Minutes of Employee Safety Committee Meeting on 10/19/01

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

Minutes from Meeting on October 19, 2001

In Attendance:

Annie Atiyeh (Physics - annie_atiyeh@hmc.edu)
Kimberly Rogers (Human Resources - kimberly_rogers@hmc.edu)
Lillian McCollum (Chemistry - lillian_mccollum@hmc.edu)
Hal Van Ryswyk (Prof. of Chemistry and CHO - hal_vanryswyk@hmc.edu)
Elaine Guerra (Biology - elaine_guerra@hmc.edu)
Mike Wheeler (Machine Shop - mike_wheeler@hmc.edu)
Ramona Campoy (Dining Services - platt_dining@hmc.edu)
+Jan Brown (HMC VP/Treasurer - jan_brown@hmc.edu)


Agenda Items:

1)  TRAINING SESSIONS
    A session on Corporate Criminal Liability will be held on 
    Thursday, November 8, 2001, at 11:00am in the Stauffer Lounge.

    Annie said that she had spoken with Randy Ringen in College 
    Relations.  She has made arrangements for all future training 
    sessions to be announced in the weekly Green Sheet.  Annie has 
    already given Randy five safety tips, and one safety tip will be
    included in each Green Sheet.

    Annie has made arrangements with Mary Neu in the President's 
    Office to give a 5-10 minute presentation at the senior staff
    meeting in May, 2002.

    
2)  ERGONOMIC WORK STATION REVIEW
    After some discussion, the Committee agreed that the evaluation of
    new employee work stations should be coordinated through the Human
    Resources Office.  Kimberly Rogers said that her office could
    provide evaluation of the work station before the employee
    begins work, followed by subsequent evaluation(s) as needed.

    Jan Brown will present the suggestion to senior staff. 
    

3)  BUILDING AIR QUALITY
    The air quality testing done on the vent system of the Jacobs 
    Science Building was completed in June, 2001.  Jan Brown 
    received the report.  

    Based upon the air samples tested, the company recommended the 
    replacement of all air vents because their results indicated that
    the fiberglass lining in the vents was deteriorating.

    Malcolm Lewis, a board consultant and HMC graduate, was not 
    pleased with the completeness of the report.  He recommended the
    following:  1) another company should be sought to assess
    (not remediate) the situation; 2) talks should be held with the 
    engineering firm that designed the renovated air vent system for 
    Jacobs; 3) various new methods for testing air quality should be
    employed; 4) a complete facilities inspection should be conducted.

    Jan Brown will advise the Committee of future testing and future
    test results.   
      

4)  MAIL HANDLING AND OTHER BIOHAZARDS
    Because of the terror attacks of September 11, and the ensuing
    anthrax-laced mail, all HMC mail handlers have been provided with
    gloves.

    Elaine mentioned that many members of the custodial staff had 
    expressed grave concerns about including "autoclaved" biohazard
    bags in the daily trash pick-up.  She will communicate with Theresa
    in F&M to make sure that all custodial staff members understand the
    meaning of the "autoclaved" label and know how to recognize it.


5)  DINING SERVICES REPORT
    Ramona said that 9-16 dining services employees had recently 
    received minor injuries involving burns, contact with hot surfaces, 
    bee stings, etc.  The kitchen work area and baking area are very 
    confined.

    The Committe established that training in accident prevention
    might help.  In order to facilitate maximum employee benefit, such
    training should be in both English and Spanish.  The Red Cross or
    Ed Arismendi, EH&S Consultant, could help with this training.  Also, 
    future fire extinguisher training could be provided in both English
    and Spanish. 


6)  OPEN DISCUSSION

    A.  Lillian expressed concern about the manner in which students
        often leave their skateboards in very unsafe places (propped
        against walls in classrooms and left directtly outside the 
        doors of classrooms and offices). 

        Questions were raised concerning the existance of a College
        policy regarding the use and storage of skateboards.  Jan Brown
        said that there is a College policy, and that its importance
        would be again emphasized at the upcoming senior staff meeting.  

    B.  Hal Van Ryswyk, HMC Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) informed the
        Committee that all of the Department Chairs had agreed to having 
        one (1) Chemical Hygiene Plan for the College; the other
        alternative would have been for each HMC Department to develop
        its own Chemical Hygiene Plan.

    C.  Mike asked about various types of respirators, particularly 
        those used in industrial settings.  The Committee discussed 
        the use of SCBA respirators.


6) Next meeting will be:  Friday, November 30, 2001, at 11:00am
   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