Minutes of Employee Safety Committee Meeting on 03/25/04

Harvey Mudd College Employee Safety Committee
*******************************************

Minutes from Meeting on March 25, 2004

In Attendance:

Annie Atiyeh (Physics - annie_atiyeh@hmc.edu)
Lillian McCollum (Chemistry - lillian_mccollum@hmc.edu)
Elaine Guerra (Biology - elaine_guerra@hmc.edu)
Mike Wheeler (Machine Shop - mike_wheeler@hmc.edu)
Bill Casey (Dining Services) - william_casey@hmc.edu


Agenda Items:

1)  SAFETY TRAINING SESSIONS
    The faculty training session for the Five Basic Hazard 
    Communications, scheduled for Thursday, February 12,
    2004, was cancelled.  Although many had signed up, 
    only 1 (one) faculty member was in attendance.

    Fire Extinguisher Training scheduled for Thursday, 
    May 6, 2004, will be given in English only.  Training
    in Spanish was done during spring break through the
    Dining Services.  There were approximately 45 
    participants.

    First aid and CPR recertification is tentatively 
    scheduled for Saturday, June 26, 2004.  Kimberly 
    Rogers will provide further information at the April
    meeting.


2)  PAINT FUMES - SAFETY HAZARD
    Professor Patricia Sparks, Physics Department, had sent
    an e-mail to Annie about having difficulty working when
    a room in the sub-basement of the Keck Building was
    being painted.  F&M had notified the HMC Community 
    about the painting.  Even though the painters used 
    low-odor paint, the primer  was not low-odor, and the 
    noxious fumes were offensive.  

    Annie will forward this complaint to Theresa in F&M.
  

3)  DINING SERVICES SAFETY TRAINING RECORDS
    Records are maintained for 2 years in a hardcopy format.  
    Sodexo, the parent company of the Dining Services , does
    an annual inspection of all records, and requires the 
    actual signatures of attendees on a hardcopy format.

    Presently, no computer database is used to maintain 
    attendance records.  At Annieis  recommendation, Bill
    agreed to develop a computer database. 


4)  SAFETY HAZARD FOLLOWUP - PILOT LIGHT REIGNITION
    A procedure has now been established for the reignition
    of a pilot light in the Dining Services.  If the pilot 
    light goes out, the supervisor on duty will call F&M; 
    F&M will then send a CUC plumber to reignite the pilot 
    light.

    Cal-OSHA regulations stipulate that all employees should
    be informed of hazards in the workplace.  Therefore, 
    Annie suggested that a notice be posted to inform the
    employees of the hazards and procedures involved in
    reigniting the pilot light.  Bill Casey will follow-up 
    on this suggestion.


5)  DINING SERVICES PPE
    HMC has budgeted funds for the purchase of non-slip 
    safety shoes for all Dining Services employees.  Also,
    special cutting gloves are provided for those employees
    using knives and other sharp utensils.

    Bill Casey mentioned that the most common injuries, in
    the Dining Services, are burns and back injuries.


6)  ERGONOMICS CHECK LIST
    Theresa had previously volunteered to speak with Richard 
    Parker, HMC Director of Computing and Information Services, 
    about the possibility of establishing an ergonomics 
    checklist on the HMC website.

    After some discussion, the Committee decided to 
    establish a link, on the HMC Employee Safety Committee
    webpage, to Tony P's CUC ergonomics website.

    Lillian will follow-up with Craig Adkins, HMC webmaster.
    

7)  OPEN DISCUSSION

    A. Annie will speak with Sheldon about the future status 
       of his membership on the HMC Employee Safety Committee.
       She will also obtain information on the Committee
       budget, and other relevant matters.     

    B. Lillian will send a follow-up e-mail to Sheldon 
       concerning the issue of skateboard safety.  This 
       follow-up is relative to the Committee letter dated
       November 17, 2003.

    C. After some discussion, the Committee decided to hold
       the annual luncheon meeting in April, before 
       Presentation Days.  HMC Dining Services (Bill Casey) 
       will do the catering.  Annie will forward the finalized
       menu via e-mail. 


8) Next meeting:  Luncheon meeting, Friday, April 30, 2004, at 
                  noon, in the Stauffer Lounge



A computer record and a hard copy of this report will be kept in 
Lillian McCollum's office (2310 Jacobs).
  
If you would like a hard copy, send your request to Annie Atiyeh 
at annie_atiyeh@hmc.edu