2.1 INTRODUCTION
A. Purpose
The Monroe County Safety Policies and Procedures Manual prescribes "Safety ground rules" for all County employees. It incorporates the minimum safety requirements to follow for the avoidance of injury, loss of time from work, loss of materials and property damage.
This manual also describes the structure and organization of the Monroe County Safety and Accident Prevention Program. It provides details on how to set up and manage each Division's Safety Program.
B. Scope
This manual applies to all County employees and other personnel under County supervision or control for their compliance.
C. Background
Most people think of accidents as cuts, bruises, fractures, etc. They think that an accident has occurred only when an injury has resulted. This thinking is wrong. Accidents and injuries are not the same. An accident is a mishap and does not have to result in injury to anyone or damage to anything. In some instances accidents are warnings that more serious injuries or damages will occur if the same unsafe conditions, work habits and practices continue to exist.
Heinrich's Theory has been proven to be accurate many times. For every serious accident an organization experiences there are 29 minor (first aid) accidents and 300 near misses that had the potential of being serious.
D. Responsibility
The prevention of accidents is everyone's responsibility no matter what position he or she occupies. Every employee is considered a member of Monroe County Employees Safety program and must be constantly alert to reporting and correcting unsafe conditions and actions. A part of everyone's job is to teach safety to others. Not being safe seldom affects only one person. The innocent as well as the person not being safe usually suffer.
E. Objectives
The main objectives of the Monroe County Safety Program are:
1. To provide a safe and healthful work environment.
2. To identify and eliminate hazards through inspections and personnel awareness.
3. To reduce mishap frequency and severity.
4. To accomplish thorough investigations of mishaps to prevent recurrence.
5. To minimize risk to the public.
F. Safety Principals
1. The definition of safety is: "Control of recognized hazards to attain an acceptable level of risk". The first step is to identify the hazards. What you don't know can hurt you! An effective inspection program is very important in identifying physical hazards and hazards associated with work practices and procedures.
2. What is an ACCIDENT: Falling bricks can answer that! The accident is the falling brick!! 299 times out of 300 it won't cause a serious accident, but if you don't identify the hazard and fix it you are counting on luck.
3. Accident costs are much more than you think. The direct obvious costs are just the tip of the iceberg. The average hidden costs are 3 to 7 times the direct costs. Actual costs can include the following:
Medical compensation
Hospital medical costs
Property/equipment damages
Equipment down time
Lost efficiency replacement not proficient
Investigation/report time (supervisor and others)
Clerical time spent on accident
Management time to review reports
Scrap/rework
Overtime premium
Training new personnel
Time paid to injured employee
Other employees' time
Costs associated with placing injured employee on light duty
Insurance costs
Public liability claims
Costs of renting equipment
Medical costs not covered by Workers Compensation insurance
ACCIDENT COSTS
DIRECT COSTS
$1.00
HIDDEN COSTS
$3.00 to $7.00
2.2 DIVISION SAFETY PROGRAM
The Division Safety program consists of nine (9) major areas. This program is designed to meet all applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and will provide a safe and healthful work environment for County employees.
The Following is a summary of the overall program.
A. Division Directors Support of the Safety Program
1. The Division Directors should appoint a Division Safety Representative. Also, each large Department and Section should have a Safety represen-tative appointed to equally share the workload throughout the Division. In this manual, Division, Department and Section Safety Representatives are all referred to as Safety Representatives. These safety representatives should be appointed considering their retainability and knowledge of the unit's opera-tions and duties. These safety representatives will form the Division Safety Committee. A list of these Safety representatives along with their assigned inspection responsibilities should be sent to the County Safety Office.
2. Accident notification procedures should be published and publicized throughout the Division. The State of Florida requires all Departments fill out the SAF-200 Log to be made available upon OSHA inspection.
3. The Division Director should ensure that corrective/preventative actions identified in accident investigations and hazard reports are adequate and estimated completion dates are met to the maximum extent possible.
4. The Division Director should ensure that required inspections are performed and reports completed on time.
5. The Division Director should support an Off-the-Job Safety program.
6. Required Safety Training should be scheduled and completed.
7. The Division Director should review the status of his safety program monthly with the Division Safety Representative.
8. Some form of recognition should be established for Division personnel who do an excellent job supporting the Safety program.
9. Annual Division Safety goals/objectives should be established and progress reviewed quarterly. Departments/Sections should be encouraged to set objectives.
B. Inspections
1. Self Inspections
a. All Division buildings and facilities should be inspected annually be the assigned safety representative. Each building used by Monroe County employees should have an assigned safety representative to do an annual inspection. Where more than one Division uses a building, the inspection responsibility should be shared equally between the Divisions. This responsibility should be agreed on by the Division Directors.
b. Annual inspection schedules will be developed by each Division. A copy of the schedule and inspection reports will be sent to the County Safe-ty Office.
c. Inspection checklists should be developed using the "Monroe County Safety Inspection Checklist" These checklists should be customized to meet the requirements of each Division. Additional inspection items can be added to ensure comprehensive inspections are accomplished. Unit Safety program management should be addressed. Inspection Reports should include corrective/preventive actions, work order numbers (if applicable) and estimated completion date. Follow-up actions should be accomplished, documented and status reports forwarded to the Division Safety Representative when significant actions have been completed.
