JACKSON Tenn (June 24, 2015) — A JMCS School employee quits and TOSHA inspection cites safety concerns for Jackson Madison County School System, Maintenance Operations.
According to John Mills, JMCS facilities director, the decision has been made to move many of the maintenance jobs from being contracted to a “DIY” preventative maintenance operation by JMCS maintenance employees.
Roofing is one of those jobs that is now going to be done internally. One employee has now resigned over lack of training and concern for personal safety after a Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) inspection of one of those internal roofing jobs noted employee safety issues.
Mills said an anonymous call to Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) about the roofing work underway at Northside High school is what brought the inspector to the site on May 27th. On the first day the inspector informed Mills that a safety zone must be established a certain distance from the edge of the roof and marked. Spotters were also recommended.
According to Mills,at the time two employees were on the roof shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow and dumping it off the edge into a truck. The employees were also doing other maintenance work on the roof.
The inspector returned the next day and told the JMCS maintenance crew that the safety zone was not sufficient and workers would have to have safety harnesses and tethers at all times when performing roof repairs or maintenance.
One worker returned to the roof later that day with a tether and harness and resumed work. The second worker had already arranged to take the rest of the day off, according to Mills.
In a resignation letter, submitted by Eddie Austin June 2, Austin refers to roof work as one reason for his resignation.
“I was unaware that I was supposed to wear a safety harness and receive proper training before taking on this job,” Austin wrote. “I just did as I was told, and in doing so was putting my own safety at risk. ”
Mills said he had been unaware that work conducted on flat roofs, like most in the school system, required a harness.
There was at least one other instance recently of roof work being done at a JMC school building by maintenance employees. In that instance Mills confirmed that three-man crew also did not wear harnesses.
“But now that we know we need to be harnessed, there will be nobody on a flat roof without a harness” Mills said.
In his resignation letter, Austin expressed concern about working with live electrical wiring. “In spite of my uneasiness, I was coerced into it,…in light of all this, I cannot continue to work for a system in which my safety is not held in the highest regards.”
When asked specifically about that allegation Mills said that incident did not occur.
For every employee “If it was outside his realm of KSA (knowledge, skill and abilities), there was always somebody beside him who had that knowledge, skill and ability,” Mills said.
According to Mills JMCS maintenance staff has 15 state licensed employees that are electricians, plumbers and HVAC mechanics.
Greg Rowland at the City of Jackson Department of Building and Housing Codes said, Licenses are required to install new electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas pipe-fitting work. Employees working with live electrical wiring must have training.
According to his personnel files, Eddie Austin was hired in February 2008, has experience in flooring and tile, and was hired to do “mostly flooring work”.
Eddie Austin did not wish to comment for this story.
Jeff Hentschel, Communications Director with the Tennessee Department of Labor, said reports aren’t released until investigations are complete. According to the state website the investigation was opened on May 27th and is listed as closed.
