Table of Contents: Chapter 6
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602 EMPLOYEE SAFETY COMMITTEE POLICY
602.1 Purpose
To establish a policy and guidelines for the implementation of an Employee Safety Committee. The goal of the Safety Committee will be to increase employee's awareness relating to all safety issues through a variety of programs.
602.2 Objectives
The objectives for the Employee Safety Committee are:
To increase the efficiency of the organization by reducing the frequency and severity of accidents;
To provide an opportunity to share information between departments about safety issues, policies, resources, and training;
To educate all departments prior to the implementation process so that all safety policies and procedures are clearly outlined and easily defined by each to ensure consistency can be achieved;
To coordinate training programs on safety issues which have Citywide and/or departmental applications;
To monitor organizational trends related to accidents and injuries and develop recommendations for ways to reverse negative trends and prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future;
To respond to legislative mandates regarding safety and work to ensure compliance; and
To provide individual employees a resource within their own department in addition to their supervisors for safety information.
602.3 Responsibilities of Safety Committee
Reviewing trends regarding work related injuries and identifying ways of preventing similar accidents in the future. Human Resources shall be responsible for reviewing individual injuries and compiling trend information in the aggregate for the committee to review.
Conducting periodic inspections of municipal operations and facilities and making recommendations for changes that would remove potential hazards in the work areas. (This should include a follow-up visit, if warranted).
Analyzing organizational trends for accidents and making recommendations for changes that would remove potential hazards in work areas.
Recommending committee goals to the Management Team annually, and developing an action plan to accomplish those goals. These goals shall be based on identified problems noted in the previous year, new legislative requirements, and increasing safety awareness throughout the organization.
Providing information to Department Directors, supervisors and co-workers regarding the activities of the Safety Committee.
Individual Committee members may be assigned to special projects as needed.
Composition of the Safety Committee. The Committee members shall be the Safety Coordinator or designee, Insurance Manager, Staff Attorney, and a minimum of one (1) employee from each department. The Safety Coordinator may serve as the Administration Department representative.
Any employee of a department is eligible for appointment. In departments that have an established Safety Committee, the City Safety Committee representative should be a member of that departmental safety committee.
Each department representative shall be appointed by their Department Director. Employees selected should demonstrate an active commitment to workplace safety. Department directors will consult with the various bargaining units for input on the departmental representative.
The Department Director shall appoint an alternate representative. The alternate shall represent the department at any Committee meeting where the designated representative cannot be present. The names of any alternate shall be provided to the secretary of the Committee.
602.5 Term of Safety Committee Members
Department representatives shall serve a two (2) year term. Department representatives may be re-appointed an unlimited number of times, although some rotation is encouraged in order to allow as many employees as possible to participate. The Insurance Manager, Staff Attorney, and Safety Coordinator will be considered full-time members of the Committee with no limited terms of membership.
602.6 Officers
The Safety Coordinator or his/her designee shall act as Chairman of the Committee. The Director of Human Resources may appoint an alternate representative to serve as Active Chairman with the approval of the respective Department Director. The appointee may serve a term as provided for by Administration and approved by the respective Department Director, not to exceed the term to which they were appointed. The Chairman's duties shall include, but not be limited to scheduling meetings, setting meeting agendas, establishing committees, and overseeing all projects of the Committee.
602.7 Meetings
Committee meetings will be set by the Chairman, but will usually occur monthly. The Insurance Manager shall serve as Secretary and will notify all members of the Committee of the date, time, and location of meetings.
602.8 Sub-Committees
At the discretion of the Chairman, sub-committees may be established to address specific issues identified by the Committee. These subcommittees may be dissolved by the Chairman.