2. Safety Administrators Inspections
a. The Safety Administrator should schedule and perform an annual inspection of each County facility. A copy of these inspection reports will be forwarded to the respective Division Director
b. Additional hazards identified by the Safety Administrator will be added to the Division inspection and recommended actions tracked. Actions taken on these additional hazards will be included in status reports sent to the County Safety Office. The Safety Administrator will correct hazards on the spot to the maximum extent possible. The Unit Safety Representative assigned responsibility for the inspected facility should accompany the Safety Administrator in the inspection. All inspections will be scheduled a minimum of one month in advance. In all cases the safety representative will receive an out-brief from the Safety Director. All items in the inspection report identified as requiring a response from the safety representative should be sent to he County Safety Office in a timely
manner. Extensions, when required, should be coordinated with the Safety Office prior to the due date.
c. After the annual inspection of all Division facilities have been completed, the Safety Administrator should complete an overall evaluation covering all nine (9) major areas. A draft of this report will be provided to the Division Director and an out-brief scheduled with the Director and the Division Safety Representative.
C. Safety Representatives
1. Each SAFETY REPRESENTATIVE should be scheduled for training by the County Safety Administrator as soon as possible after appointment. This includes detailed training on all major areas of the Division Safety Program and its management.
2. Safety representatives should attend the Safety training meetings periodically scheduled by the County Safety Administrator.
3. Division/Department accident reporting procedures should be established and publicized.
4. Based on the unit's operations and hazards, accident prevention information should be acquired/developed and distributed to work centers/shops. Information and materials are available in the County Safety Office and in the "Monroe County Safety Policies and Procedures Manual".
5. All employees should be briefed on actual County accidents, causes and preventative actions. This information will be furnished to the Safety representatives monthly by reviewing the SAF-200 Log posted in the area.
6. The Division Safety Representative should maintain the Division Safety Management book and file. This book should contain the following:
a. County and Division Safety Policies
b. Division Safety Program Status Form ( SAF-9)
c. Employee Safety and Health Record (SAF-8) for each employee. This form documents new employee safety training, job hazards, mandatory annual training, specialized Safety training, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) issued and PPE provided in the work area.
d. Annual inspection reports.
e. Hazard Control Log and all open Hazard Worksheets (SAF-4). Closed hazards should be kept on file until the Safety evaluation report is received. The Hazard Control Log is a complete list of hazards with their status -- Open, with estimated completion date, or Closed.
f. Latest Safety Evaluation report from the Safety Administrator.
g. Monthly Employee Safety Training documentation. Brief summary of monthly Safety training with attendance sheets.
h. Facility Inspection Checklists.
I. Hazardous Operations (e.g., chipping machine, stump grinder, bucket lift, chain saw, dump truck, etc.). Safety training briefing outlines and daily Safety Briefing Checklists.
j. Applicable OSHA Standards.
D. Facilities
1. All hazards should be placed on a Public Works Work Order and monitored to ensure completion of work.
2. Adequate fire extinguishers should be available and have a current annual inspection.
3. Flammable and hazardous materials should be identified, labeled and properly stored.
4. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) should be available to all employees where required.
5. Personal Protective Equipment should be available and used where required.
6. No Smoking and Smoking areas should be designated. Smoking is not permitted in any County Building or County vehicle.
E. Safety Training
1. Supervisors shall receive Safety training. This training is available from the Safety Administrator. A briefing guide will be provided to each safety representative and supervisor they should customize it for their specialized training needs.
2. Problem drivers should be scheduled for the Defensive Driving Course through the County Training Office.
3. All employees should receive monthly Safety training.
4. All training should be documented in the Division Safety Management book or file.
F. Vehicles
1. All vehicles should be kept in good operating condition. Inspection depth and frequency should be adequate to ensure safety.
2. Vehicles should be operated safely. The backing of vehicles should receive special attention and spotters used where needed.
3. Seatbelt use is mandatory. Spot checks should be made and discrepancies corrected on the spot.
G. Occupational Safety and Health
1. Applicable OSHA standards should be available to all supervisors.
2. All employees should be aware of OSHA requirements and their individual safety responsibilities.
3. Supervisors should conduct periodic informal inspections of their facil-ities and procedures to ensure compliance with occupational safety.
4. Supervisors should enforce the use of Personal Protective Equipment.
5. All employees should be trained on the mandatory items listed on SAF-8, "Employee Safety and Health" record.
6. All identified hazards should be controlled (corrective actions on (hazard worksheets).
7. A lockout\tagout program should be used where required.
H. Bulletin Boards
1. All major work centers should have a Safety bulletin board containing all mandatory items. (See "Monroe County Safety Inspection Check List” Ch.15)
2. Some Safety information should be changed at least monthly; e.g., On-the-Job Safety topic, Off-the-Job Safety topic, posters, newspaper/magazine articles, etc.
I. Off-The-Job Safety
1. Off-the-Job Safety information should be provided to all employees since most injuries nation-wide occur off the job. We are interested in the well being of our employees all the time. They all have an important job.
2. A timely topic should be covered monthly. The Safety Administrator will provide monthly Off-the Job Safety information to Safety representatives in the form of videos, briefing outlines, articles, etc.
| 
