Meeting Minutes

Western Area Safety Committee			5/09/06
			8:00 AM
			Chatsworth, Conference Room #1
Attendees:		Absent:
§ Bob Thomas (Mgmt/Olympic) § Doug Galati (Ventura/Oxnard) § Larry Blumenthal (Olympic) § Robin Downs (Valencia) § Steve Hale (Mgmt/Miramar) § Tom Oskin (Saticoy) § Tony Arnold (Olympic) Alternates: § N/A		§ Ed Wagher (Safety) § Eddie Rodriguez (Brea) § Jon Garcia (Mgmt)
		Alternates Not Attending: § Pete Schwab (Oxnard) for Doug Galati
Discussion Items: (Action Items are noted as è Action Item)
Safety Congress: § Bob thought the Safety Congress was better than last year’s. He pointed out that Distribution and Customer Service have many more attendees than Transmission. For our presentation next year, we should look at a topic that is applicable to all employees. Larry mentioned he wasn’t that impressed with the sessions that he attended. § Doug suggested (and everyone agreed) that we should decide on a topic for next year’s presentation by August 2006. Larry mentioned that our presentation would be smoother if we traveled it around to various bases before doing it at the Safety Congress. Bob pointed out that once we decide on a topic, EVERYONE needs to pitch in and help with the presentation. Safety Stand-down: § Everyone agreed that we should do Safety Stand-downs at all Western Area Transmission bases, and that the stand-downs should be identical at all bases, and should be conducted by the Safety Committee. The stand-downs should contain from 4 to 6 hours of presentation material, with the remainder of the day for breaks, lunch, and so on. We debated a timeframe for the stand-downs, but couldn’t agree when they should be held (except that they should be sometime in 2006). § We decided to solicit ideas from our bases for Safety Stand-down topics, and we will have a special meeting on June 6to talk about the ideas. We also talked about getting input from the bases’ DOMS. § Some ideas from the last Brea stand-down include a forklift safety “basketball” game, how to react to a spill, and a demo of a hot tap. The topics should be interactive and hands-on, if possible. Safety Person at Tie-Ins: § Robin mentioned that at Brea, a Safety Person was appointed and worked at a Tie-in. However, this person was not a management person as we previously had agreed to. We decided that we need to be more specific with our recommendation for including a Safety Person at “Big Jobs” (tie-ins or other large effort jobs). § Steve drafted (and we modified) a detailed proposal for an Independent Safety Observer - . è Robin will present this proposal at the next DOM Peer Team Meeting. Root Cause Training: § Robin contacted Don Myers about scheduling this training, and is still waiting to hear back from him. We decided that we don’t want to wait for the Eastern Area or Storage to have this training. Miscellaneous Discussion: § Respiratory Fit Test – Robin mentioned that “back pain” indicated on your medical questionnaire should be a reason for the doctor to interview you prior to being fitted for a respirator. However, he had to call the doctor himself to get an interview. Larry also mentioned that we had lots of scheduling and logistical problems with Industrial Hearing & Pulmonary Management, who are doing the doctor evaluations and respirator fit tests. The union (Dennis Z.) is now addressing this issue. § Producer Site MSDS – Robin pointed out that May Lew should be the main contact for ensuring that our Producers update their MSDS annually (as they are required to contractually). May Lew will be talking to Robin about this issue. § Strobe Lights On Vehicles – Bob mentioned that automotive/fleet had a meeting about this topic and decided to require the approval of the Director of Safety. We are still waiting to hear back from the Director, Jim Boland. § Circle of Safety – We decided that this action item is completed. We have rolled out the Circle of Safety Program (except at Olympic, where it is still in progress), and need to keep it going forward through use of the truck magnets. § Fire Control Stacks – Standardization of fire control stacks is still being looked at by David Taylor. § Off-Road Vehicle Training – Robin mentioned that vendors have been contacted. We are looking into a full-day class with 4 hours of classroom time and 4 hours of hands-on time. § Action Item Tracking – Robin reviewed the status of outstanding items (latest status is available at http://www.local483.org/Safety/Pipeline_safety.htm by clicking next to “Western Transmission Safety Action Items”): § Safety Banners – We swapped banners for the first time; there was one banner missing, however.
Early Agenda Items for Next Meeting:
Topic				Presenter
1. Safety Stand-down Ideas				All
2. Safety Congress Presentation Ideas				All
Future Meetings:
Date	Group				Location
June 6 at 8:00 AM	Western Area – Special Meeting to Review Safety Stand-down and Safety Congress ideas / topics				Chatsworth
June 21 at 9:00 AM	Joint Eastern-Western Areas				Victorville

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