Safety & Risk Control Committee Minutes
Meeting of January 17, 2013
8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
King Manor Conference Room
Present: Carol Schultz, Gregg Arseneau, Jim King, Sue Bradford, Jayme McKenna, Holly
Carignan (for Terry Paczynski), Brenda Erickson, Diane Martin, Paul Ziegler, Carla Schneider,
Sarah Saucedo, and Rick Ball. NOTE: The meeting sign-in sheet will be attached to the official
file copy of the minutes as required by HAI.
Absent: No one
Announcements
The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. and Carol agreed to take the minutes. New HRA
employees Carla Schneider, Director of Property Management and Paul Ziegler, Property
Manager for Harbor Highlands, were welcomed to the Committee.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting of November 15, 2012 were approved as presented.
Incident Report Discussion and Actions
The current incident report prepared by Deputy Director Barb Akervik was reviewed and the
discussion included plans for remedy, preventative solutions, and any needed follow up, on each
item. Carla Schneider will insure any needed follow-through. The completed notes will be
attached to the official set of these minutes.
Trainings for Calendar Year 2013
Brenda Erickson gave raw attendance data to Sue B. for trainings in 2012. The Committee then
reviewed the draft Calendar of Trainings for 2013. Carol mentioned that Rick Ball had given
approval to add a safety training to the February 20, 2013 All-Staff meeting agenda. The
Committee decided to combine the 2013 January and December trainings (AWAIR and ERTK)
and present them at this meeting. Carol and Sue have identified a video available from the
Minnesota Safety Council entitled Working Safely in the Office which will be shown to staff at
the meeting, and Carol will also provide a brief overview of the applicable parts of our Safety
Policy prior to the viewing. Carol also offered to begin working on Safe Driving training to be
held this spring through Housing Authority Insurance Group. As was the case when this was last
offered in March of 2011, this training would be mandatory for all staff who are assigned HRA
vehicles, and for those who drive significant business miles with their own vehicles. It would be
optional for all other staff, with supervisory approval.
Discussion Regarding Recent Aggressive Dog in Central Office Lobby
Committee member Jayme McKenna brought to the Committee’s attention an incident with an
aggressively-behaving dog in the Central Office Lobby recently. The dog appeared to be a
service animal but it growled, scaring some people, and then loudly barked and was not always
completely attended to by the client, who is a Section 8 participant. No one was hurt but Jayme
reported some were concerned about what could have potentially happened. Carol stated that
she felt that such an incident should be reported, even though no one was hurt, as a “near miss”
through the regular reporting system in the future. It was determined that the HRA should
communicate to this client that on future visits, the animal will need to remain under his/her
control at all times. Jayme will report back to the Rent Subsidy Department on the committee’s
suggestion that the department prepare some kind of communication about this policy to the
client in hopes of preventing a reoccurrence of the situation.
Report/Update on Asbestos Identification Project, MSDS Project, and Bed Bug Policy
Development
MSDS Project:
Sue reported that she checked with companies who help organizations/businesses keep up with
this requirement but it would still require work of staff and it would cost so much per page.
There would be a monthly fee that would be split by AMP. Sue stated that she felt we may be
better off doing it the way we have been doing it. Sue also said that all companies need to
standardize the sheets in the next two years. Rick suggested electronic files for this, but Sue said
the scattered site staff would still need paper copies. Rick said maybe they could check with
Brenda. Sue said we still need someone to gather MSDS’s for all chemicals we currently have
on the shelf because some of the data that was provided to Sue by staff was incomplete, so she
can’t find MSDS on all items. Carla said that the Property Managers would take this on in their
Property Management Department meetings. Carla will also have her Property Managers have
discussions on what chemicals they really need and which they don’t, and make efforts to reduce
to be more green.
Asbestos Project:
Sue reported that this was discussed at yesterday’s Labor/Management meeting and that she
needs volunteers to go through our records to determine where the asbestos is, what’s already
been removed in the past, and then having signage indicating same. She said we do have signage
at the AMP shops, but not sure if it’s been kept up to date so does need volunteers. The Safety
Policy contains info on how to clean flooring containing asbestos; for things like furnace wrap,
we assume asbestos is present unless it’s been specifically tested and cleared. Diane wondered if
we would also need to post any asbestos notices in the Rainbow Center spaces, including those
we rent to Interim, as the floors contain asbestos but Sue says this would only be applicable for
that flooring if it was being stripped. She also said that Linda had given the AMPS some
abatement file information. Rick stated that he thinks the Lead mechanics should take a lead role
in this. Diane also stated that she is worried about the ceilings in TT, because when we work on
them, we don’t tell the tenant anything. Although Sue says this practice is okay, Diane thinks
tenants should be told. Carla asked if we had a separate O & M Plan and Sue said we do not.
Bed Bug Policy Development:
Labor Management discussed this yesterday as well and Diane is working on this.
Other
Sue reported that the Minnesota Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control have
information/fact sheets on influenza. Sue will get this emailed out and Carol will put it on the
employee portal.
Next Meeting Date
The next meeting date was set for Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. in the King Manor
conference room.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.
Carol Schultz, Duluth HRA Safety & Risk Control Committee Chair