Employee Safety Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 @ The Lewis Room, Mears
Attending: George Aitken, Janet Bartlett, Cheryl Brewer, Bob Briggs, Lisa Briggs, Kim Brown, Cosmo Catalano, Michael Chapman, Kris Maloney, Michelle Migdal, Joe Moran, Norm Parker, Dennis Richard, Judi Willette
Absent: Adriana Cozzolino, Gary Lohnes, Pete Mazzacco
Old Business:
- Letter to the town manager concerning the poor condition of the sidewalk on Park Street: no response as yet.
- The dogs on campus issue: Jean Thorndike has made the following revisions on the suggested guidelines from The Committee:
- Dogs must be under control or on a leash
- Adriana Cozzolino will be point person for incidents involving people
- Earl Smith will be point person for incidents involving facilities
A letter will be sent to the Faculty Steering Committee for presentation to the next Faculty Meeting.
Joe commented how important it is that the Committee has expressed its concern over this issue and has made its concerns known up the channels.
New Business:
Incident Reports submitted to the committee this month:
- A B&G custodian suffered a strained lower back bending over to pick up what might have been a winning lottery ticket. Follow up: the employee was reminded to use proper bending techniques.
- A student summer employee suffered a burn on right index finger: the vacuum cleaner the employee was using suddenly stopped running and while trying to move the vacuum the employee burned finger on shorted wire. Follow up: employee was instructed to unplug electrical equipment prior to any adjustments.
- A second cook at Mission cut right index finger: after placing knife on counter, employee's hand slipped along the blade. Follow up: employee cautioned to focus more on the work at hand and proper knife handling procedures were reviewed.
- A Hopkins employee tripped and fell in the upper parking lot. Follow up: precise cause is unknown, but Joe is planning to examine the area.
- A B&G recycler suffered an abrasion on right shin: in the Health Center parking lot, the employee was stepping onto the truck and slipped. Follow up: his shoes were wet.
- A Dining Service prep server suffered a cut left ring finger: while cutting a pepper, the pepper slipped away. The employee drove self to hospital, received two stitches and returned to work. Follow up: employee was cautioned to stay focused and proper knife-handling procedures were reviewed.
- A Library summer assistant, working in archives, cut finger while cutting foam. Follow up: the knife slipped, true accident.
- A biology student working in Hopkins Memorial Forrest suffered wasp stings on left foot and head. These brought to a total nine stings the student had suffered this summer, each bringing on a more severe reaction. Follow up: the student was advised to wear protective clothing and equipped with an EPI kit.
- A Dining Services cook at Greylock suffered a burn to left wrist from hot water sloshing out of a pan being moved to a steamer. Follow up: employee cautioned to determine how much water is in pans before moving them.
- A summer Physics employee suffered possible laser exposure to left eye. Follow up: In the future, proper safety glasses will be worn during all phases of laser work.
Additional New Business:
- New Committee members: letter will go out to all support staff soliciting nominations. The following members will be replaced:
- Judi Willette - custodians
- Jody Kocsis - already replaced by Lisa Briggs
- Michelle Migdal - Sciences
- Bob Briggs - Facility Trades
- Dennis Richard - Grounds
- Kim Brown - Mears
- Janet Bartlett - to be replaced by someone representing Hopkins Hall
- Bob reported that he has numerous CPR books if people are interested in buying them. If not, they can likely be sold to participants in the next course offering. He also generously offered to help whoever takes over organizing the CPR courses after Bob leaves the Committee.
- Joe summarized the progress on the various (and numerous) constructions around campus. Though some projects will likely come down to the wire, generally the work is progressing well.
Dining Services Safety Committee:
- There was no report from Lisa.
Next meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 27, noon, Faculty House
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