06.54 HEALTH AND SAFETY

It is the policy of the technology center board of education to provide healthful and safe facilities, surroundings and activities for employees, students, clients and patrons. The board and administration are committed to this policy and will make every reasonable effort to comply with applicable laws and recognized standards of good safety practice, and initiate safety programs as may be warranted. Temporary expediency shall not take precedence over recognized and established safety procedures in any activity.

All employees shall observe and help to enforce compliance with technology center safety procedures and established rules.

All students shall follow recognized good safety practices and established rules and shall not take short cuts that jeopardize themselves or others.

The health and safety programs shall cover/include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. Requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Standards, Workers Compensation Law, Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its affiliates.
2. Maintenance of safe equipment, facilities and surroundings.
3. Safe methods and practices.
4. Safety Equipment.
5. Safety inspections including environmental monitoring of noise and fumes within the facilities.
6. Safety training for employees and students.
7. Procedures to be followed in case of an accident/injury including medical treatment and reporting requirements.
8. Accident investigation.
9. Accident record system.
10. Monitoring accident and loss records.

The superintendent and/or his/her designee(s) shall annually evaluate the technology center’s health and safety programs and procedures, revise those that are not adequate and establish additional ones if necessary.

Procedures and standard practices will be developed and maintained by the technology center’s health/safety department in compliance with this policy and all applicable law. All technology center department and campus personnel will subscribe to these procedures and standard practices once developed. These procedures and standard practices will include the following activities and topics:

1. Accident reporting
2. Defensive driving
3. Hazard communication
4. Bloodborne pathogens/infectious diseases
5. Forklift training
6. Hearing conservation
7. Hotwork/welding
8. Laboratory safety
9. Hazardous material generation and disposal
10. Respiratory protection
11. Lock-out/tag-out
12. Electrical safety
13. Asbestos awareness
14. Fire protection
15. First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
16. Recordkeeping
17. Required safety training
18. Personal protective equipment
19. Other related topics as may be required by law, regulation and board policy

The purpose of workers’ compensation temporary disability benefit payments is to provide income to the injured or ill employee during the time he/she is unable to work due to a work related injury or illness. All accidents involving injury to the employee shall be reported to Human Resources by the morning of the workday following the event.

The technology center has a legal obligation to provide the employee with reasonable and necessary medical treatment and to initiate the temporary compensation in the event that the employee is disabled and unable to return to work for more than three (3) calendar days. No compensation shall be allowed for the first three (3) calendar days of disability. The weekly amount of worker’s compensation benefits paid to an injured or ill employee for temporary total disability is set by law. Temporary total disability checks are issued by the carrier of the technology center’s workers’ compensation insurance and mailed directly to the home address of the injured or ill employee.

Filing a fraudulent worker’s compensation claim is a felony and, upon conviction, is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary or a fine, or both. The technology center will report to the proper authorities any suspected fraudulent claim of workplace injury.

An employee who has accrued sufficient sick leave days may elect to receive sick leave pay for some or all of the days he/she is disabled due to a work-related injury or illness. However, to receive sick leave pay, the employee must request leave from his/her supervisor indicating the number of eligible sick leave days that he/she wishes to receive. An employee can receive temporary total worker's compensation benefits and sick leave pay simultaneously. Any technology center-provided leave benefits requested to be paid simultaneously with worker’s compensation benefits will be coordinated with the worker’s compensation benefits. Coordination means that the total of all benefit payments received by the employee during any pay period will not be greater that 100% of the employees normal wages.