October 2021 Safety Committee Minutes

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MINUTES OF ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY SAFETY COMMITTEE HELD VIA ZOOM

ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021 STARTING AT 8:00 AM.

 Chairperson:   Nick Ormasen, Co-Chair

 Present:            Patrick Gagnon, Co-Chair, Susan Johnson, Secretary, Bob Hance, Traci Grainger, Ethan

                            Townsend, Jim Kozsan, Tara Tent, Marsha Sawyer, Stacie Olney-LaPierre, Kasarian Dane,  Bill Ritchie,

                            Mary Charleston, Sharmela Garcia-Martin, Jill Pflugheber and Suna Stone

Apologies:        Naomi Fernandez, David Geleta, Marcus Sherburne, Noelle Black, Tim Kinch, Stacy Vassar,

                            Steve Richards and John O’Connor

 Open comments, introductions and guests 

Approval of the Minutes

New Business:

  1. Accident Reporting System: Employees are required to complete an accident report within 24 hours of the accident and must let their supervisor know immediately. 

It is important to complete the form even if you think you don't require medical attention. It often happens that medical attention isn't needed until well after an accident

takes place, and filing claims is more difficult if there is no corresponding accident report. Delays in reporting accidents have a direct impact on the University’s insurance rates.

If medical aid is required, Safety and Security should be notified.  The reporting form is now available online at https://www.stlawu.edu/offices/environmental-health-and-safety/incidentinjury-form

  1. HERO ACT: The New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act) was signed into law on May 5, 2021. The law mandates extensive new workplace health and safety

protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the NY HERO Act is to protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne

infectious disease outbreak. On September 6, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease under the HERO Act.

This designation requires all employers to implement workplace safety plans. Under this new law, the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL), in consultation with the NYS Department of Health, has developed a new Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard, a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, and various industry-specific model plans for the prevention of airborne infectious disease. Employers can choose to adopt the applicable policy template/plan provided by NYS DOL or establish an alternative plan that meets or exceeds the standard’s minimum requirements. The airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans must go into effect when an airborne infectious disease is designated by the New York State

Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health.  The University will be implementing a rollout plan and

sending an email with a training link the week of October 4th, 2021. All employees will have to complete the on-line training.

  1. NYS Fire Fall inspection update: The academic fire inspections will begin Thursday, October 7th, 2021. Residence Hall inspections will follow. Most common infractions include extension cords,

power strips used incorrectly and personal portable heaters. Please be sure to keep all egress exits clear. If you have any questions, please reach out to Bill Ritchie.

  1. Addition of Fall protection safety equipment in Johnson Hall of Science and Gulick Theater: the JHS 4th floor penthouse mechanical room is not accessible by an elevator. The existing

material hoist way at this location has been updated with an anchor point, self-retracting lifeline, and safety harness to allow for proper fall protection. In Gulick, there are 2 caged ladders

that lead up to the catwalk approximately 50 feet high. Anchor points with self-retractable safety lines will be installed.

  1. Radiation Program: Summarized by Jill Pflugheber “The Radiation Safety Committee met, discussed, and agreed that it would be appropriate to consider terminating our radioactive materials portion of our radiation

license.  We discussed this possibility with potential users and science department chairs. All agreed this would be a prudent option that would reduce both university costs and liabilities. 

Jill then asked for a received the approval to terminate that portion of our license from Dean Schonberg and President Fox.  Jill submitted an amendment to our radiation license with NYSDOH.  Our license to purchase and use radioactive materials was subsequently terminate by NYSDOH on April 21, 2021. It’s important to note that we still maintain license and registration for radiation instrumentation such as the XRD, XRF, and SEM, and we are allowed to have small exempt quantity seal sources for training and didactic purposes.”

  1. Confined Space Rescue Team: Training has been completed and certification will take place soon. Per regulation, a safety team was created and is now in place for confined space work. Traci

asked if the other 3 schools have this kind of team and capability in place and wondered if we  should offer our services to them. This is being explored. Anyone interested in becoming a member

of the Confined Space Rescue Team is asked to contact Nick Ormasen at nick@stlawu.edu

Old Business:

  1. Discussion of faculty/staff pet policy: Draft has been completed and will be submitted to Senior Staff for review/approval.  

Tabled:

  1. Review updated integrated pest management plan – Marcus/Suna will bring draft to a Fall  meeting.

Future Meetings:

The meetings will continue to be the first Friday of the month: 11/5/21, 12/3/21, 2/4/22, 3/4/22, 4/1/22 and 5/6/22. The meetings will be conducted via Zoom until in-person meetings are approved when

conditions allow and then will be held in the Torrey Conference Room, located in the Diana Torrey Health and Counseling Center from 8am-9am.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 a.m.