Safety Committee Minutes - November 29, 2023

Update & Discussion on workers’ compensation injuries: Reviewed all recent recordable and non-recordable injuries. The Safety Committee will continue to focus ongoing training on the most common causes of these types of injuries.  

Review and Discuss Completed Quarterly Safety Checklists: No outstanding issues were identified.  

New Safety Checklist Forms for Departments: Jeff and John are working to update the office safety audit checklist to bring it in line with the quarterly safety checklists used at library branches. The ergonomics questions may be moved from the quarterly checklist to a more comprehensive ergonomics auditing form to be used on an as-needed basis.   

Review Incidents/Accidents: Two customer accidents were reported and discussed. There were no vehicle accidents.   

Fire Drills/Evacuation Plans: Dennis has been working with local fire departments to set up fire drills. Bethany went through one recently, with more locations to come soon. He is still coordinating with local fire departments outside of OKC. Feedback so far: staff and guests are not using the nearest available emergency exits. Visual and audible alert systems will be analyzed and updated as necessary based on these drills.   

Safety Meeting Topic for December/January: Slip, Trip and Fall training.   

Crisis Response Team: Dennis and Jeff are meeting to discuss the creation of a systemwide team with additional training for emergency response and post-crisis cleanup. Ideally, a few trained individuals at each location will be prepared to respond to incidents at nearby branches. While this does not negate the need for all staff to have access to spill kits and the training to use them, the model should improve our ability to quickly reopen locations while reducing the burden placed on local staff who may have just been through a traumatic situation.    

New Sorter for NW: The new sorter is part of this year’s budget. The plan is for the new sorter to be lower to allow staff to sit down while using it (similar to ED). Going forward, the safety committee will reach out to BUS to request notification when items are being put out to bid so they can discuss including ergonomic and safety considerations in the bid request.   

Tables/Chair/Room Setup: Staff should not be setting up and tearing down meeting rooms alone, especially at locations with tables weighing 50 pounds or more. Team lifting is strongly encouraged for large bulky items such as meeting room tables, and improper lifting techniques put staff at a much higher risk of injury. 

Safety Committee Thanks to Risa, John, and Todd for serving with us this past year. New members are being considered for next year.    

Audits/walk-through:

Good: Slider-style paper cutters. 

Good: Customers do not have direct access to staff area. 

Good: Automatic fire suppression system in book drop 

Improvement: Move carts away from electrical closet door to provide quick access for emergency workers. 

Improvement: The city still needs to add parking lot lighting. 

Improvement: Items should not be stored above head height on top of workroom storage cabinets.   

Next Safety Committee Mtg: 1/31/2024 @ 2:00pm. Location TBD.