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HomeMy WebLinkAbout14-082RESOLUTION NO. 14-082 A RESOLUTION REPEALING RESOLUTION N0.03-63 WHICH AMENDED RESOLUTION NO. 86-172 AND ADOPTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE ACCIDENT REVIEW COMMITTEE, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made the following determinations: 1. By Resolution No. 86-172, adopted September 2, 1986, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the Loss Prevention and Safety Manual; and 2. By Resolution No. 03-63 adopted August 26, 2003, the Board of County Commissioners amended the loss Prevention and Safety Manual; and 3. In order to provide and maintain safe and healthful working conditions for all County employees and to follow operating practices that will safeguard employees and citizens and result in safe working conditions and efficient operations, it is essential that a plan be adopted which will establish safety requirements throughout St. Lucie County; and 4. Adoption of the Policies and Procedures for the Accident Review Committee, attached hereto as Exhibit "A", will establish the above safety requirements NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida: 1. Resolution No. 03-63 is hereby repealed. The Policies and Procedures for the Accident Review Committee attached hereto as Exhibit "A" are hereby adopted. 2. The Human Resources Director is hereby directed to send copies of the attached amendment to the Policies and Procedures for the Accident Review Committee to each County Department Director for distribution to each employee, and to the business representative for Teamsters Local Union No. 769. 3. This resolution shall take effect on the date of adoption. After motion and second, the vote on this resolution was as follows: Chair Frannie Hutchinson AYE Vice Chair Paula A. Lewis AYE Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky AYE Commissioner Tod Mowery AYE Commissioner Kim Johnson AYE PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 17T" day of June, 2014. ATTEST: DEPUT CLERK BOARD OF UNTY COM TONERS ST. L CIE NTY, FL DA Y: CHAT APPROVED Ab TO LEGAL FOR~/j,A~NID CORRECTNE S:/1 ~u A ~ 1 COUNTY A RM - 1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 ~ = ~1 '~ Employee Safety & Risk Management Policy and Procedure Accident Review Committee I. PURPOSE: To establish an Accident Review Committee (ARC) to recommend improvements to the St. Lucie County BOCC safety program and to identify corrective measures needed to eliminate or reduce employee accidents and potential work hazards. The ARC shall also function as an Accident Review Board (ARB) to determine if an Accident/Incident is chargeable or non- chargeable, and to issue a ruling on the Accident/Incident. The ARC shall foster on-going communication and cooperation between employees and management on all employee accidents. Employee involvement at all levels of the County is critical for the County to be successful in accident and injury prevention. To accomplish this task, this joint worker/management accident review committee is established to bring workers and management together in anon-adversarial, cooperative effort to reduce employee accidents. II. DEFINITIONS: ARC -ARB means: Accident Review Committee -Accident Review Board carry the same meaning and consist of the same members. ACCIDENT means: Whenever a county motorized vehicle whether owned, leased, rented, or operated and whether registered or exempt from registration, comes into contact with, or is alleged to have come into contact with; any person, animal, other vehicle or other inanimate object, in a manner which results in death, injury, property damage, (regardless of owner and cost of damage over one hundred ($100.00) dollars.), vandalism, or is stolen, an accident will have occurred. VEHICLE means: Any car, truck, tractor, trailer, forklift, or other powered equipment that is owned, leased or operated by St. Lucie County. PREVENTABLE ACCIDENT means: Any collision involving a vehicle that results in property damage and/or personal injury, regardless of who was injured, what property was damaged, to what extent, or where it occurred, in which a County driver/operator failed to do everything that reasonably could have been done to avoid the accident. Page 1 RM - 1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 For purposes of Discipline, the terms Preventable and Chargeable carry the same meaning and are to be used interchangeably. NON-PREVENTABLE ACCIDENT means: The County driver/operator committed no errors and reacted reasonably to the errors of others and observed county policies, procedures, and training, including defensive driving procedures. The Definition of a Defensive Driver's is one who: 1. Commits NO operational errors. 2. Makes due allowance for lack of skill or improper driving practices of others. 3. Adjusts operation to compensate for unusual weather, road and traffic conditions. 4. Does not have a collision due to unsafe actions of pedestrians or other drivers. 