2005 Environmental Health and Safety

Committee's April Minutes:

Environmental Health and Safety Committee

April 12, 2005 Meeting Notes

Present: Gary Hanebrink, Mark Shaklee, Nancy Mathewson , Eric Davidson, Adam Due, Heidi Hawkins, Martha Brown, Joe Barron, Jeff Boshart, Sandy Baumgartner, Dan Carpenter and Kathy Cartwright.

Tobacco-Free Grant and University Policy

Dr. Davidson distributed the American College Health Association's revised Statement on Tobacco Use on College and University Campuses. Eastern received a tobacco-free grant which will be used to perform needs and policy assessments. Recommendations for policy revisions will ultimately be sent to University administrators. In studies, policy changes have proven to be more effective than cessation programs/education.

Environmental Health and Safety Committee By-Laws

The committee approved the draft of the memo (cover for the revised by-laws) to be sent to VP Cooley. Item IV.B. of the by-laws will be amended to read “In order to have a meeting, seven members must be in attendance.” Dr. Brown will send the cover memo and revised by-laws to Gary Hanebrink, who will forward them to VP Cooley.

Other Topics/Reports

The annual light walk with students will take place at 8:00 p.m. April 12, 2005.

There seems to be some question about who is responsible for determining that everyone is out of a building in the event of a fire. In the event of a fire, the University Police Department (UPD) goes through the building, floor-by-floor, to make sure that everyone has gotten out. Gary commented that each Building Coordinator should have knowledge of any disabled people working in their building as those people may need help in getting out of the building. UPD can identify disabled students that should be in a building. Gary also suggested that each department create of list of phone numbers of people working in their areas. That list should be taken out when a building is evacuated. Should a person not show up at the designated emergency gathering point, phone calls could be made to locate them once more immediate efforts (alerting emergency personnel going into the building) were made. Perhaps each department's formal emergency plan should be revised to include the creation and use of that phone number list. Relative to departmental emergency plans, Chief Due commented that it's best if emergency gathering points are set as far away as possible (while still being useful in getting quick headcounts) from buildings to avoid further congestion/confusion around an emergency site.

Mark Shaklee reported that sprinklers will soon be installed in Carman Hall.

Chief Due reported receiving some complaints about the shuttle bus being a hazard when letting students out at the University Union. Relative to a recent auto accident at the University Union, the investigating police officer is of the opinion that inadequate lighting may have contributed.

Julie Griffin, Recording Secretary