >>

SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING

October 1, 2008

Martin Building Conference Room

Attendance:  Barry Ingraham, Tim Crowley, Bill Egeler, Larry LaPlante, Tom Richard, Shawn Lahey, Nikki McNally – recorder

Absent:  Karl Jackson, Alan Punches, Betty Kent-Conant, Dave Guerrette, Dennis Albert, Dan Boyd, Bob Collins, Brian McDougal, Dean Duplessis, Bob Rice, Lori Googins, Sonny Michaud, Colleen Harmon, Greg Thompson

We discussed the Emergency Action plan on page 20 listing the member’s home telephone numbers online.  Bill’s concern was if a member’s phone number was unlisted then why it should be online for anyone to access it due to it being accessible on the college homepage. Shaw will omit the personal contact information from the site, we will list the member’s names and title only. It was also mentioned that there are other lists of names and numbers that can be combined with the Emergency Management Group’s list for one comprehensive listing of emergency and non-emergency call information, which will be compiled and disbursed as needed.

Items that need attention are the energy control procedures.  We need to focus on which areas need to be looked at for lockout/tagout on equipment.  We should be doing a couple times a month throughout the year. A schedule will be drafted and submitted to the safety committee for approval.

We need to do audiometric readings as part of the hearing conservation program.  It is to be done every 2 years, it’s time for another assessment. Dave Guerrette did the assessment last time and it will be decided on who will do it this academic year.

The Respiratory protection program needs to be updated.  The plan was created in 2005. The plan will be brought forward to the committee in our next meeting.

We had a fire drill on September 18^th & 19^th.  The only hardware problem was that an AV horn worked but the strobe light didn’t in the Mailman building Diesel shop. Steve corrected it within a day of notice.  Overall, the fire drills went as planned.  An e-mail will go out about the fire drills and the areas that need improvement.  Karl will receive a report on fire drills for the semester.

One concern was brought up that during the fire drill there was a mobility impaired student that was left on top of the stairwell.  The student waited for the stairway to clear so he/she wouldn’t slow everyone down when evacuating the building. What is the protocol with faculty in the classroom with these students? An evacu-track system is in place for this purpose.  Faculty needs to be prepared with these students.  It should be mandatory that all faculty to be trained.  Tim will mention to Dave Guerrette about administering this training.  Students that are mobility impaired should be aware of this as well.  Residential Life sends the fire department information of students living in the dorms that are mobility impaired.

On October 22^nd Peter Noddin from MMA Risk Management Group will be doing some training on back injury prevention, slip, trip and falls, and VDT.  This information will be going out to employees soon.

We discussed the recap of the National Exercise Program that was held on Saturday, September 20^th on campus.  The situation was of a bomb on the bus with perpetrators with a suitcase and guns going into the building.  Larry mentioned that the perimeter of the area should have been more secured so vehicles couldn’t pass through. There were a few Instant Alert telephone issues with the voice mail and Honeywell is looking into the matter. Senior management should be the only ones utilizing the system in case of a drill. In case of an emergency situation security contacts Jason Parent and he creates a message. There was some positive feedback about the exercise.  The state police had floor plans of the building which helped with the process.  Phase one took 2 hours to complete. Overall the exercise went well but some areas need improvement. We look forward to the critiques following the exercise. They were very appreciative for letting them have it on our campus and it familiarizes them with our campus.  They will be billed for additional expenses incurred as a result of the event.

Tom mentioned that the AED machine had arrived but was not placed in Andrews yet. It will be placed within the next day or so once it’s inspected and recorded.

A new chair still hasn’t been appointed at this time. We will be meeting first Wednesday of every month @ 9 a.m. with the next meeting scheduled for November 5, 2008 – location to be determined.

Last changed: Nov 07 2008 at 11:36 AM