The CSIT Building Occupational Health and Safety Committee Meeting Date: Tuesday Dec 11 2001 Time: 11:05-11:55 Venue: CSIT N335 present: Chris Gunn, Vicki Peterson, Bronwyn Schmidt, Peter Strazdins apologies: Roy Schid (OHS Unit) MINUTES: 1. Minutes of previous meeting. confirmed. Apologies noted. 2. Matters Arising: 2.1 Report on recent OHS Training / Fire drills (Peter) Peter reported that with Chris Johnson and Ian Barnes taking the OHS Training for Managers etc. and with Bronwyn Schmidt taking the OSLO training in October, CSIT is now up-to-date with its training requirements. Peter also reported that with Hugh Fisher appointed as Deputy Fire Warden, and Eric McReath as a warden, the CSIT Fire Wardens membership is satisfactory. 2.2 CSIT Induction Procedures Bronwyn reported that there was a checklist made ready, and the OHS section of the staff manual (otherwise incomplete) was forthcoming. ACTION: Bronwyn to make available the staff manual to incoming staff from now on (even if non-OHS sections are not complete). 2.3 Injury Reporting issues - new RACLOs (Peter) Peter reported that with Marshall Sheppard taking leave in 2002, Margaret Wigney will be the new FEIT RACLO. ACTION: Peter to update the CSIT OHS web page accordingly. 2.4 CSIT water quality Peter reported that from September, F&S have be flushing the main CSIT water pipe every working day at 7:30am, and the advice that taps in the area should also be manually flushed in the mornings before drinking from them. The hot water urns have been turned off. Chris mentioned that on the South Wing, people are only drinking from bottled water. He also reported that while further tests was undertaken in October, the results were still not known, despite several requests. The mood of the meeting was that the slowness of the resolution of this issues was putting the CSIT occupants considerable inconvenience and/or anxiety. ACTION: Peter to continue following up this with the OHS Unit and/or F&S, and to seek advice of Senior Management of FEIT if the issue is not resolved by the early new year. 2.5. CSIT Risk Assessments - discussion of a proposal (Peter & Ian) Peter circulated a document titled Health and Safety Hazards in the DCS, first drafted by Chris Johnson. This was discussed, and the following recommendations were made by the Committee: * that the OSLO together with the Safety Coordinator or Officer check the keyboard-related ergonomics and practices of staff twice yearly. * that the responsibility of academics towards undergraduate students in terms of Occupational Strain issues is problematic if the responsibility is interpreted as a strict `duty-of-care'. This is partly because undergraduates are exposed to such hazards from many sources beyond the control of the Department. If interpreted as an `advisory responsibility', it might be OK. * that there be regular (twice yearly) checks on the water and air quality of CSIT, at least until such time as the risk can be deemed negligible. * that a section Overwork and Associated Issues (proposed before the meeting by Ian Barnes) be developed for future consideration. With respect to the second item above there was also a discussion on the visibility of the document, in that there may be a danger if it is world-visible on the web. However, the document in some form should be visible to all in CSIT in a convenient way. ACTION: to continue to develop the document, with consultation with Chris Johnson as HoD DCS, for further discussion at the next meeting. 3. Review CSIT Hazard and Injury Reports (regular item) Peter reported that there was a new incident of OOS for an academic while marking exams. The Committee noted the hazard of OOS is one of the major hazards in CSIT, with this being the second such case reported this year. 4. New Hazard reports 4.1 CSIT resident pigeons Peter reported that in November Markus Buchhorn reported that pigeons could be heard in the ceilings of CSIT at the 2nd and 3rd floors near the center of the building. An inspection of the area revealed that most other occupants in this area had heard them as well. Peter reported that F&S were contacted, and said that the problem would be dealt with by a contractor expected to visit the ANU in December. ACTION: Peter to followup on this, and a permanent solution (preventing the pigeons from entering the building) to be sought. 4.2 Opening Suspicious Mail (Peter) The ANU guidelines for opening suspicious letter (possibly containing anthrax) that were circulated last October was discussed. As the associated risk now seems low, it was decided that no further action need be taken locally on this issue. 5. Other Business. 5.1 ANU Emergency Procedures Chris Gunn expressed some concern over the ANU standard procedure that the Chief Warden turn off the alarm until the evacuation is deemed necessary. ACTION: to be discussed at the next Warden's meeting 5.2 Warden names on Emergency Procedures Posters It was noted that the names of Fire Wardens on these posters displayed around CSIT were several years out-of-date. There was some discussion as to whether they should be kept up to date (given a name change is likely every few months) or the names be simply removed (as they are on the web page). The former was decided upon. ACTION: Bronwyn to update the names on the posters. -------------------- Meeting concluded 12:20.