Mary Dunn is First Woman Chair of Safety Committee 

Stopping Work for Safety Concerns: This was discussed at the O&M all hands meeting in Central County.  The discussion was about whether every employee felt empowered to stop work if they saw a safety concern, or whether an employee would do something unsafely if asked. Crew leaders and work group leads, as well as supervisors need to repeatedly reiterate this message to their staff to empower them to make the call if necessary.  This applies to work that is being performed by contractors also.  Maggie Dutton suggested cards that reiterate this message as a reminder to all employees.  Public Affairs offered to create the cards and distribute to all if agreed upon.

Tank Cleaning Incident: There was an incident during the last tank inspection at Bollman WTP where a coating inspector was in one of the alum tanks conducting an inspection.  He bent down to get a closer look at a puddle on the ground, when he began to feel dizzy and lightheaded.  He quickly exited the tank for fresh air.  Air monitors were being used during the inspection, but not for the specific chemicals that may have been found in the tank.  The tank had been rinsed out and ventilated the day before the inspection, and the ventilation blower was still running during the inspection.  There was no District staff onsite at the time of the incident - the construction inspector was in route to the site, and no District staff were notified until the following day via email.  To prevent this from happening again, the District may need to hire a consultant who specializes in working with toxic chemicals to do a more thorough cleaning prior to the inspections.  This is a good reminder for all staff and for contractors to report safety incidents right away and broadly communicate out as quickly as possible.

Health and Wellness Fairs: This year’s fairs will take place on September 26 in East County and September 28 in Central County.  This year HR requested that Safety Committee members help with the set-up before the fairs and clean-up afterward.  Committee members may also help with passing out freebie bags and with the key audit as well.  If anyone would like to do a presentation or game at the fairs, please contact the Manager of Health and Safety.

District Safety Committee Membership: Several positions were up for re-election this year.  The Committee elected its two new officers - Mary Dunn as Chair, Charlie Wise as Vice-Chair.  The following new members will begin their two-year terms in July: Gerry Morris (Construction), Sarah Laybourne (Engineering), Matt Kehoe (C.C. Distribution), Jake Elsberry (C.C. Maintenance), Sal De la Madrid (E.C. Maintenance), Colton Rogers (Los Vaqueros) and Vince Billingham (Operations).