Safety Committee Discuses Silica Training, Improved Access to Canal Sled

The District Safety Committee met on Thursday, Sept. 14.  Here is a short list of some of the topics they discussed: 

Silica Exposure Training: There are currently 6-8 sessions scheduled. The second training was conducted this morning. Lots of good comments and suggestions have come out of these training sessions so far. One item that was brought up was the ATVs and what can be done to minimize dust exposure. This exposure plan will be a work in progress. As time passes, there will be additional risks discovered and improvements made. There are more risk exposures in East County. One of the Committee members asked about the weed blasters – this will be further evaluated. The procedure will likely be modified to add additional risk criteria based on the location of the work facility. An industrial hygienist is conducting the review of exposures, as required by OSHA. There will be additional backpack blower testing conducted next week. There was inquiry as to whether the District shares testing data with other agencies, through the new WaterXchange platform. It was noted that we do share information with other agencies through agency meetings with the Manager of Health and Safety, although WaterXchange will be a good resource once it is used more broadly.

Canal Sled Access: There has been discussion about installing additional gates along the Canal to provide staff access to the sleds that are used during cleaning. Staff have to climb over fences to access the sleds, which poses safety hazards. Management is evaluating whether to do this, but would like to explore all options before making a decision whether to install the gates as maintenance of the gates is a concern. During a meeting to discuss options, staff suggested exploring the possibility of using a remote controlled magnetized apparatus that attaches to a crane, which would then pull the sleds out of the water. There may be an issue with rigging, but some modifications may be made to make this work. Staff will meet to further discuss this option.

MSEO Pilot Testing: Standard practice is to have two MSEOs at construction work sites, and they would drive together in one truck to the site. The second MSEO would act as the spotter for the driver. A 30-day trial was conducted, in which the second MSEO drove in a separate vehicle to the site. The premise of this trial was provide a spotter at all times in a separate vehicle. This practice raised concerns about the increased risk of back-up accidents, as well as having more vehicles on the road, and going in and out of the yard and work sites. Now that the trial is over, we are back to two driving in one truck. It was noted that at times even though there are two, the second MSEO doesn’t always get out of the truck to spot the driver while backing up – which defeats the purpose of having the second one. This procedure is written in the Safe Practices Handbook and staff are encouraged to read through it for re-orientation. There will likely be additional training provided for this.

Injury at Traveling Screen: There was an incident recently where a Maintenance Crew Leader was working on pulling weeds out of the Canal between Check 7 and 8. He slipped and fell and injured his rib. Modifications have been made to the troughs since the accident, such as adding padding, foam, rubber mats and plastic caps. The spoils are being picked up twice a week instead of once, and Maintenance is looking into additional modifications. Engineering is evaluating whether to move the travelling screen to check 7 due to availability of power at this site, improvements will also include installation of a conveyor belt. Managing the weeds would make this process much easier and safer.

WRF Participatory Study Update: This committee is looking into options to improve the ergonomic safety of different high-risk tasks in the field. One of these tasks is weed raking. There was a vendor that came to one of their meetings to present an apparatus that could potentially help with weed control in the Canal using UV light. A video was shown where the apparatus floats slowly over the water and the light kills the weeds until they disintegrate into powder. This looks like a promising option and staff will evaluate it further. The video was shown at today’s O&M meeting.

The District meets again on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 12:45 p.m. at the Antioch Service Center.