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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994/08/04 - Board of Health MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH r AUGUST 4, 1994 The Board of Health was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chairperson William O Hunter. ATTENDANCE: William O. Hunter, Chairperson Mary L. Faughender, Board Member Laura E. Porter, Board Member Dr. Mark E. Trucksess, Health Officer Steve Kutz, Director of Nursing Ion Siegler, Budget Director Jutta Riediger, Safety & Health Alliance, Inc. Will Satak, Health Department Staff Sean Hanlon, Journal MINUTES Board Members Porter/Faughender moved/seconded that the minutes of the June 2nd meeting be approved as corrected and the June 27th, 1994, Board of Health Meeting be approved as presented. Motion carried unanimously. - MASON COUNTY HEALTH & SAFETY POLICIES Jutta Riediger, Safety & Health Alliance Inc., presented the Board with the document entitled Mason County Employee Health and Safety Policies & Exposure Control Plans. Ms. Riediger volunteered her time to Mason County in developing this document. She explained that WISHA and OSHA were currently inspecting the health/safety/exposure control plans of Washington counties, and Mason County could be inspected at any time, without prior notice. Fines are imposed if programs are not satisfactorily in place. Ms. Riediger stated that the policies"and plans are only the first step in this program. Each county department would need to be evaluated and given a "risk" factor. Obvious high risk factors would be in the Sheriffs Department, Jail, Health Department, Emergency Services and the Fire Marshal (employees who would be classified as first-aid givers). Next, each department would have individualized procedures established to address the prevention of blood-born, infectious (air-born) and environmental diseases..Education, training, and equipment assessment would be necessary. Testing and record keeping would also be important. 1Iedical records are required to be confidential and located in a separate location. Ms. Riediger suggested that the Board approve the policies document. Steve Kutz agreed that this would be the first step, followed by each department deciding which points needed to be individualized. Ion Siegler commented that the elected officials/department heads and union representatives should be involved immediately. She noted .that a resolution signed by the County Commissioners and department heads would be necessary to institute a county-wide policy.Board Member Porter stated that a meeting with elected officials/department heads and union leaders should be set to discuss the reasons for and the importance of the policy. The Board concurred that this would be a combined-effort to protect the employees of the county. E , MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 4, 1994 - Page 2 of 4 Ms. Riediger stated that another issue that needed to be addressed was whether this program would be classified as occupational or collateral. She noted that it would be helpful to receive input from schools and other entities since alerting these entities that the diseases are there and telling them how to protect themselves was a part of the framework. Ms. Riediger volunteered to present the program when the Board decided to inform the schools and other entities. She also volunteered to perform a presentation for family members of county employees. . Ms. Siegler asked about the time factor in training the employees. Ms. Riediger replied that occupational training would be immediate and new employees would be given an interactive orientation at the time of their hiring. Mr. Kutz stated that all employees would receive generic training and some departments, like the Health Department, would receive training specific to their department. Board Members Porter/Faughender moved and seconded that the Board of Health recommend to the Mason County Commissioners that they adopt the Mason County Employee Health and Safety Policies and Exposure Control Plans and proceed with meetings with elected officials, departments heads and union representatives. Motion carried unanimously. } The Board thanked Ms. Riediger for*her comprehensive, professional service to Mason County. TOBACCO GRANT PROPOSAL Will Satak informed the Board that Tobacco Grant funds in the amount of$8,500 for the 1994-95 year were available, and that he would like to apply for the funding to be used by the Health Department for educational purposes. Steve Kutz agreed that in-house programs were needed. Mr. Kutz reported that he would like to get tobacco cessation programs started in the schools, and that he had been in contact with the American Cancer Society who would provide training free of charge to staff members to be trained as facilitators or facilitator/trainers. Cessation- oriented programs could be instituted at the high school level and prevention-oriented programs in the grade schools. Mr. Kutz stated he would like to develop an educational booth addressing tobacco issues for the high school's Health Fair in September. Another portion of the funding could be used to gather data. The staff would develop a community-needs assessment, provide intervention and measure the results at a later time to see if the intervention made a difference. Will Satak commented that rather than administering "stings," the department would develop statistics by surveying schools. The Board agreed that fact-finding would be considerably more desirable than any type of "sting" operation involving children. Dr. Trucksess asked the Board to consider enacting a similar ordinance to the one recently enacted in Puyallup which prohibited smoking in restaurants. He stated he would like to see smoke-free restaurants in Mason County, and believes that the federal government may enforce a i' MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 4, 1994 - Page 3 of 4 this action some time in the future. He noted that it discourages smoking and it was a way of preventing secondary smoke exposure. Mr. Kutz commented that it would not only be good for the patrons, but especially beneficial to the workers who are exposed to the secondary smoke during their entire shift. Chairperson Hunter stated that a draft proposal could be presented to the Board so that public hearings could be held. Board Member Porter stated that this subject could be discussed at the Restaurant Advisory Committee, with recommendations being made on the amount of lead time restaurants would need to become smoke-free. The Board concurred that the grant monies should be utilized by the Health Department. Mr. Satak stated he would begin the application process. COMMUNICABLE DISEASE UPDATE The Communicable Disease Report for the month of July was given by Steve Kutz. INFLUENZA VACCINE UPDATE Steve Kutz presented a preliminary outline of the influenza vaccination program. He stated that 2,000 doses had been ordered (same amount as last year) and would be received some time after October. The vaccines would be given at several locations in different areas of the county; the l dates and times would be publicly advertised. L� E COLI BULLETIN Dr. Trucksess informed the Board that recent studies on the survival rate of the E Coli bacteria in water supplies show that the bacteria can survive in salt water for extended periods of time. Due to this, there is the potential of contamination to shell fish. SOLID WASTE APPEALS PROCESS A written request made by Mike Tokos, Environmental Health Specialist, regarding who would hear solid waste appeals, the Health Officer or the Board of Health, was reviewed by the Board. The Board concurred that Mr. Tokos and Deputy Prosecutor Clift should be present to discuss the possibilities. Dr. Trucksess stated he would be willing to continue hearing the appeals during the year. Realizing the number of appeals would be increasing but his available hours would not, he stated he would evaluate the situation as it went along. Board Members Faughender/Porter moved and seconded that the matter of who will hear solid waste appeals, the Health Officer or the Board of Health, would be tabled until the next Board of Health meeting. Motion carried unanimously. EDUCATIONAL BROCHURE Board Member Porter stated that she had discussed with Dr. Trucksess the possibility of developing a short educational brochure which would address human waste-related illnesses, and MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 4, 1994 - Page 4 of 4 that Dr. Trucksess had written an excellent outline for this purpose. She stated that the public needed to understand the potential problems associated with using failing septic systems. Mr. Kutz commented that he has been in contact with the communicable disease educator on this subject. Board Member Porter stated that a working committee was being developed to work on the brochure in conjunction with assistance from the Department'of Health. WEBB HILL TREATED-SLUDGE SITE Chairperson Hunter thanked the Health Department for their excellent presentation to the approximately 15 citizens who attended a meeting to learn about the treated material at the sludge site located on Webb Hill. He noted that there would be additional meetings in the future, and invited the other two Board of Health members to attend. Board Members Faughender/Porter moved and seconded that the Board of Health meeting be adjourned at 11:05 a.m. Motion carried unanimously. MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH ef William O. Hunter, Chairperson Laura E. Porter, Board ber M. L. Faughender, oard Member Respectfully submitted, Lorraine Coots � i