5. Is alert to collision inducing situations. 6. Recognizes the need for preventative action in advance. 7. Takes necessary action to prevent a collision. III. Accident Review Committee (ARC) Responsibilities: A. The purpose of the ARC is to address employee accidents that affect both department and County-wide operations. B. The committee is responsible for making recommendations on how to reduce employee accidents in the workplace. The ARC membership is charged with the following responsibilities: a) to define problems, b) remove obstacles to accident prevention c) identify hazards, d) recommend corrective actions, e) identify training for employees, f) accident avoidance. C. The ARC shall meet as the County Accident Review Board (ARB) to determine if the Accident/Incident is chargeable or non-chargeable and to issue a ruling on the Accident/Incident. D. Committee Functions and Duties. 1. The primary duty is to function as an "Accident Review Committee". 2. The secondary duty is to function as an "Accident Review Board". IV. Accident Review Committee (ARC) Membership. A. The actual size and composition of the ARC shall be determined by the County Administrator or designee. There shall be an odd number of ARC members and membership shall generally consist of the following: Page 2 RM - 1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 1. Three (3) bargaining unit employees from different departments; 2. Three (3) management representatives from different departments; 3. Three (3) "at large" representatives from different departments. 4. ARC Members should have an interest in reducing employee accidents throughout the County's workforce. 5. The County Administrator or designee shall appoint ARC members upon the recommendation of Department Directors, the bargaining unit, or selected from volunteers. The terms of ARC members will be staggered in order to provide continuity to the ARC. The term for each member can be up to four consecutive years but may be extended by the County Administrator or designee. 6. The vote of each individual member will be given the same weight as that of any other member of the ARC. 7. The County Administrator or designee will appoint one member of the ARC to be chairperson of the ARC who shall generally conduct meetings in accordance with BOCC advisory board procedures. 8. The HR Representative shall act as ARC secretary and shall keep and maintain minutes of each meeting and send out notices to ARC members. 9. The Employee Safety/Risk manager will be present to provide the ARC with the investigative findings and answer any questions of the ARC. 10. Each member's Department Director shall designate another employee of similar position to act as an alternate member. The Union shall designate alternate members for its representation. a. Whenever the Appointed Member cannot attend an ARC meeting, the Alternate shall attend and act in their stead. B. Accident Review Committee Responsibilities 1. The ARC shall have the following responsibilities: a. Assist management in reducing employee accidents at their facilities. b. At the first meeting of each calendar year, elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson. c. Hold meetings as described and when required. d. Review and make recommendations to update safety procedures based on accident or near miss investigation findings. e. With the Risk/Safety Management division, review, develop and communicate safety and emergency procedures including; general safety, right-to-know, risk management, environmental and personal protection and any other health and safety related exposure that apply to the member's department. £ Report unsafe conditions or practices and accept suggestions for ARC review. Page 3 RM -1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 g. Assist with the Safety program by evaluating injury and accident records, identifying trends and patterns, and formulating corrective measures. h. Promote safety and health awareness and participation through continuous improvements to the Safety program and the County employee's health fair. i. Participate in safety training and monitoring safety training to ensure that it is in place, that it is effective, and that it is documented. C. Committee Meetings: 1. ARC meetings shall be held monthly as necessary. A quorum (Simple majority of members) must be present before any matter under consideration by the Board may be voted upon. 2. All ARC records will be maintained as required by Florida Law. D. Committee Training: I . Accident Review Committee members may be trained in: a. Duties and responsibilities of the Committee and the individual members. b. How to conduct Accident Investigations or safety surveys and recognize hazards. c. How to determine preventability of accidents. E. Decisions and Recommendations of the ARC. 1. All recommendations of the ARC will be considered by the County Administrator or designee but are not binding on the County Administrator. V. Accident Review Board (ARC) Accident Review Board (ARB) Procedures A. Initial Determination of Accident Preventability The County Safety/Risk Management Division shall make the initial preventability determination concerning County employee accidents and operational incidents that result in injury and/or property loss/damage. 