Williams College Employee Safety Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 @ The Faculty House
Attending: George Aitken, Bob Briggs, Lisa Briggs, Gail Burda, Jean Caprari, Adriana Cozzolino, Scott Duncan, Kris Maloney, Pat Mancuso, Joe Moran, Norm Parker, Dennis Richard, Julie Seitel
Absent: Cheryl Brewer, Michael Chapman, Gary Lohnes, Pete Mazzacco, Jay Racela
Old Business:
- Facilities has hand trucks that can be borrowed for moving heavy objects.
- Regarding the crosswalk from the new walk to Paresky, Joe is in contact with the town. Options are being considered
New Business:
Incident Reports submitted to the committee this month:
- A custodian fell on slippery sidewalk at the Faculty House. Recommended corrective action (RCA): the sidewalk was sanded.
- A custodian cut left index finger while moving plastic on blade of vacuum because the knife being used closed on the finger. RCA: in future, use a more appropriate tool such as screwdriver.
- An employee slipped and fell while walking from the parking garage to Greylock bruising right wrist and both knees. RCA: be more aware of surroundings.
- A custodian suffered a pulled muscle in shoulder while shoveling. Employee was using a push shovel and hit a raised part of sidewalk. RCA: be more careful.
- A Dining Services employee tripped on the Paresky entrance steps suffering scraped and bruised knees. Joe is contacting Mike Briggs to confer with the architect for a solution to marking the steps more clearly visible.
- A Dining Services employee landed on left side of face and heel of both hands after sliding off icy platform into dumpster. Joe is seeking funds to redo the railing system.
- A painter suffered cut, bruised and strained knuckles: while carrying a table into spray booth the hand was crunched between table and sawhorse. RCA: use gloves and cover sawhorse tops with carpet.
- A Dining Services employee cut left ring finger on slicer while cutting tomatoes. Employee had been slicing many tomatoes for a long time and claimed to have lost focus. RCA: wear protective gloves.
Additional New Business:
- Lisa questioned safety of railing on loading dock facing main road at Paresky. Joe will investigate.
- Lisa said the temperature in Paresky dishroom was very hot. Joe commented that employees often open windows because of the heat which often makes conditions worse. Education of employees about the air handling system is key. Joe also noted that the smoke problem in the Paresky market place was being worked on.
- Lisa reported that the cooler alarms at Paresky seem to be too sensitive and often don’t shut off for a long time after reset. Joe will investigate.
- Lisa reported that the stairs going into Dodd kitchen have no roof and large chunks of roof snow and ice have fallen on them. Joe commented that people should look to the roofs for loose and over-hanging snow and report any to Facilities. He will also investigate.
- Jean reported that many student bicycles are chained to stair railings at Paresky making the railings difficult to use. Joe will investigate.
- Jean reported that an employee had asked her about water re-freezing on walks, Joe responded that employees should call in any ice problems.
- Pat expressed concern about ice and snow falling from Mears roof onto ramps, that people continue using ramps despite signage. Joe responded that covering the ramp by the parking lot would result in lost parking spaces and that it is an ongoing problem which is re-examined yearly.
Next meetings:
New Private on Tuesday, April 17
New Private on Tuesday, May 15
Return to Employee Safety Committee
