Bylaws
Cambria Heights School District
Workplace Safety Committee
Bylaws
Purpose
The purpose of the Cambria Heights School DistrictSafety Committee is to promote a safe and healthy working environment for each employee by creating and maintaining an active interest in safety by each employee and to assist in the overall effort to minimize the frequency of accidents in the workplace.
Goal
The goal of the Cambria Heights School District Safety Committee is to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses by involving employees and managers in identifying hazards and suggesting how to prevent them.
Objectives
The Cambria Heights School District Safety Committee has five major objectives.
- Involve employees in achieving a safe and healthy workplace
- Promptly review all safety –related incidents, injuries, accidents and near misses
- Conduct annual workplace inspections
- Monitor accident/incident trends and plan prevention
- Annually evaluate the Cambria Heights School District safety program and recommend improvements to management.
Committee Formation and Membership
Formation
The Cambria Heights School District Safety Committee is formed as a centralized Safety Committee.
Membership
All primary work places are represented.
The committee shall be composed of a minimum of two employer representatives and a minimum of two administrative representatives.
Employee representatives may volunteer or be elected by their peers. Management will select administrative representatives
The committee will consist of a minimum of 3 administrative representatives and 3 employee representatives and represent the following primary workplaces;
High School, Middle School, Elementary School, Custodians
Committee members shall:
Be permitted to take reasonable time from work to perform committee duties, without loss of pay or benefits.
Terms will be appointed by the superintendent in consultation with the safety committee.
Officers
The committee shall consist of two officers. Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson
Duties of the Chair
The Chair will be the administrator in charge of the district's safety committee.
· Schedule regular committee meetings and notify members
· Develop written agendas for conducting meeting
· Approve committee correspondence and reports
· Conduct meetings in an orderly fashion and ensure all members are heard.
· Record, prepare and distribute (post) meeting minutes
· Conduct meeting in absence of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
· Maintain a current membership list
· Maintain training records
· Hold meeting time to 1 hour
· Report monthly committee activities to senior management
Duties of the Vice-Chair (Co)
The Vice-Chair will be one of the the other administrators.
· In the absence of the chair, assume the duties of the chair
· Perform other duties as directed by the chair
Duties of Committee Members
· Report and discuss unsafe conditions and practices
· Attend all meetings regularly
· Review all accidents/incidents, injuries and near misses
· Contribute ideas and suggestions for improvement of safety
· Influence others to work safely
· Sponsor or develop programs related to safety
Employee Involvement
The committee will encourage employees to identify health and safety hazards in the workplace. Concerns raised by employees will be presented to the committee in writing. The committee will review new concerns at the next regularly scheduled monthly meeting.
The committee will respond to employee concerns in writing and work with management to resolve them. The committee will present written recommendations for resolving concerns to management. Within 60 days of receiving the written recommendations, management will respond in writing to the committee indicating acceptance, rejection, or modifications of the recommendations.
The committee will maintain a log of all employee concerns, including the date received, recommendations to management, and the date the concern was resolved.
Workplace Inspections
The committee will conduct annual workplace inspections of all company facilities for the purpose of locating and identifying health and safety hazards. The location and identity of hazards shall be documented in writing, and the committee shall make proposals to management regarding correction of the hazards.
Training
All committee members will receive annual training in the following topics;
· Hazard Detection and Inspection
· Accident and illness prevention and investigation (including substance abuse awareness and prevention training)
· Safety committee structure and operation
Training will be conducted by individuals who meet the PA Bureau of workers Comp Health and Safety Division requirements for accident and illness prevention services providers.
Written records of safety committee training shall include:
1) names of committee members trained
2) dates of training
3) training time period
4) training methodology
5) name and credentials of person conducting the training
6) the training location
7) training topics
Committee Meetings
Meeting schedule
· The committee will meet on the first working Friday of every month @ 2:00 pm
Quorum
· Fifty-one % (51%) of regular committee members constitute a quorum. A quorum must be present for each monthly meeting.
Conducting meetings
· The written agenda will be used as the order of business to conducted at all safety committee meetings and will include:
o Call to Order
o Attendance/ introductions of guest
o Review and acceptance of previous months minutes
o Old business
o New Business
o Reports on open “Action Items”
o Accident/ Incident, near misses, injury review
o Discussion of workplace safety inspections
o Recommendations to management
Voting
· Motions considered by the committee shall require a simple majority vote of the regular committee members present to be adopted.
Committee record retention
The Chair will be responsible for record retention. The following records will be maintained for a period of 5 years.
o Meeting minutes
o Accident/Incident, near misses and injury investigations
o Documentation of annual committee member training
o Safety related recommendations to management
o New safety programs and policies implemented