1. All loss incidents are investigated and reported following the procedures listed in the policy titled "Reporting Vehicle, Equipment & Property Loss Incidents." 2. Whenever possible, the Employee Safety & Risk Manager will also have first investigated the incident, visited the scene of the accident, interviewed the employee and available witnesses, and taken appropriate photos of damage and the scene. Page 4 RM -1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 a. All such information shall be available to and used by Risk/Safety Management and the ARC when making their determinations. 3. The ARC will discuss the Accident/Incident, may talk with those involved and will make a determination. 4. Risk/Safety Management shall notify the employee, the employee's Department Director, and the HR Director in writing of the ARC's ruling and the HR Director will make a disciplinary recommendation to their Department Director and that Director will make the appropriate disciplinary action. a. Disciplinary action will not normally be initiated until the time period for appealing the ruling has passed or until an appeal has been ruled upon. b. Notwithstanding C.l.a, a Director may initiate disciplinary action and/or remove an employee from duties related to the accident whenever the Director determines the incident/accident was of such serious nature that immediate action is warranted. B. Employee Rights: 1. In all cases, the employee whose case is being heard will have the opportunity to be present and will be provided written notification at least five (5) business days prior to the hearing. 2. The employee will be permitted to have one person of their choosing with them to assist in their presentation to the ARC and may produce voluntary witnesses that have direct knowledge of the incident. 3. Employees may not cross-examine witnesses or staff. All questions must originate from the ARC. 4. The employee shall have fourteen (14) calendar days from the date the Risk/Safety Management Notification Memo was issued to appeal the ruling to the ARC (all appeals must be in writing and signed by the affected employee). C. ARC/ARB Appeal Process The written request for appeal will be given to the County Administrator for review. In such instances the County Administrator may order the ARC to reconvene for further deliberation on the case, or he/she may evaluate the facts and render a decision. Such decision of the ARC or County Administrator will be provided to the employee within fourteen (14) calendar days. 1. An employee's appeal process ends with the "Appeal" of a Risk/Safety Management preventable ruling to the ARC. Page 5 RM - 1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 2. Employees may grieve disciplinary action in accordance with personnel policy and if the employee is a union member, with the collective bargaining agreement. 3. If the Risk/Safety Manager has reason to feel that the ARC did not follow proper procedures and/or the guidelines for determining the preventability of an incident when making its determination, than the Risk/Safety Manager may submit an appeal of that ARC ruling to the County Administrator or designee. 4. The County Administrator or designee will review the records and reports but need not hear oral presentations when making a determination. VI. OTHER VIOLATIONS OF COUNTY POLICES AND PROCEDURES Determination that an incident was Non-Preventable does not preclude disciplinary action for other violations of County policies and procedures committed at the time of the incident. VII. Determining Accident/Collision Preventability: The County uses National Safety Council (NSC) standards as a guideline. These standards were established by the NSC and are recognized nationally. The foundation of these standards is reasonableness; they should be interpreted based on how a reasonable driver/operator would respond to a particular situation. Realizing the numerable accident types, possible scenarios, and ways adriver/operator can prevent an accident; these NSC standards should be used as a guide for determining accident preventability. "A preventable accident is one in which in which a county driver/operator failed to exercise reasonable precautions to prevent the accident. In other words, if a driver committed errors and/or failed to react reasonably to the errors of others the accident is preventable." "A non-preventable accident is one in which the driver/operator committed no errors and reacted reasonably to the errors of others, and observed applicable county policies, procedures, and training, including the use of appropriate defensive driving tactics." These and other Preventability definitions focus on defensive driving, not legal culpability. The fact that an operator who becomes involved in a vehicle collision is not charged with a traffic violation by law enforcement does not mean that the operator could not have prevented it. The overall performance of county equipment operators and vehicle drivers should be evaluated fairly and on a consistent basis. When an accident occurs, the following factors should be evaluated: 1. The events leading up to the accident, 2. The causes and conditions, Page 6 RM -1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 3. The accident itself, and 4. The post-accident events. 