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6uke uniycusity medicM ccnteR
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 11
MARCH 24, 1972
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Establishes Safety Committee
If
HARD HATS ON THE
^06—Maintenance employes now wear
hard hats while working, each division
with its own color. Some of the men have
taken to decorating their headgear-one
even has "eyes" in the back of his hat (or
is that head?), (staff photo)
"The University recognizes its
responsibility to provide a safe
environment for employes and all other
members of the University community."
So begins the University's
comprehensive policy statement on safety
issued several weeks ago. The idea is to
make Duke a safer place to work.
Under the new policy, a
University-wide Safety Committee was
established along with separate
sub-committees and safety offices for the
general campus and the Medical Center.
Marshall Fowler, the Medical Center's
fire marshal and safety officer, explained
that the biggest project the committee
will undertake is monitoring
implementation of the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970.
"OSHA is the most comprehensive
program to protect the health and
personal safety of employes ever set up
by the government," Mr. Fowler
Traffic Ban Set On West Quad
As the result of action by the
University Traffic Commission, beginning
March 27 parking and vehicular traffic
will be discontinued in the upper part of
the Duke main quadrangle from the
campus bus stop to the Duke Chapel.
"Though this will not have a direct
effect on Medical Center employes," Ted
Marvin of the Public Safety Department
explained, "we wanted everyone to know
about the change."
The reasons for the ban, according to
Traffic Commission Chairman James
Adams, include the noise problems
associated with so much traffic through
the area and the effect of parked cars on
the beauty of the main quad.
Barricades will be erected and locked
in place to prevent cars from entering the
area.
Anyone attending movies, plays, or
other events at Page Auditorium will be
allowed to drive back to the auditorium
to discharge passengers, but no parking
will be permitted there for such events.
There will be three exceptions to the
no-parking rule. Persons attending
worship or other special services at Duke
Chapel, members of the Board of
Trustees visiting the campus, and service
vehicles will be allowed to park behind
the barricades.
The action to bar parking and traffic
from the Duke Chapel to the bus stop
was approved by the Traffic Commission
upon recommendation by the
University's Educational Facilities
Committee earlier this month. The
facilities sub-committee of the
campus-wide Planning Committee also
supported the move.
explained. "It covers ail occupations and
all employes."
One of the most visible moves to
increase personal safety for Duke
employes is the recent plan for all
Maintenance Department workers to wear
hard hats on the job. Maintenance
employes have also been provided with
protective glasses to be used when a job
presents possible eye hazards.
Another policy recently implemented
concerns the storage and handling of
compressed gases, an item used
frequently around the Medical Center.
"These cylinders can be extremely
dangerous if they're not properly taken
care of," Mr. Fowler said. "We saw the
need to set up standards for their use and
then wrote up the policy."
The process of identifying a particular
need for safety precautions and then
compiling a policy according to OSHA
guidelines will be the usual procedure for
the Medical Center's Safety Committee.
"We're beginning to check into every
area of the Medical Center, determine if
any safety problems exist, and then make
recommendations to correct them," Mr.
Fowler said. "We want to expand our
program of safety observers (employes
presently inspecting patient areas weekly)
to include the rest of the Medical
Center."
Though the safety committee will be
working to correct any hazards related to
electrical machinery, flammable liquids,
radiation, and others possible in the
Medical Center environment, they will
also be checking standards for two items
recently added to the list of potentially
harmful factors; noise levels and air
quality.
Hospitals are not on the first priority
list for federal OSHA inspectors, but Mr.
Fowler explained that safety officers
from the U.S. Department of Labor could
make a spot check at the Medical Center
any time.
(continued on page two)