Sonoma State University

Campus-wide Safety Committee Minutes April 1st, 2021

Minutes

  1. Review of minutes from previous month were approved as written.
  2. Accident & Near Miss Review (Workers’ Compensation)
    1. Four open cases in March, all employees back to work. There was an accidental sharps puncture in the SHC, an allergic reaction to furniture varnish in the SHC, and one sprain from the Archeology Department from field work.
  3. Standing reports:
    1. Sonoma State Police Department
      1. Sergeant Karl Mortenson reported police activity for March was light. There was a vandalism call, a disturbance call for firecrackers, and a report of battery that wasn’t pursued by the complainee.
    2. Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
      1. Roof Access procedures are being developed. This will include a permit for accessing the roof that must be approved by Facilities or EH&S. This is of importance to IT as they have a regular need to access roofs. Emergency Management asked if the program will include emergency access codes for elevators, the EH&S Director commented that beyond emergency response by the SSPD, routine access should be governed by the permit process.
      2. EHS acknowledged SST for their support during the recent inspections of the Chemistry Department, particularly Julie Barnes and the ISTs for the various departments.
      3. Stevenson Remodel- nobody should be accessing the Stevenson construction site for the purpose of taking pictures. Access to the site requires permission and an escort, or the project could be delayed. Christopher Dinno can be contacted for photos etc. should they be of need.
      4. EH&S conducted an analysis of injuries and accidents for the various departments within Facilities, acknowledging Kelley Greene for his assistance. EH&S would like to focus on Culinary Services for a like analysis, hoping to identify preventative measures.
      5. Christy Gorman reported that there have been 29 total EH&S Safety Inspections conducted utilizing RSS; the Biology Department is next with inspections scheduled on 4/22/21. Users on RSS has grown from 51 to 60. The Biology and Physics department have inventoried over 2000 chemicals using the RSS Inventory application. During this past year, Sonoma State has gone from one of the lowest uses of RSS, which is mandated by the Chancellor’s Office, to one of the highest uses of the software in the CSU system.
      6. Chris Angle reported that SPCC inspections will be occurring in April for above ground storage tanks and elevator motors.
    3. Facilities Management
      1. Dana Twedell reported that Facilities was continuing to support all repopulation efforts, Commencement activities, maintenance and building considerations. Facilities is preparing for the summer term housing activities.
    4. Student Affairs
      1. Ben Ellis is looking at REACH guidelines and developing individual COVID protocol information for returning students.
      2. Michael Eynon shared a robust calendar for the April disabilities awareness month agenda. Notable events are an ADA disclosure training video that will be recorded on April 5th explaining how to request ADA accommodations on campus, an event discussing graduate schools available for students with disabilities on April 22nd, and a panel with students with disabilities on April 28th. He would like maximum participation from the various departments if their schedules allow.
    5. CSUEU
      1. Nothing to report.
    6. Emergency Services
      1. Missy Brunetta shared with the group that California is slated to be in drought status this year. Controlled burns are being coordinated for the areas west of the campus properties, and EH&S will partner with Emergency Services to ensure that all smoke and air quality information is on the EH&S website.
      2. EOC orientation training is completed and a table top exercise is being planned for the June timeframe
      3. COVID- The county is progressing from a red status towards orange, partially based on vaccine distribution to lower socio-economic groups.
      4. Vaccination Update- SCOE has closed down the distribution site at Rancho Adobe High School. Vaccines will soon be available through medical providers to everyone over 50, with everyone over 16 following in the near term. There is discussion of providing vaccinations on campus for returning students. Reduced restrictions for vaccinated individuals are being developed, thus far travel quarantine has been lifted for the period up to 90 days after the vaccine series is completed. It is not clear at this time if vaccinations will be a requirement for campus housing or returning employees.
      5. Repopulation- Current dates for employees returning to campus is June 7th and August 9th buildings are expected to be re-opened.  
  4. New Business / Roundtable Discussion
    1. No new business was presented.