5. Driver/operator actions and/or inactions are factors that should be considered. The standard which should be applied in reviewing the incident is the concept of accident preventability. VIII. ARC Standard of Performance. Accidents involve so many different factors that it is impossible to set hard and fast rules to classify all of them as preventable or non-preventable. Each ARC member must make his/her own determination on each incident before them. In making these decisions, a member will answer the question "What standard of safe driving/operating performance do we expect of our employees?" If the County is lenient, it condones a mediocre standard of operation and safe driving performance. Employees respect a strict interpretation of the rules so long as the County insures that these interpretations are made consistently and impartially. A. Personal Vehicles and Use of County Vehicles for Personal Use If an employee regularly operates his/her own vehicle on official County business and receives a monthly car allowance or mileage reimbursement, his/her accidents that occur on-the job should be reviewed following these guidelines. Accidents involving drivers operating his/her own vehicles during off-duty hours shall not be subject to ARC review. Accidents involving County-owned vehicles or motorized equipment being operated by employees for County business shall be reviewed following these guidelines. 1. Regardless of ownership of the equipment, all accidents/incidents occurring while on duty must be reported immediately and are subject to this policy. 1. Accidents Involving More Than One County Driver When two ~ or more County vehicles are involved in the same incident, each driver may be charged with a preventable accident regardless of which one was primarily responsible for the occurrence. Although two (2) or more employees may be riding in or on the same vehicle, a preventable accident will be charged only against the person operating the vehicle. 2. Witness Statements and Police Reports. Each driver involved in an accident may contribute to it in some degree. If the "other driver" admits he was at fault, it usually only means that he sees how he contributed to the situation. Admission of being at fault by the "other driver", a record of the "other driver" being cited for a traffic violation and witness or police statements of exoneration of the County Driver/Operator are not, in themselves, Page 7 RM - 1.02 Issued: 04/01/2014 conclusive evidence to adjudge an accident "non-preventable." Statements of exoneration are generally based on legal responsibility without respect to the definition of preventability as used in these procedures. Consequently, a careful study must be made of all conditions to determine how the employee in question may have contributed to the situation by acts of omission or commission. Unless a thorough investigation indicates that employee in question could not have avoided involvement, by reasonable defensive driving practice, accidents will generally be regarded as preventable. 1. Motor vehicle and equipment accidents are events that should be closely reviewed to find the causes and to determine if some action on the part of the driver/operator could have prevented the accident. All motor vehicle and equipment accidents or damages, regardless of severity, are to be reported and investigated. It is only by the inclusion of all incidents that a statistically valid analysis of the causes of County vehicle and equipment accidents can be made and plans and programs to reduce the number of such occurrences can be developed. 2. The supervisor's investigation is performed as part of the department incident reporting process and should be done independently of any law enforcement investigation. The supervisor's report is an essential part of the review, but is not the sole deciding factor. Any enforcement action that may have been taken should be considered, but not with that action as the sole deciding factor. In other words, all such aspects must be reviewed in a combined context as the individual committee members are making their determination. The safety of our employees, our contractors and their employees, the public and County operations are paramount and shall take precedence over expediency! '~ ',n Approved for Implementation: / ` %~ ~~ { f Signed• ~~ ' ~ `` ~ ~ /~ Date: ~ County Administrator [-~ Page 8