Safety Committee Minutes
School of Engineering
November 18, 2019
In Attendance: Rick Coon, Glenn Craig, Dave Honard, Phil Jones, Brian Lani, Lucy Lenhardt, Mario Loreti, Steve Nozacki, Steve Strom, Joy Armbruster
Members Absent: Faisal Aqlan, Anne Gohn, Fred Nitterright, Nancy Study
Phil called the meeting to order at 11:00 am.
Agenda Discussion
- Each committee member covered their Lab/s Risk Assessment/Activity Report. Any reports of new, moved, or deleted equipment will be added to the equipment database. Any lab concerns/new business reported on the forms will be added to the December agenda for further review.
- Discussion took place looking at the possibility of Retro-Fitting the Tinius Impact Testing Machine in Burke 116 for safer operation. Fred Nitterright obtained a quote from Tinius Olsen to add an enclosure on the machine for approximately $6,000. The committee members will look further into who operates the machine and how it is used, and whether a less costly solution is possible.
- Joy shared with the committee her conversation with Dean Lewis regarding the sharing of safety information as it applies to new Senior Design Projects. Fred Nitterright had suggested that, as part of the senior design protocol, a risk assessment be completed for the projects having safety implications before they are started.
- As an example, Mario shared information on an SD project that will involve a wire stripping machine that may have safety concerns. Lucy also shared that EHS has safety standards/protocol for homemade machines/equipment.
- Accident/Incident Report. An employee was injured when attempting to assist in moving a 55-gallon drum. One employee had the drum on a dolly and the other was helping to set it down. There was miscommunication on whether the drum was being placed on the floor or on a raised secondary containment platform. When the drum was lowered the assisting employee’s fingers got pinched in the top of the drum. The employees are both members of the safety committee and reviewed the incident with the committee. They both agreed that miscommunication was the root cause and that better communication will be used in the future to avoid injury.
- Discussion for posting the Risk Level for Labs was discussed. Fred had suggested that the labs be posted on the door with low, medium, or high risk to provide better awareness of the risk level of the lab at a quick glance. Glenn suggested that the risk level and the protocol associated with it be posted. The committee agreed with this initiative and will take steps to implement the suggestion.
New Business
Information for the next EHS Chemical Waste Pickup was shared with committee members. Brandi from EHS is asking that all chemical waste lists be submitted to her by November 27, 2019, to prepare for the pickup that will be scheduled in December. The committee discussed the fact that oil disposal is a different process than the chemical waste pickup.
Continuing Business
The committee will continue to review how best to handle card access for low risk labs. No new discussion was initiated at this meeting.
Pending/Resolved Action Items
- Ladder Inspections are still ongoing and should be completed and documented by December.
- A safety assessment needs to be completed on the Electric Jitney used at the Burke loading dock to avoid the possibility of future injuries.
- Mario asked about the status of Phil and Joy’s discussion with Tim on the No Food or Drink rule in the engineering labs. Phil reported that it is still on the to do list and a meeting will be scheduled.
The meeting concluded at 12:00 pm. The next meeting will be scheduled for December 2019.